??? about rulers
 

You all are so helpful....Thank you for all the help I have gotten already. My ??? is why do the square rulers only have 2 sides of the actual square and the other 2 sides are different? For example a 3 1/2 X 3 1/2 has 2 sides that are 3 1/2 and 2 sides that are 3 inches...How do I get a total 3 1/2 inch square???? Thank you so much for your help again

I'm not sure I'm following you - if the ruler is square - then all sides are equal, otherwise it is a rectangle ruler.

It's that way so you can put the edge of the ruler at the corner of the fabric at the measurement you want and only have to make two cuts to get a square. I don't like to cut large squares, I always mess up.

Because you usually start at 3.5" (unfinished square or block) and
finish and 3" after sewing...USUALLY. Of course there are a few patterns
that use the less common 3" but that would finish at 2.5".
When you trim you don't trim all four sides in one go. You trim two
sides, turn and trim the rest. Right? So you position your ruler so
that the 3.5" sides are on the sides of the fabric that you will trim.
Ignore the 3" sides. Does that make sense?
If I were to cut 3.5" square I would use a longer ruler and cut a
3.5" strip and then cut 3.5" the other way.

Go look at the Bias Square 8 ruler from That Patchwork Place. I require this one in most of my classes for squaring up blocks up to 8" in size, or any component within those blocks. It is differently marked than any other ruler on the market and this is how I use it:

Jan in VA

Huh? This time I'm confused -

The ruler seems to be in exactly the same position it was -

bearisgray - it is, it's the fabric square that you turn.

The 'fabric piece' still appears to be exactly the same size in the second illustration.

Just checked all of my square rulers and they are all perfectly square. You must have a special ruler of some kind.

when you trim the right and top edges, you then remove the ruler and take the square by the left bottom corner and turn it where it now is in the top right corner. then again lay your ruler where it needs to be and trim right and top side again. Eleanor Burns of Quilt In A Day does this all the time on her shows. i'm just used to it. http://www.quiltuniversity.com/squaring_up.htm