Mystery Monday

No post since Wednesday?  I've been knitting, not sewing.  And no, I can't show you what I'm making because it's a surprise.  I'm almost done, so I will be back to the sewing room full-time soon.

I did cut the pieces for Step 2 of the BOM for my Wednesday Block Party.  Because there are a lot of strips in the step, I used Debbie Caffrey's Power Cutting technique.

The trick is to cut as many strips as your ruler will fit.  In this case, I am using my favorite 8 1/2" X 12 1/2" Creative Grids ruler.  I can cut three 2 1/2" strips by placing the ruler at 7 1/2" and cutting one strip.  Then sub-cut at 5" and 2 1/2".  This is faster and more accurate than cutting each 2 1/2" strip individually.

I like the Creative Grids rulers because the lines are very thin, but easy to see.  Some rules have lines thick enough that your cuts can be almost 1/4" off  if you cut multiple strips at once.

Here are the pieces for Step 2:

And here is what they look like sewn together.  Notice that orange square sewn to the background triangle?  The dog-ears are 3/8" -- now that's a mystery!

And here is what they look like pressed and trimmed.

My friend Mary and I have a bet that the strange-looking quarter-square triangle is going to result in a three-quarters square triangle.  But we have to wait to find out!