TeresaA

Hi,

I ordered Donna Lynn Thomas' On Point ruler after the Generations Quilt site convined me that I should, LOL. (No Affil!)

The benefit of this ruler is that it allows making on-point pieces where the diagonal on the piece is an even size. Ordinarily if you make a 2" (finished) half square triangle, say, the diagonal measurement would be 2*sqrt(2) (=2.8). This makes it difficult to rotary cut blocks that contain on-point components and have them be a standard size, like 12" finished block. You have to round your numbers to fit the rotary ruler and it's just a little messy. You might end up with something that is a little over 12", and say if you want to match it with other 12 inch components, it makes things hard.

So with this ruler, you make cuts where you only care about the diagonal measurement and it sort of calculates what the horizontal/vertical measurements need to be to make that diagonal.

As money was burning a hole in my pocket, and I needed retail therapy to boost my inspiration, I thought this might be a good tool to have. I like making my own block patterns from old books and figured that having it might minimize the amount of drafting/template creation I'd need to do.

Does anyone else have this tool and think it's awesome? boring? a gimmick? good or bad to have? What uses have you made for it? Thanks for any info.

PaperPrincess

Yes! I have this tool! and Yes! I have never used it but had to have it! I think I will eventually, but just not yet.

TeresaA

Well, maybe at some point you and I should have a On Point ruler challenge ;-). I'll let you know when it arrives!

PaperPrincess

Sounds like a plan. I saw a demonstration video and was so intrigued I had to get it. I'll have to rewatch it (after I find it!) to see if I can rekindle my interest.

Battle Axe

I have done about 4 tops on point without the ruler. I was interested to try to understand how things are measured. I do it by trial and error. I guess I am working backwards, I had a prof. in college tell me that I approached a problem by coming in the back door. It's just how my mind works.

Thanks for sharing this info. I ordered a used book on Amazon.

Marcia

Onebyone

It's very cheap price on Amazon now but the ruler is listed as sport beads! I don't know what I'd get, the ruler or the beads. LOL

Granchris

It does look interesting but not sure I'd spend $20.

Onebyone

The $20 price at Amazon is a bargain price, but you don't know what you are getting! Either the ruler or the beads. LOL Big mix up. I ordered it to see if I do get the ruler. If the ruler great. It will be an obscure specialty ruler in a few years and impossible to find.

RedGarnet222

I hope this helps someone with those measurements for setting on point.

TeresaA

The ruler is more for cutting pieces for on-point blocks so that the finished block is an even size. It's not for setting whole quilts on point. For those, you still do the math, but the math can come from a more easily measurable number because your blocks are an even size. The even size is important, because say, you want to mix a block with on-point elements with other 12" block that perhaps don't have on-point elements. If you want the finished size of the on-point block to be 12", you absolutely have to use templates -- or this ruler. If you use Math, the result is that either the on-point elements won't have an even measurement or the non-on-point elements won't have an even measurement so your resulting blocks won't be 12". It's a drafting tool, really. The Generations Quilt site has more detail, but it looks like my link to it was taken away. Maybe when I get the tool, I'll post a tutorial.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had made use of it, but maybe no? PaperPrincess, you're still on for the challenge. ;-).

Yeah, I wrote Amazon about the description error, beads? but no response. I ended up ordering the ruler from another site. It's not here yet!