Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Why I cut strips at 1.91 inches for that border.

A few of you asked about my strips cut at 1.91 inches for my current border on Easy Peasy Scrappy Spools. I began to question myself, thinking I was under the influence of caffeine, but there is a method to my madness. Maybe I should have explained my strategy. It's hard to tell if the questions were real questions or just smiling inquiries and friendly comments, but here goes.

I calculated the sides of my quilt with a number that was divisible by 2 inches. Therefore, I wanted the diagonal of the small squares in the border to be 2 inches. Now, remember the lesson about "to find the diagonal of a square, multiply the size of the finished square by 1.414." Yes, it IS in many of our quilt books. "And if you know the diagonal of your square (which I wanted to be 2 inches), DIVIDE that 2 inches by 1.414, then add .5 for seam allowances" and that is the reason I got 1.91. Simple! LOL

2 inches divided by 1.414 = 1.4144271 plus .5 for seam allowance = 1.9144271. (Dad would be proud of me!)

The corners are a little tricky - I have to sew some of the strips going UP and some going DOWN. No matter which way I plan it, the ends of each side border will be fiddly.

3 comments:

  1. What I want to know is how you cut a 1.91" strip? It's somewhere between 1 7/8" and 1 15/16".

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  2. Do you use metric rulers? (I am ditto-ing Patti's question.)

    I love that you are using math - so much better than my "method."

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  3. I'm calling you next time I have to take a tricky border around a corner! Yours looks wonderful! It adds so much to your quilt, which I love, by the way!

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