Well, just so you know, I'm sorting through all my gadgets and getting organized. During this process I'm coming across many gadgets that I have been using for quite awhile so I decided to get started with some of these. The first thing I picked up were these neat little triangle trimmers from Fons and Porter.
The purpose of trimming your triangles is twofold. You eliminate the dog ears -- you know, those little extras that hang off your corners and cause bulk -- but I think the best reason is to help align triangles and squares when creating blocks.
If you've ever made a square in a square block without these trimmers, it means you've done a lot of guessing in attaching those triangles to the square block. You would think that attaching a triangle to a square shouldn't be a big deal but that little extra fabric on the corners of the triangles make it almost impossible to align them properly on the square. Trimming the triangles eliminates the need for guesswork. I was going to try to do a set of pictures to demonstrate these but I found a fantastic video at http://www.fonsandporter.com/aspx/fonsandporter/Videos/ViewVideo.aspx?v=1889
Check it out and see how these trimmers work.
You can purchase these trimmers at quilt shops and also at chain stores that carry Fons and Porter products. They cost about $10.
When I first started using the trimmers, I tried using them for all of my triangles. To be quite honest, it became a bit tedious. But I do use them faithfully when attaching triangles to squares. I find that my blocks are much more accurate and my points are more consistent. This means it takes less time to assemble my quilt top and I don't lose my points -- a factor that is very important to me.
So try these out and let me know what you think!
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