A minor mystery - I could not cut three 2 inch wide strips from a six inch square. I always was about 1/8 of an inch short.

I think a smidge of material disappears in the cutting process. Just like when a saw cuts through wood. Maybe?

Maybe if you made your squares 4 3/8 square and then cut them diagonally for the quarter square triangles?

It's easier to trim down then to unsew and redo.

:D The postman has just brought my father's ashes. He's not very heavy now. He is in our den, just hanging around. He has never been in this house, he passed away right after we bought it. So now, I will wait for my sisters to tell me when they can join me in a trip to our hometown so he can join my mother. It is a shame that my quilts are not finished in time for his homecoming.

I hope most of your family memories are happy ones.

My condolences to you and your family for your loss.

Bearisgray, thanks. I love the link you sent. I will have to get one of those templates, it would be easier than my quilting ruler. I will see if adjusting the size of those triangles will help. But first I am thinking about ironing some lightweight interfacing on the ones I am working on now. I appreciate your thoughts. :-)

How far down the road are you with this project?

You might make life easier for yourself in the long run if you use approximately the same weight fabrics for the background.

I bought a food/postal scale and started measuring strips - just to see if the weight difference was my imagination or real.

I was weighing six 18 inch strips cut 2 1/2 inches wide.

If I remember correctly the lightest/flimsiest fabric weighed about 18 grams and the heftiest was around 28 grams.

These were all purchased from WalMart - and in my mind, qualified as "quilting cottons"

I was going to make a quilt using strips - I had seen what some of the other ladies were doing - and I thought I could do it better : - )

My only "rule" was that I had to use fabric that I bought at WalMart - now almost a year later - I'm still collecting -

But again, this is your project and you know what you can live with

To more or less quote Dorene Speckman - "If you aren't happy with something in your quilt now, you probably won't be happy with it ten years later."

So it might be easier to change it now while it is comparatively easy to do.

(I swear - I'm not a member of the quilt police - but I have wrestled with trying to fold something or iron something that just won't behave - and I've decided I'm not going to deal with that anymore with stuff I'm making)

I am still on the first 36 inch square quilt, working on the background. I am concerned what my sisters will do with the quilts when they get them....maybe they will shove them in a closet or maybe they will wash them in hot water often. I know that what I seem to be doing is not great because so far the seams have to be re sewn and the thin fabrics buckle. I am about to try lightweight interfacing on the thin materials. If that doesn't work, I'm willing to hike down to the quilt store and get new fabric....which is expensive here. We do not have a fabric section in the local Walmart and there is no JoAnn's for 30 miles. I would rather have it turn out right than to face problems down the road. Thank you for your comments, I needed them. :lol: