Many of us possess quilt rulers that we use to cut strips, squares, and rectangles. Most of these have a 45-degree line on it. If you are like me, you put that line on the seam of your half square triangles (HST) to make sure the halves stay even when you trim the HST. Or I use it to lop off a 45-degree angle from the end of strip, rectangles, or square.
That 45-degree line can help you cut perfect 45-diamonds. (For a 30- or 60- degree diamond, you would need a different ruler. The important thing to remember is that a diamond has four equal sides. If the shape doesn’t have equal sides but they are parallel, it is a parallelogram. Therefore, if you see the instructions “Cut a 1 ¾-inch 45-degree diamond.” That is all the information you need.
Step 1 – Cut a 1 ¾-inch strip of fabric. That generally means the strip should be the width of fabric, unless otherwise directed, so approximately 40-inches long. Then, trim off the selvedge.
Step 2 – Align that 45-degree line with the short end of the strip of fabric and cut along the edge of the ruler to make a 45-degree cut. For this example, we cut off the top left corner. Don’t worry if the cut seems to be going the wrong way. The beauty of these diamonds is that they are flexible for cutting, except when using a directional fabric!
Step 3 – Move the ruler so that the 45-degree line is at the top edge of the fabric. Move it until the obtuse (wide) corner reaches the 1 ¾-inch mark.
Step 4 – Hold the ruler steady. If your ruler is slippery, put grippy tape on it to make it less prone to slide. Then, cut along the edge of the ruler.
Viola! You have made a perfect diamond.
Happy Quilting????
Laureen
P.S. This is an updated post, as the original was lost, when my website crashed.. It is new and improved 🙂