Quiltville mystery part 2

120 MORE square in a squares. I've only finished 80 of the first batch. Whimper.

But, here's a tip for those of you who aren't using the Easy Square Jr. ruler:

I have a Creative Grids ruler that is 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" which is perfect for this tip, but you can do this with other small rulers. See the next paragraph for additional directions. Put tape on the top side of the ruler 1/4" from the edge and 1 3/4" from each corner of the finished size of the block. Make a dot or an x on the tape. This is where the corners of the inner square will fall.

This will work with a 6 x 6 or other small ruler too. You just have to put a piece of tape on the top surface outside the 3 1/2" line so you don't have to squint at the markings when you trim. You only have to line the tape up with the sides of the block for your second set of cuts.

Here's a picture that might help:

I used gold marks because they show up well on the blue center squares we are making. This isn't the one I am using; I marked my 3 1/2" ruler. I made this one quickly to show you, so you should probably be more accurate adding the tape and marks to your ruler. But you see how this can speed things up. Lay the ruler on the untrimmed block with the x's on the corners of the inside blue square and cut the top and right sides. Rotate the half-trimmed block 180 degrees and realign the x's with the corners, checking that the trimmed sides align with the tape at 3 1/2". Then trim the other two sides. Much faster, and no searching for your reading glasses to see the marks on the ruler!