Love it!!
Really nice!
I love all of the March blocks so far! And, I was totally planning to make mine with just one fabric for the zig-zaggy bit, but not that I see it with two fabrics, I might change my mind!
@MistressJennie, thanks for the info on making it 12" block. I didn’t realize it was larger, so I would have just cut my fabric and been cursing myself when I realized 
And, question for the experts… If I don’t have a 3 1/2" square ruler, how do I accurately trim the blocks down?
Last week was an exhausting one, but I think I might be going to bed at a decent hour for the second night in a row, so I should be better able to concentrate on more accurate cutting and stitching
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I don’t have a 3.5” square either. I just do mine with my regular 5”x24” ruler. Most cutting mats have various diagonal lines. I simply lay my blocks out with the diagonal line of my block lined up with the mat’s, then match my ruler’s 3.5” line with the left edge of the block, and trim whatever is sticking out of the right side of the ruler. Then I turn my ruler, and do the same along the top.
I’ll try to get a picture of what I mean later this morning. It’s currently 3:10 am, and I can’t sleep again because of my tailbone, but my husband is still asleep so I’ll be a good wife and NOT make noise in my studio right now. 
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That is how I do it as well…one edge at a time…
I just had my hip x-rayed yesterday for increasing lack of movement and pain…they thought originally it was my spine (I have a bit of scoliosis and a misaligned vertebrae)…but it is the hip. Nothing serious…swimming and prescription antiflammatory for now. Sorry you are still in pain, Jennie! It is miserable and affects everything!
Hope to work on some quilting today and making more happy mail with scraps from my quilt blocks and masks!
Here’s a few pictures, to show how I square up my blocks, without fancy square rulers in a million sizes.
Here we are with our HST. Find your 45 degree line, then figure out which side of your HST is already the most even or square. (See 
below for getting them square to start with. See 
for if both sides are wonky & you need to trim all around.)
I tried it each way, and discovered that it was pretty darn square with the yellow at the top. I want the left edge, and bottom edge to be along an inch line, and the diagonal seam along the 45 degree line.
Next, find the line on your ruler for the size block you are making, and line it up along the left edge of your block. I’m cutting these HST’s down to 4.5", so you see my index finger at 4.5" on a 5" ruler.
Trim away anything to the right of the ruler.
Now leave your block in place, but turn your ruler. (This photo was taken from the same perspective as the previous ones.) Line your cutting size line (4.5" here) up with the bottom edge of your block.
Trim away anything above the top edge of the ruler. (Or walk around your table if you’re able to, and cut from there.) Finally, trim off that last dog ear. You now have a 4.5" HST, without needing a special and stupidly expensive 4.5" HST ruler.
For those of you struggling with getting good matching points on your finished blocks, my hint is this:
Getting your HST’s to be pretty square to start with, giving you a straight side to cut from when squaring up, is invaluable. To do this, be careful with your opening and your pressing. If possible, you want the seam allowance to go towards the darker fabric. So here I’ve laid down the block with the yellow on the bottom, and flipped the black upwards.
Start by lightly finger pressing the block open. Press straight down with your fingers. Don’t run along the length of the seam. That seam is on a bias, and it WANTS to stretch out of shape. Running your fingers along that seam will encourage it to do just that.
Now use a dry iron, and again, press straight down. Finally, now that it’s pressed open without being stretched, give it a blast of steam.
If both sides of your block are wonky, and you need to trim all the way around the square, the method is pretty much the same as above. You’ll simply be cutting a little less off all 4 sides, but will still align your diagonal seam with the 45 degree angle on your cutting mat. Apologies that the photos for this are also a yellow & black block. That was the only large HST I had at hand to demo with. For this section, I’m cutting with the black to the top, to try to keep them clear.
Here you can see that while my diagonal seam matches the 45 degree line on my mat, but my left and bottom edges do not match up with an inch line. They are intentionally placed a little below and to the left of the lines, so I can cut those edges off later.
Now set up your first cut. Line up the measurement you want to cut to, along the inch line on the cutting mat (not along the edge of your wonky block), making sure you keep that diagonal seam on the diagonal line. I’m cutting to 4.5", so my finger is pointing to the 4.5" ruler line, which placed on top of the inch line of the mat.
Trim anything off the right side of the ruler.
Turn the ruler and do the same along the top of the block. Make sure to keep those diagonals aligned.
Now that your right and top edges are straight, you can go back and do your left and bottom edges, this time aligning your ruler edge with the inch marks on your mat.
Chop off everything to the left of inch line.
And everything below the inch line.
You now have a perfectly straight block, no wonk in sight.
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This is such a well written, helpful post and the pictures make it really easy to follow!
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Good point on not moving the iron around like you would iron a shirt…press down…it is amazing how much fabrics can stretch on the bias and throw your hard work into chaos!
But, with that said, I have used that to my advantage to force slightly smaller blocks to fit by stretching a little. I found in the quilt block swaps, a lot of blocks were just a tad too big or too small…the big ones you can cut to fit, the smaller ones were a bugger to stretch…some just could not be stretched…
Good visuals…very helpful!
Awesome @MistressJennie!!
I will say…watching the video for the brown goose block made me realize how nice it is to have a proper set up. Even her fancy iron that popped up when not in use but left face down. Luxurious! Sigh…someday, maybe, lol.
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Yes it is! Can we post this with our helpful info stuff? It is invaluable for sure! Thanks @MistressJennie!
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Make eleventy million more. 
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That pop-up iron. I am getting one of those for sure. What a thing!
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While sorting bins of stuff (minimizing!) I rediscovered some quilting books (pamphlets, more like) that my aunt wrote. Mom taught me to sew clothes, MaryLou taught me to quilt & embroider. She came from a long line of Missouri quilters & married into our phlegmatic Minnesota Swedish family, and brought a lot of bustling warmth & Southern happiness.
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Oh wow, that is really neat!
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I immediately looked her up and found another booklet on Ebay! Very cool, what a treasure to uncover in your stash.
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Done!
A link to @MistressJennie’s helpful HST hints can now be found at the top in the helpful tips & tricks section.
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I’m glad people found it helpful! It’s funny what some of us take for granted as common knowledge can be mind blowingly helpful to other crafters. I love getting to share information with other members, and in return learn so much I never knew from them!
Meanwhile, for those of you who are still having wonky blocks and want to trim all the way around, rather than trim just two sides, I updated my post above with a second (pretty similar) tutorial for that.
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And for everyone who can’t afford one of those cool pop-up irons just yet… You can get a silicone iron rest for about $6. Just leave your iron laying on it, rather than standing up, where it could so easily tip over with pets and kids running around. They come in various colors, for full size irons and mini irons.
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I never knew I needed a pop up iron until now…wow…I have a mini one that I just bought because I saw it on a Missouri Quilt video…but, this is a game changer for me…need to see if it shuts off automatically…one of my irrational fears is leaving the iron on and leaving the house…all my irons and appliances have auto shut offs…
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Well that’s awesome. I think I need an ironing board first…
Seriously, it’s the dark ages over here. 
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