Hello all
i need to find out if theres away to square up quil blocks if you dont have theat quilt square ruler i cant get the ruler right now due to finances but was wondering if any of you have a hint to square up the blocks without one , thanks for any help
Dora

What size do you need. You can cut the side of a gallon water or milk bottle/container and use the plastic. The plastic can also be use for templates. I can find a use for anything. Put me in the woods with a q-tip and butter knife and I can build you a shopping mall. :lol:

right now i am just practiceing so i can get all the seam allowes etc right before i really get into the actuall blocks
i got the seams right and they line up but now i have to practice on squareing them so i am really not sure about sizes yet , i am just practiceing
Thanks for the input
Dora

Go trupeach! If I'm ever stranded on an island, I want you with me!

Dora, do you have any rulers? Most of them can adapt to squaring up if you play with them. Let us know what you have and maybe we can walk you through the process. And put the 12-1/2" square ruler on your Christmas list. They're not too expensive if you use a coupon at Jo-Ann's. It will be an invaluable tool that you will use over and over.

hello
i have a regular ruler like a school ruler, i have a small mat from fiskars, roter cutter , we arent going to have a christmas this year , we are going to make the 2 grandbabys small gifts so they have something but hubby and i have been unemployed since may and so i dont have a hristmas list excepts everyones well
HUGS Dora

how big is your mat?

Does it have a grid (lines) on it?

the mat is 4 inches across by15 long it hasa45 angel at the bottom
hope that hrelps
thanks Dora

Chele you wouldn't go hungry either. Last year most of the Cincinnati area was without electricity for about a week. Everyone ran out of gas for their grill and everything I mean everything was closed. Gas stations, supermarkets restaurants. I was NOT going not eat a descent meal. So I thought what is a gas stove nothing more then lots of little flames. I had a lot of votive candles so I made a little stove with 5 candles and I used a thin pan to cook it. The thiner the pan the quicker it would cook the food. The candles lasted 5 hours more then enought time to cook. I made chicken and rice then wanted desert so I made peach crisp with my little pan and candles. I cooked like that for 3 days. If it was that it was hot out I would have cooked in my fireplace which I have done before. So if you are stuck on island you will most likely come off of it weighing more then you did when you first got standed. LOL

that is a small cutting mat.

Maybe you can take a piece of paper - advertising sheets, whatever,

cut a square the size you need

put it over your block and trace around it with a pencil and then trim on the pencil line

I should think anything clear or sort of clear that you can cut to size would work. Clear so you can see the block thru it to position it properly. Now it all depends on the size the block is supposed to square up to be.

The milk jug idea would work just fine if the block squares up smaller than the size of a milk jug. Put on your thinking hat and look around your house. What is clear-ish that you can cut into a square up ruler? Some picture frames might have glass alread in the correct size. Some cheaper frames have flexible plastic instead of glass.

Also remember a pefect square will measure the same on both diagonals. Measure corner to corner on your blocks with a regular ruler and square up from there.

Keep thinking. An idea will present itsself that will work for you.

thanks everyone there's alot of nice suggestions here and i will be trying them , many many thanks to you all
HUGS DORA

Just remember, there were beautiful quilts created long before anyone had fancy square up rulers. :D

Sharon Schamber has several very helpful videos on how to "true up" blocks to size using spray starch and an iron. Here are links to a couple:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6aplw_tVZc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkF02vpVuw

Tru. I think you must have been a Boy Scout in another life! My dh has been active in BSA for 66 years and he can cook, clean and make anything out of wood.

DO you have two rectangular rulers? Lay the one along one edge of the block and butt the other one across the top of the block, butting the rulers together. You can see if your block is off. It takes a little more time, but you can get there.

If you have a piece of template plastic, you can use it also along with a standard ruler.

You can cut a square (the size you need) out of a piece of freezer paper or card board. Those can be used to check for size and then use the standard ruler to trim.

I used my husband's carpenter square for the first couple of quilts I made. Otherwise I'd go with making a square on paper and tracing around it. I like to have diagonal lines to get the corners straight. You could do this by folding on the diagonal twice. Then you have a center mark and the corner diagonals to line up with your square. Hope this makes sense.

Cereal boxes have great square corners to start with. Measure, measure, measure, then cut! Most older quilts were made with cardboard templates!
Picture frames that have plexiglass are good sources. Another source it to go to your local hardware store and ask for a scrap of plexiglass. If you are really nice, the guy may even cut it square for you! They have good measuring tools! Just decide on the size you want and ask! The worst they can say is "No!"

For templates, I use cardboard, styrofoam meat trays, the plastic in bacon packages, all cleaned thoroughly of course.