I love all the Granny Squares I’ve been seeing out in blogland. Their snappiness speaks to me. But the waste of the outer squares in many of the tutes I’ve seen bothered me. So I set about finding a way to make the blocks without the waste. If you have followed my blog for long you know I love my Nifty Notions 1/2 square and 1/4 square rulers. I now love them even more as they have allowed me to make these great blocks without the waste. Let me tell you how.
First you will need a 2″ strip of fabric, 1- 2 1/2″ square for your center, 4- 2 1/2″ squares for your first ring and 8- 2 1/2″ squares for your outer ring.
From your 2″ strip use the Nifty Notions rulers to cut 4- 1/4 squares and 8- 1/2 squares. If you keep your strip doubled you can cut one set of 1/4 squares then cut your 8- 1/2 squares and end with the remaining set of 1/4 squares. No waste. I know I’m a little fanatical, but fabric is expensive.
Lay out your pieces.
Sew into rows
Sew your rows together.
Trim off your dog ears and your block is done.
Repeat easy peasy!
Great job. It is such an easy block to make. Yood job figuring how to eliminate the waste.
Way to go, Em! With the tools and apps available now to make those set in and corner triangles, it does seem a shame to just waste the fabric! Love your blocks, too!!
That sounds like a great ruler! Thanks for giving a new option.
I was bothered by the waste too. I was also bothered by the fact that the edges of the block would be on the bias. So I cute my tringles from a square by cutting diagonally and then again diagibakky, The corners were HST.
Thanks so much for this. I love the granny squares,too, and you've done all the figuring! Maybe now I can get some made. 😉
Thank you for this post! I love this block but resisted making it because all the patterns I saw had bias edges on the outside of the block. Yours doesn't. This is great!