Borders

First you need to cut 2 - 2" squares of the med.
Cut them across from corner to corner to make 2 triangles

It is easier to show you than to explain so look at the 1st pic and you can see how I laid the med triangle on the dk strip
The long side should be straigh up and down and make sure you sew on the angled side. I messed this up several times before I got it right and even tho I did the first one right I kept doing it wrong on the next ones. So check the placement well before you sew!

I trimmed at the top to get a straight edge. Mine kept having bowed edges and it was distracting so I straightened it.

I trimmed the bottom by laying the ruler on the triangle. A line of your ruler needs to lay on the tip of the triangle. Then measure down 1 1/4" from the tip and make sure your ruler is laying straight. I looked at the bottom edge of the ruler and one line on the ruler should be touching the end of the triangle seam on one side and the other side should be touching the line on the ruler there. The bottom of the triangle should show 2 inches between those lines.



After you do the first one then add the second strip

Here is the ruler on the triangle.

Then you need to make 4 borders.

Sew two on to opposite sides.
Trim the sides even with the block.
Then sew on the other two borders.

I like to line up the points together. Lay the edges together and fold back to make sure the points line up. Then pin and sew.

Ok now you are ready to trim this block to a 5" size.

Center your ruler so you can trim it and make sure you measure and watch the lines as you decide where to cut.
I usually measure from the center to the edge and after the first cut then I can also use the cut edge to check against to make sure my square is square.

It bugs me somewhat that the points go to the very edge which means when they are sewn into a quilt you will lose those point tips. but I did this one the way the block was done.

If I use this again I will trim it so there is a 1/4" seam allowance or I will see if I can reduce the size enough to have a seam allowance included in the 5" unfinished block.

Thanks and if there are any questions make sure you ask!! Glad to help if you need it!!

Here are mine....

So pretty Norbana!!! Love the purples, and your background fabric is so pretty. Can you take a close up of it? Looks like a really interesting white/white.

Really pretty colors norbanaquilts and great job on your blocks!

norbana

the blocks look beautiful.

rhonda

thanks for the tute on the cut down method.

your block looks great

The background is appox 15 different white on muslin prints, that way I don't have to worry about running out and having to match. I'll post close up pics when I'm on the other computer.

Great tutes, Rhonda, lovely to see all the pics as you went along.

close ups....

a couple more..

oops, should have trimmed them before taking pics

Looking good norbana! Keep them coming!

I've got about 80 of them done, I'll post them as we go along

:shock: :shock: :shock: 80?!? Far out! :-)

wow, you're almost half way done

K9 MADE WITH THE CUT DOWN METHOD


There are 3 sections to this block. The 9 patch / the borders / and the Triangle corners

9 PATCH

Cut two strips one med and one dark 6 1/2" x 1 1/2"
Sew them together
Trim the dark to 1 1/16" from the seam -If you look at your ruler between the 1" mark and the 1 1/8" mark you will have to imagine a line half way inbetween and that is where you need to cut. This measurement will be used throughout this block.

Sorry I did this one the wrong size but you can see the ruler placed to cut the 1/16th. This one is 3/4" and 1/16" when it should have been 1 1/16". I have two pics and deleted the wrong one it looks like. But you can still see the placement to get the 1/16"

Sorry about the color. My camera is on its way out.

Cut the strips into 4 -11/2" sections
Place two of the sections with the dk opposite each other and sew them together
Trim the edge on one side to 1 1/16"

Now take the 4th section and add a med swatch to one end. This swatch just needs to be about 1 1/2" square.
Trim the 9 patch to 1 1/16" from the seams on all sides. Make sure you keep track of keeping it square. Measure it inbetween cutting the sides to make sure it is coming out square.

BORDERS


The width on these do not have to be accurate because you will be trimming them down. But the length has to match the 9 patch. The bigger one will need to match the 9 patch plus a seam allowance on each end. The other two will need to be the exact size of the side of your 9 patch. So if your 9 patch varies a little cut the borders the same size as the 9 patch side.

Cut a swatch 2 15/16" x 2 1/4" ( don't panic just look at 3" and move the ruler back 1/16"). It isn't difficult. We'll call this one Border A

Sew the 1 1/2" by 2 15/16"
Cut two med swatches about 1 1/2" x 2 1/4"" These will be sewn to Border A

Cut the other two dk swatches 1 1/2" x 2 15/16" these I will call Border B

so now sew on both border Bs on opposite sides

Sew the med swatches to Border A and cut the border lengthwise into two borders.
Sew the two long borders onto the remaining two sides.

Trim the borders to 3/8" from the seam on all 4 sides.

pay attention to the squareness of your 9 patch. Corners can get pointed on the corners if your seam is not straight. Go back and straighten a seam if you need to to get a good square 9 patch. Measure every time you sew a seam to make sure your measurements are accurate. If a seam is off even a 1/16" it will skew your block. It isn't hard to go back and sew another seam along the existing seam to straighten it. But at the end is not the time to figure out something is cockeyed.

At this point your 9 patch should measure 3/4" plus 1/16" from seam to seam(the blocks in it not the whole 9 patch)

Corners


Cut two 3 1/2" squares
Cut them into two triangles each

Sew them onto the four sides of your 9 patch w/borders'

Trim to 5" square.

NICE, Rhonda! Thanks for posting. I'm way behind already due to printer malfunctions but will be on it this week.

I hope to get a new camera tomarrow and then hopefully the pics won't be so fuzzy. I have had my camera for 3 yrs and use it constantly. I think it is dying! LOL
I can scan them all and it would look better but there are problems with that too. It takes forever to work with the scanner and the pictures to do all the ones I use. One or two wouldn't be bad on the scanner but alot of them and I get too frustrated with how long it takes to do it all.

Taking pics and loading them is so much faster and easier.

Ok I deeply apologize!!! I am slow what can I say? I didn't print my blocks out at 4.5 I printed them out at 5". So all the measurements are off in the above tutorials. It will work to get a 5" block but the seam allowance will cut off alittle of the design.

I am on the right track now with all the rest of the tutes. Sorry about that! If you need corrected measurements just pm me and i will send them to you.

I can't go back and correct these. I asked Admin about being able to edit my tutes after the allowed time and he says it is a function he is working on adding. So hopefully in the future I will be able to correct mistakes longer than the 20 mins allowed now.

thanks again for another wonderful tute

Either this board is really quiet or I am not getting the updates.

i think the tutes postings will always quite down after a few because most people have tackled or are finishing up this weeks blocks.

the thread that will stay more active is the cyber chat thread.

I have found if I use the My Watched Topics link I don't miss anything. I still have some issues of missing some email notifications too but the MWT link seems to keep me updated.

You have to go to the last page to catch up instead of going straight to the new post(email takes you to that new post) but it is worth it to me. It is easy to see what I need or want to go check on. Just a thought!

I use the "my watched topics" too..... but I've bookmarked them now cause I lost them the other day.

Me too Blue. I book mark them.