Square A Quilt Block... Without A Special Ruler

I have a little sneak peek for you all today-- I started another quilt! I'll be showing you all this pattern later this month, but I wanted to share a quick little tip about squaring up quilt blocks.

Squaring up your quilt blocks is the secret to getting accurate sized quilts, matching up seams and reducing overall frustration during the piecing process. Even though I love cutting corners, I really recommend squaring up your blocks. There are quite a few special rulers made just for this purpose; but what if this is your first quilt? This quick little tip will show you how to square up blocks without using special rulers.

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We are going to use half square triangle (HST) blocks for our squaring up practice, but a similar method will work on other square blocks.

First, lets take a look at squaring up blocks with a square ruler.  These blocks square up to 9.5 inches. To trim the first two sides do the check the following:

• First match up the seam on your block with the 45 degree line on your ruler
• Make sure there is a slight overhang at the 9.5 inch marks on the ruler. 
• Make sure there is a slight overhang at the edge of the ruler.

Here is a close up-- see the slight over hang at 9.5 inches?

Once your ruler is in the right place, trim the block at the edge of the ruler.

For the other two sides, flip the block around, so the edges that you just cut are exactly on the 9.5 inch mark. Trim the slight overhang around the edge of the ruler.

If you don't have a square ruler, you can also use any ruler and the 45 degree mark on your cutting mat. Before you make any cuts check the following:

•  The diagonal seam is lined up with 45 degree line on the cutting mat. 

• There is a slight over hang at the 0" lines and the 9.5 inch lines.

You can tell from this picture that I used the 1 inch line and the 10.5 inch line to give myself a little extra cutting room.

Then simply use your ruler to trim each side of the square to the proper measurement.

This gets a bit tedious when you are doing many, many blocks at once. I'll be looking for a faster way-- believe me! One thing that helped me a bit was marking those 9.5 inch lines with washi/masking tape.

I hope this nudges you all toward taking the time to square up your blocks! I'll be showing you all the finished quilt later this month; so stay tuned.  And don't forget to stop by on Friday for our next Handmade Confession. We'll be hosting the fabulous Vidya from What's Ur Home Story!