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#1
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trigonometry/geometry help please
Good morning veryone
I know there is someone out there who can help me. Trigonometry/geometry was never my strong point back in high school (and that's been a while), and at the time I never thought I would have any use for it in real life. As a doctor I don't use it, but who'd have guessed that it would come in handy in my quilting forays! I am currently working on a sampler quilt. 56 12" blocks, all different. I got most from quilter's cache (www.quilterscache.com). Right now, the block I'm struggling with is called kite's tail. For this I need four blocks set on point. That means I need four squares with a diagonal of 3.5" (including seam allowance) to make a 12" block. So what size do I need to cut my squares to make a square with a 3.5" diagonal? The instructions on the site say to cut a 4.5" block. I did that. Spent a good part of my class yesterday sewing these pieces together, only to end up with a block that would have done great as a placemat (and a large one at that!). Obviously 4.5" square is too large! So I fiddled around with Pythagoras for a while, but when it came to doing square root calcualtions I gave up. I then fiddled around with an omnigrid ruler and I came up with a measurement of 2.5" squares to give me a 3.5" diagonal. Is this correct? I really don't want to cut into the too large fabric squares until I'm sure; now they are too large so I can easily fix that but if I then cut them too small, it will be a problem! IS there an easy way of calculating these things? Is there a handy website that will give you measurements like these? Please help! Thanks Claudia |
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#2
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trigonometry/geometry help please
Yes, Claudia, your 2.5" squares will give you a diagonal that's as near
as dammit to 3.5". The diagonal will *always* be longer than the side of the square, so if you remember that, you will know in future that the 4.5" could never have been right. I suggest that, if you know you are not strong on this kind of thing, acquire a pad of graph paper - even if it is metric it would help although the measurements are in inches. If you are stuck like this again, just draw out what you want - the abstract becomes visual and any problems usually clear up straight away. Hope this helps. No doubt there is a ready reckoner somewhere, but with graph paper you don't really need it. .. In message , claudia writes Good morning veryone I know there is someone out there who can help me. Trigonometry/geometry was never my strong point back in high school (and that's been a while), and at the time I never thought I would have any use for it in real life. As a doctor I don't use it, but who'd have guessed that it would come in handy in my quilting forays! I am currently working on a sampler quilt. 56 12" blocks, all different. I got most from quilter's cache (www.quilterscache.com). Right now, the block I'm struggling with is called kite's tail. For this I need four blocks set on point. That means I need four squares with a diagonal of 3.5" (including seam allowance) to make a 12" block. So what size do I need to cut my squares to make a square with a 3.5" diagonal? The instructions on the site say to cut a 4.5" block. I did that. Spent a good part of my class yesterday sewing these pieces together, only to end up with a block that would have done great as a placemat (and a large one at that!). Obviously 4.5" square is too large! So I fiddled around with Pythagoras for a while, but when it came to doing square root calcualtions I gave up. I then fiddled around with an omnigrid ruler and I came up with a measurement of 2.5" squares to give me a 3.5" diagonal. Is this correct? I really don't want to cut into the too large fabric squares until I'm sure; now they are too large so I can easily fix that but if I then cut them too small, it will be a problem! IS there an easy way of calculating these things? Is there a handy website that will give you measurements like these? Please help! Thanks Claudia -- Best Regards pat on the hill |
#3
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trigonometry/geometry help please
My down-and-dirty method for this sort of thing is to measure off the
desired diagonal length on the 45-degree line of my cutting mat, then follow the next biggest vertical (or horizontal) line down to the row of numbers. Math-free! Roberta in D On Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:41:15 -0700 (PDT), claudia wrote: Good morning veryone I know there is someone out there who can help me. Trigonometry/geometry was never my strong point back in high school (and that's been a while), and at the time I never thought I would have any use for it in real life. As a doctor I don't use it, but who'd have guessed that it would come in handy in my quilting forays! I am currently working on a sampler quilt. 56 12" blocks, all different. I got most from quilter's cache (www.quilterscache.com). Right now, the block I'm struggling with is called kite's tail. For this I need four blocks set on point. That means I need four squares with a diagonal of 3.5" (including seam allowance) to make a 12" block. So what size do I need to cut my squares to make a square with a 3.5" diagonal? The instructions on the site say to cut a 4.5" block. I did that. Spent a good part of my class yesterday sewing these pieces together, only to end up with a block that would have done great as a placemat (and a large one at that!). Obviously 4.5" square is too large! So I fiddled around with Pythagoras for a while, but when it came to doing square root calcualtions I gave up. I then fiddled around with an omnigrid ruler and I came up with a measurement of 2.5" squares to give me a 3.5" diagonal. Is this correct? I really don't want to cut into the too large fabric squares until I'm sure; now they are too large so I can easily fix that but if I then cut them too small, it will be a problem! IS there an easy way of calculating these things? Is there a handy website that will give you measurements like these? Please help! Thanks Claudia |
#4
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trigonometry/geometry help please
On Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:42:23 +0000, Patti
wrote: Yes, Claudia, your 2.5" squares will give you a diagonal that's as near as dammit to 3.5". The diagonal will *always* be longer than the side of the square, so if you remember that, you will know in future that the 4.5" could never have been right. I suggest that, if you know you are not strong on this kind of thing, acquire a pad of graph paper - even if it is metric it would help although the measurements are in inches. If you are stuck like this again, just draw out what you want - the abstract becomes visual and any problems usually clear up straight away. Hope this helps. No doubt there is a ready reckoner somewhere, but with graph paper you don't really need it. Claudia, I'm one of the math impaired quilters of the world, and yet I enjoy resizing blocks to fit my desires. Patti is so right. When in doubt, I draw it out. Once I have the block drawn to the proper size I can trace any needed pieces onto typing paper and then add my seam allowances. With the perfect piece templates in front of me I can measure, cut, and sew any block in whatever size I choose. No need to rely on my math, someone else's measurements or math, a website, or odd formulas. I hope this helps you out of your next quilting math problem. Debra My art for sale at: http://www.redbubble.com/people/DesignsByDeb |
#5
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trigonometry/geometry help please
To find the length of the side of a square when you know the diagonal,
divide by 1.4 (the square root of 2, rounded to one decimal place). Your ruler gave you the right answer; 3.5 divided by 1/4 equals 2.5. To find the diagonal when you know the length of the side, multiply by 1.4. Julia in MN claudia wrote: Good morning veryone I know there is someone out there who can help me. Trigonometry/geometry was never my strong point back in high school (and that's been a while), and at the time I never thought I would have any use for it in real life. As a doctor I don't use it, but who'd have guessed that it would come in handy in my quilting forays! I am currently working on a sampler quilt. 56 12" blocks, all different. I got most from quilter's cache (www.quilterscache.com). Right now, the block I'm struggling with is called kite's tail. For this I need four blocks set on point. That means I need four squares with a diagonal of 3.5" (including seam allowance) to make a 12" block. So what size do I need to cut my squares to make a square with a 3.5" diagonal? The instructions on the site say to cut a 4.5" block. I did that. Spent a good part of my class yesterday sewing these pieces together, only to end up with a block that would have done great as a placemat (and a large one at that!). Obviously 4.5" square is too large! So I fiddled around with Pythagoras for a while, but when it came to doing square root calcualtions I gave up. I then fiddled around with an omnigrid ruler and I came up with a measurement of 2.5" squares to give me a 3.5" diagonal. Is this correct? I really don't want to cut into the too large fabric squares until I'm sure; now they are too large so I can easily fix that but if I then cut them too small, it will be a problem! IS there an easy way of calculating these things? Is there a handy website that will give you measurements like these? Please help! Thanks Claudia -- ----------- This message has been scanned for viruses by Norton Anti-Virus http://webpages.charter.net/jaccola/default ----------- |
#6
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trigonometry/geometry help please
Thanks for all the help girls.
This thread is being printed as we "speak" for storage in the absolute must keep reference file! Thanks Claudia |
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