Originally Posted by ccm1
I am trying to cut pieces with out having to buy another ruler. I know Fons and Porter sell rulers. I also figured out that because this is an octagon I cannot use a square cut in half, the angles are different.
If it's an octagon, then you most certainly can use a square cut in half. An (equilateral) octagon ALWAYS has 4 right angles in the corners. Ask Euclid. ;-) Putting a HST on each corner will get you a square - just like a Snowball block.
Are you sure you don't have a
HEXAGON ruler (six sides)?
(I just did a quick search and I can't find a F&P octagon ruler.)
You need 2 setting triangles (cut your square TWICE on the diagonal). That will allow you to have the straight of grain on the top and bottom. Starch the fabric well before cutting to minimize any stretching you might get from handling the bias edges. It's still a right angle triangle, but the 90degree angle is placed in the interior, not on the edge.
When you attach this to the upper right and lower left corners, it will make a parallelogram which will allow you sew these blocks together into rows.
Depending on your color choices for these triangles, it will create a secondary pattern of a star around each hexagon.