Yes, you read that right…..today’s quilter’s toolbox is a simple piece of card stock!!!

It started with the making of the “Thank You” quilt that I talked about in this blog post.

I knew what the flower would look like but wasn’t sure exactly how I wanted it to fall within the quilt. My solution was to cut a piece of card stock into three pieces…..

….throwing away the center section, leaving two L-shaped strips to be used to create temporary edges so that I determine the layout of my quilt……

When I decided which format I liked best (the center one above), I placed a ruler over the piece, having 1/4 inch sitting on top of the card…..

I carefully pulled the card strip out…..

And used the rotary cutter to make the first cuts which I then used to square up the second set of cuts…..

I also used this very special tool to audition borders. With this small quilt top, I could place it on top of any fabric that I wanted to try and then use the tool to contain the border so that I could analyze it…..

…..including whether I wanted the border to be on all sides or just on one.

After I found out how helpful this tool was I added another one in grey. I covered the card stock with a lamination sheet which gave it a bit more structure. I also cut the grey piece in a different format (totally unintentionally) which gives even more flexibility about sizes.

So….there is another of my favorite tools!!! Obviously it will only work on smaller scale items but it sure made the decision process easier on this particular quilt.