I saw an interesting cutting hack the other day!!

When sub-cutting strips into squares, there are several ways we can do it…

Cut them 2 at a time….

Stack up a bunch of strips and cut them all at once….

Of course, sometimes this causes issues for the rotary cutter to not “bunch up” the fabric.

But, what if we stagger the strips!!

Take one strip and line it up along the line of a cutting mat…..

Then add another strip over the top…..

…, making sure that it is 1-inch from the first strip…

Continue until all four (or more) strips are in place…..

Then, place the ruler over all of the strips….

…..make one cut…..

….and voila….you have 8 squares….

And, you haven’t had to FORCE the rotary blade at all!!

I really like this idea and cant wait to use it when I need to cut LOTS and LOTS of pieces!!

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Has this ever happened to you?

You change the thread to start your quilting, stitch a few lines…..or a BUNCH of lines…..and then look at the back…..

YIKES!!!

Then you think to yourself….

“WHY DIDN’T I CHECK THE TENSION????????”

I normally do check it, but this time I thought that everything would be okay.

When I had a look at my machine, I could see that the thread hadn’t made it between the tension disks….

So this begs the question of…. “How do you check your tension?”

Here is my method…..

I pull out a sample piece that lives under my machine…..

Find an open area…..

….and start by stitching a few straight lines…..

Stop and check the back…..

So far….so good!!

Next, I quilt a couple of curved lines and a few loops…..

Check the back again…..

THAT will work!!

By stitching these three designs….straight, curves and loops, I figure that I have covered all of the basic shapes and can see how the tension looks.

How do you check your tension???

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Last Tuesday I shared a video about making various “disappearing blocks.

Since that time, I have been inundated with videos, Facebook posts, and photos of disappearing blocks.

YA GOTTA LOVE THE ALGORITHM!!

Anyway, a couple of days ago I came across this diagram….

I am sorry that I don’t know who to credit it to!!

Bottom line, I think that THIS design might be one that would be easier to piece as a “disappearing” pattern, rather than piecing all of those small squares!!

I need to graph it out in Electric Quilt and see what else you could do with it!!

Do you have any experience with this block??

If so, I would love to know!!

Do you like to make “Disappearing”blocks? You know…. a Disappearing 4-patch, Disappearing 9-patch, etc.

I have tried it ONCE. Way back in 2013!!!

Disappearing Nine Patch for charity

….and I was not that fussed with the process. This was the top that came out of the experiment….

I wasn’t that fussed with it!!

Then, a few months later I tried again and came up with this result….

Better, but it still seemed like a lot of work!!

But I have once-again digressed!!

The other day I came across a YouTube video from Tulip Square. This is what they said about it…..

Paulette shows how to make all sorts of disappearing quilt blocks including four patch squares, half square triangles, windmills, and strip stripes. Learn to create so many different designs from basic quilt blocks. Easy to follow along with simple instructions.

I found myself watching it and thinking that maybe I should give the technique another try…..

I particularly like the Pinwheel Disappearing Block that starts at 15 minutes in….

…howeve,r I might find it faster to just piece the elements and not worry about all of that cutting and re-arranging

How about you?

Will you try one of these designs??