{"id":1296,"date":"2014-04-03T10:40:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-03T17:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2014\/04\/03\/bloc-loc-rulers\/"},"modified":"2015-01-01T12:59:47","modified_gmt":"2015-01-01T20:59:47","slug":"bloc-loc-rulers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2014\/04\/03\/bloc-loc-rulers\/","title":{"rendered":"Bloc-Loc Rulers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rulers \u2014 can we quilters ever have enough of them? Naturally, we could all probably get along with a minimal number, but sometimes a ruler or set of rulers comes along that just makes life nicer and easier. The ones I’m talking about today are sort of comparable to Susan Cleveland’s Groovin’ Piping Trimming Tool<\/a>, which I love<\/b> and use frequently. Yes, you can<\/i> trim piping with a flat ruler, but the groove in Susan’s tool just makes it easier, faster, and much more precise.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

So that leads me into my topic for today. Last fall I happened upon a booth selling Bloc-Loc<\/a> rulers, about which I’d only recently heard from a member of my local group. Based upon her glowing review, I bought a small set; they are used for squaring up half-square triangles (HSTs). As it happens, I’m currently making a slew<\/i> of HSTs for a project this month at that same local group, so I got out one of the rulers.<\/p>\n

At the left, you can see (click on each photo for a larger view) a ragged square, ready for trimming. Note the dog ears and not-very-neat edges.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

And now note the ruler placement. There is a wide groove on the underside, and this corresponds to the seam allowance, so there’s no risk of the ruler tipping or slipping out of alignment. By wiggling the ruler into place so that it “locks” onto the seam, it’s ready for me to use my left-handed rotary cutter to trim the first two sides.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Here we go! \ud83d\ude42 Slice, slice!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

The next step is to swivel the entire thing \u2014 fabric and ruler together \u2014 90\u00b0. Keep the seam allowance inside that same groove and slide the ruler down so that the \u2014 in this case \u2014 2″ mark is on the outer edges that have already been trimmed. The actual seam line will be exactly in the corner. Now trim those last two sides.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Look how nice the whole finished block looks! As I said above, this can be done (and I’ve done it for years) with an everyday flat ruler, but this is so much more accurate and so much easier. The rulers are available in a variety of sizes. I have no affiliation with this company, but I am very glad I purchased their product. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Back to my cutting!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rulers \u2014 can we quilters ever have enough of them? Naturally, we could all probably get along with a minimal number, but sometimes a ruler or set of rulers comes along that just makes life nicer and easier. The ones I’m talking about today are sort of comparable to Susan Cleveland’s Groovin’ Piping Trimming Tool, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[233,212,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-1296","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-piecing","8":"tag-rotary-cutting","9":"tag-ruler","10":"tag-tutorial","11":"czr-hentry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/IMG_0739.jpg?fit=1024%2C952&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5yzuO-kU","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5294,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2024\/02\/28\/got-the-point\/","url_meta":{"origin":1296,"position":0},"title":"Got the Point?","author":"Sandy","date":"February 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Got the Point? That's what I've named my latest quilt. It was a fun one to make, and it's now hanging in my sewing room, replacing a quilt that had hung there for over 20 years! It was time for a change, wouldn't you agree? As you may be able\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Free motion quilting"","block_context":{"text":"Free motion quilting","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/quilting\/free-motion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Quilt depicting sewing machine needles in a variety of bright colors on a pale blue background.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_0247-242x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1270,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2014\/11\/03\/back-from-houston\/","url_meta":{"origin":1296,"position":1},"title":"Back from Houston","author":"Sandy","date":"November 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Gosh! It's been a month since I've written a post \u2014 time really does fly sometimes. I returned home last night from a wonderful trip to the Houston Quilt Festival, which was celebrating its 40th anniversary. I know there are photos all over the web of the glorious quilts; I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quilting"","block_context":{"text":"Quilting","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/quilting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/IMG_0184.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5653,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2025\/06\/05\/torture\/","url_meta":{"origin":1296,"position":2},"title":"Torture!","author":"Sandy","date":"June 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I made this quilt top several months ago and then waffled forever (as usual for me) about how I wanted to machine quilt it, finally getting some ideas from Lisa Calle, whose work is amazing. I have to say that I really love free-motion work (especially feathers), though I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Free motion quilting"","block_context":{"text":"Free motion quilting","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/quilting\/free-motion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bernina sewing machine quilting a block showing a \"box\" with surrounding walls, all done in a 3-D effect through use of dark\/medium\/light shades. Other visible blocks are in pinks and blues.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1090-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3344,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2018\/01\/26\/rulers-for-rookies\/","url_meta":{"origin":1296,"position":3},"title":"Rulers for Rookies","author":"Sandy","date":"January 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"First of all, I'm still -- slowly -- working on my New York Beauty blocks! The past few days have been a bit busier than usual with \"other\" stuff, though, so progress continues on a not-rushed basis. ;) Today, though, I'm posting about a class I was lucky enough to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Free motion quilting"","block_context":{"text":"Free motion quilting","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/quilting\/free-motion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/IMG_0312-300x214.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3169,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2017\/08\/23\/holi-ganesha-finished\/","url_meta":{"origin":1296,"position":4},"title":"Holi Ganesha — finished!","author":"Sandy","date":"August 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A couple of months ago, I posted the top to this quilt, and now it's finished. Yay! For some reason, I didn't completely paralyze myself this time with those awful inner questions: How should I quilt this? What if it doesn't look okay? Will I mess up? -- and so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Appliqu\u00e9"","block_context":{"text":"Appliqu\u00e9","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/quilting\/applique\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Holi-Ganesha1-300x247.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3486,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2018\/07\/13\/ruler-wrap\/","url_meta":{"origin":1296,"position":5},"title":"Ruler Wrap","author":"Sandy","date":"July 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"About two weeks ago I began working on a new bag, taking a break of several days in the middle while we had a houseguest, and I finished it last night. 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