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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Raise Your E-Notion IQ- Quilter's Rule WonderCut Ruler Review



It is Wednesday again...and time to Raise Your E-Notion IQ!  Last Wednesday I was very Lazy and I let Joan Hawley, Lazy Girl Designs, do the explaining for me(if you missed it...click here).  This week....I'm even lazier...if you can believe that! 

A friend of mine, Karin from Sew Write Creations,wrote the following product review after purchasing the Wonder Cut Ruler from I Have A Notion (IHAN).  She did such a great job I figured I wouldn't re-create the wheel...I'd just let Karin tell ya!  So, without further ado....here's Karin's review :)

"I asked for it because I wanted to do a Carpenter’s Star wall hanging.  I watched the video (posted below) and read the directions (yeah, I know, that’s a first for me!) – they made cutting perfect half-square triangles look easy and fool-proof. You know I’m still a newbie quilter (and probably will be for years to come!) and you know how much I *hate* math. So, when I read that all the triangles could be cut out in just a couple of hours, using this ruler, I just knew I had to have this new gadget. You and  your elves got it to me in record time, and I already had the fabric, so I was good to go in just a few days.

Actually FOLLOWING the directions was a first for me. So, all I had to figure out was how big I wanted my wall hanging to be and how big I wanted each finished square. NO MATH – I just lined up the ruler and cut! Could it get any easier?? Oh yeah, baby, it can and it did! After I cut my strips, I sewed ‘em together down both long sides……still wasn’t sure how this was going to work, but, armed with faith and the computer nearby and tuned to the Wonder Cut directions I cut and sewed the other 2 sets of strips. Fabrics 1 and 2 together, Background and Fabric 1 and finally, Background and Fabric2.

Once more, I referred to the written directions and the video before I started cutting. Why, you ask? Because I haven’t got that Beam ‘n Read yet, and I cannot see well enough to rip out my mistakes, so I must do it right the first time (or buy extra fabric, which I’ve been known to do!). So, the video tells me to line the ruler up on the edge of the fabric, using the line that will give me the correct size square and cut on both sides, then flip the ruler to the other edge and cut down both sides again – here’s my first cut:

making them involved measuring (twice) rectangles, cutting them out, drawing a line down the middle, drawing another line making the triangles, sewing, cutting, cutting again, and hoping like heck I’d measured and figured properly. So, now, you can imagine just how thrilled I was to open up this perfect little square and know that I no longer had to waste time measuring, drawing, cutting and hoping!!
In no time flat, I had me neat little piles of perfectly sized half-square triangles:
Here’s what they all looked like as I started to put them together:


here’s the “pattern” I was working from, so you can see it was no small feat to get all my triangles lined up the right way:

it all turned out:

So, what’s all this mean? And what’s it got to do with the Wonder Cut ruler? Well, it’s taken me longer to write up this post than it took me to cut and sew all these pesky HST’s. Could I have accomplished it using my usual tool (a 6 x 24” ruler)?? Probably. Could I have done it right the first time, every time? Probably not. Could I have done it without using Driver’s math skills? Definitely not. Would I have even attempted it? Not on your life. Was there ever a moment of regret for spending that much money on a ruler? Well, maybe, but the beautiful finished product and the time saved have certainly outweighed the expense."

There you have it folks!!  Thank you Karin for your great review and honest review (and for doing my job for me today)!!! 
 


If you prefer written directions, here are the Wonder Cut Ruler Directions.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Smiles,
Kelly

9 comments:

  1. If you do a lot of HST this is the best ruler to use. I can not believer how easy it all works out when you follow the directions. I have had mine for a few years and it is one of the best rulers out there for HST, in my opinion. It is worth every penny!

    Rosemary

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  2. I love how the rulers help to cut and make piecing easier.
    I tend to use the method of sewing, then cutting, usually works, lol.

    Debbie

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  3. Just wondering how the bias edges worked for you?

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  4. Thanks, Kelly, for getting that ruler to me, lickety-split!! IHAN is truly my first stop for all things notion!! Great value, great service, and always a smile - what more could you ask for??

    Now, about those bias edges, let me just say, "WHAT bias edges?" Actually, I knew they were there, but I starched & pressed the fabric prior to making any cuts, and I did handle the squares gently, and lo & behold, all the points were there when I needed 'em. I swear, it was magic. I still don't fully understand how it worked, but honestly....does it matter? Not to me!

    The only issue I had (and Kelly's just too polite to mention it) was that I didn't have a real pattern - I had only that little picture that I'd printed off the Wonder Cut website. I worked from the blue example, seeing as how my fabric was blue....I know, not very imaginative, was it?

    Putting all the squares together in the right order wasn't too bad...but I had the overhead fan going. And Driver (that's hubby, for those who wondered) was playing throw the squeak with puppy, and it landed on the table more than once. And once the squares moved or got turned a little, it was hard to figure out the correct layout.

    And, being without pattern and REALLY bad at math (REALLY REALLY bad), I made a few too many HST's. Which turned out not to be a problem, because I had enough to make a small table runner out of the extras and a few scraps. If ya wantta save yourself the trouble, and be frugal with your fabric, you could always buy the pattern from Kelly - she's got a linky-link up above! :)

    So, that's the real deal - it's a great ruler to make HST's and Kelly's the place to get all your notions!! (nope, she didn't pay me to say that, it's the truth as I see it!!)

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  5. Someday I'm going to need more rulers - I only have one - and this looks like a great one, thanks Kelly!

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  6. Thank you for this tutorial. I bought this ruler over a year ago and haven't touched it once! I was just too chicken! Now I can't wait to give it a go!

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  7. I just used my Wonder Cut ruler for the first time this past weekend. I didn't starch my fabric though, and I have yet to decide what I'm going to use my 3-fabric HSTs for...
    I must say, they look very cute on my design wall ...

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  8. NOW this I love ...I have these rulers and I never am quite sure how to use them...this is fabulous...now you need to add print friendly on your blog Kelly..cause these things we need to keep...btw. 1/4 inch ruler..have one?

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  9. Wow....that mkes an awesome quilt!!

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Thank you for reading the IHAN Blog. I love getting and reading every comment that is left here; however I may not be able to respond to all comments left during giveaways. There are times when I am juggling many tasks at one time and may not reply to all comments. Please e-mail me at quiltnotions@gmail.com if you need a reply quickly. I thank you for your understanding and-
More Later-Beth

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