Originally Posted by callie8799

I have been reading an article about organizing your stash and came across a line that said, basicallly- a finished square is 1/2 inch smaller than the original cut square. So if I have a 4 inch square, taken out of my red box, after sewing it to other squares, it should measure 3 1/2 inches - that is using 1/4 inch seam allowance. The accompanying illustration has the original square attached on all 4 sides.

****Why is the finished square only 3.5 inches and not 3 inches if you are sewing all 4 sides using a 1/4 inch seam allowance? After all, you are taking 1/4 inch off all 4 sides and 1/4+1/4+1/4+1/4=1***

I know math is not my strong suit, but am I that weak in it?

thank you so much! the things you think about when you have insomnia

Debbie

Originally Posted by sahm4605

hehe. I love reading all these comments. quilting math to me is a "new math" which I can do but give me a math book and I am almost always lost. I can do math but if you ask me how I got there I probably can't tell you. My teachers all hated me in school because I could get the answer just by looking at a problem for a min, but i would never write out how I would get there because it was all done in my head. when I would write it out i would almost always get it wrong but when i didn't i would get it right. go figure.
my hubby loves math and computers but he wont go anywhere near a sewing machine. I think that he would be fab at it but he wont try. maybe when he is in his 50's. who knows.

Originally Posted by ghostrider

Come at it from the other way. Your 4" cut square is 4" wide by 4" high...or 8" total if you combine them. If you then subtract the 1" of seam allowances, you get 7". Divide that in half (because it's a square and length and width are the same) and you get a 3½" square. Does that help you see it?

If you consider both directions (length and width) for one element (the seam allowances), you have to do it for the other as well (the square sides).