My point exactly!! All of my rulers were bought in the early 1980s. However, I just bought new ones!! Lol :thumbup:

Whenever a pattern calls for one to cut a 4 7/8" strip then subcut into 4 7/8" blocks, I round up to 5", then trim to the correct size for the HST after. I know it is an extra step, which means slightly more work, however, I'd rather do a little trimming on a HST and have a block come out to be the right size.

Go to the full inch. You will probably have to trim your triangles anyway, so make it easy on yourself and your student.

All you folks who say your rulers have 1/8 marks or 1/16 marks are probably correct, but unless you know what the marks mean, they are useless marks. I looked at every ruler I own--and believe me, I own a bunch--and the only one that has 1/8 increments both maked and with writng to explain the mark, is Easy Ruler II. Knowing what all those skinny little marks are is not somethng you "just know," any more than you "just know" the sun comes up in the east and sets in the west or that you "just know" that if you face north, west is on your left and east is on your right. You may figure it out on your own, but it certainly does make things easier if there is someone to teach you.

I didn't know what all those tiny little lines and intervals on rulers and professional measuring tapes were until my brother, who is a master plumber who had to get correct measurements for pipes and fittings, taught me.


AS for a 4 7/8 block, please give it a rest! Make everything you can 1/8 inch larger and go on about the business of making the quilt.

I am afraid I think measuring quilt blocks in 1/8 inch increments is as ludicrous as the scant 1/4 inch, which to date no one has explained very satisfactorily to me. If it is, as people have told me, the width of a thread--PHOOEY!

But then, I'm your basic noncompetitor who wants things finished instead of perfect! Remember your high school home ec teacher who made you "take it out," until the fabric was stretched beyond redemption and left you so traumatized you never sewed another garment? Thank heavens for my mother from whom I learned my efficient but imperfect way of sewing! froggyintexas

Same here, I am in support of going a little larger and cutting back. I think that is what Rhonda's principle is, too, and I like it - just a few less gray hairs. :-)

Marysewfun

When I took my first classes 2 years ago, the instructor taught us to use a full measure instead of 7/8" and then trim it to size. My rulers all have the 7/8 line, but I don't use it. Easier to trim up and make straight lines afterwards.

"7/8 is the last mark before the next full inch" - that´s how in the beginning I managed to find it.
Every ruler I have shows 8 bold marks (1/8) inside 1" lenght.

Correction. If you have 8 bold marks inside two inch markers, you are measuring nineths

Wow, there´s something here I have to learn:
I count 1-2-3-4 (1/2")- 5-6-7-8 (-->1") markers.
Isn´t the 7/8 the last marker before the next full inch (the 8th) ? :confused:

There should only be 7 marks in between the inch marks, what you write here is correct, the earlier statement that there are 8 marks between the inch marks would be incorrect.. The 1 inch mark for instance is eight-eighths; the 2 inch is sixteen-eighths.