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Tips for Working with Strip-It

1. Before making any cuts on your Strip-It fabric each month, it is recommended that you first decide which stripes you will use for each portion of the blocks and then cut them accordingly. You may also want to decide how scrappy you want your blocks to appear, i.e., use a variety of red/cream half-square triangles in a block, or all of the same. 2. Always open up the Strip-It to a single layer before making any cuts – don’t make any cuts with the piece of fabric folded in half. 3. There are two methods for cutting half-square triangles. Method one - Cut away either red/cream or green/cream stripes the length of the fabric. Then, place the 45 degree angle line of your acrylic ruler along a long raw edge of the fabric and make cuts 2 1/2” apart along the length of the strip unit.

Take each of the segments and make straight cuts to make 2 1/2” half-square triangles. This method is faster, but takes more yardage than the second method.

45 degrees

Method two - Use a small bias square ruler and cut 2 1/2” squares on point as shown. It isn’t necessary to cut apart the Strip-It prior to cutting half-square triangles using this method. This method uses less fabric, but is a little more tedious. 4. When the instructions say to cut a red/cream strip unit, 2 1/2” wide, measure 1 1/4” from where the two stripes meet and make a cut 1 1/4” on each side, for a red/cream strip unit measuring 2 1/2” wide. Then, cross-cut this segment according to the instructions, i.e., 4 1/2”. 5. There will be unused portions of the Strip-It each month. It is a good idea to save the remainder for the subsequent month(s), in the event you would like to substitute one stripe for another, or possibly use more of a particular stripe. 6. While the stripes are usually 2 1/2” wide, always use the markings on your ruler for the most accuracy when cutting 2 1/2” strips lengthwise or when cutting 2 1/2” squares. There may be a stripe that is slightly less than 2 1/2” (by about 1/16”). Don’t worry if a tiny bit of the stripe next to it is included in your strip, as it will be hidden in the seam allowance.