My WIP Wed #23 - A good week of "Listening" & a cutting tip

I had a good quilt week around my studies. Got all forty diamonds finished! 

I am certain this was the most intricate, fussy sewing I have ever done. I do have the ability now to let go of the pursuit of perfection, but this time I really wanted those diamonds to be pieced spot on. My seam ripper and I were best friends, although I needed her less and less often by the time I finished number 40. And I'm so happy with all those perfect points!

Part of getting them perfectly lined up is meticulous cutting of the strips you sew together for each column. Here's a tip Jacqueline uses that I've never thought of doing: Tape the strip down to the mat. It seems fussy at first, but trust me: It really makes it easier.  

Once you've taped it down, you can use the 45 degree lines on your ruler to easily measure your cross cuts in a way that keeps your angle exact.  

(If you just figure out the first 45 cut, then line your ruler up on the cut edge for each next one without using a grid every time, you'll lose that perfect 45 degrees fairly quickly, and that will mess your points up.)

So, tape your strip down, then use whichever ruler is the best match for size, diagonal markings, and measurements you need. My pineapple ruler was the perfect handling size for this task, and since I needed 1.5" strips, I didn't need smaller measurements. Otherwise, I would have had to deal with my 24" ruler.

 I just put the tape bits on the side to use again with the next strip. Yeah, you cut through them sometimes, so they multiply and get smaller (sometimes too small). I used about as much tape cutting all my diamonds as I would have on a Christmas gift, so it's really not wasteful.

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A big "Thank you!" to Lee at Freshly Pieced for hosting WIP Wednesdays and to Esther at Esther's Blog for hosting WOW.

It really keeps me motivated to keep those UFOs going! (Go check out what everyone else is doing - there are some really neat projects out there!)

Also, Check out my BOMs AWAY Mondays regular link-up.  

This week's stats: (unchanged)

New Projects – 0    

Completed Projects This Week -  0  

In Active Progress - 1    (Listen with Your Eyes)

UFO Firing Range - 31.333          

Finishes for 2011 - 24  

Completed tops awaiting quilting:

One charity wheelchair quilt

Center of Marissa’s Moment of Freakishness

Marissa’s Moment Pillowcase panel

Dreamy Unicorns

Wagon Wheels West #2

Be Attitudes

We Love Kelly

Devon's Silk Spinners

Kelly's Thirties Hand Quilter

Kelly's Calico

Poor Forgotten Orphan from 15 Years Ago