Michigan rules

Today I finished the quilt top for my Michigan (aka Labyrinth)  quilt.

The inspiration for choosing this pattern came from a design that was on the elevator floor of the hotel where we stayed in Michigan.

As I worked on making this quilt, I realized just how many different rulers I used to create it.  I know I'm not alone in buying the occasional specialty ruler, but there are a few handy ones that I use over and over again.

First is the 6 X 24" long ruler for cutting strips:

Next is the 6 X 12" ruler for subcutting the strips into smaller units:

The one real specialty ruler I used was the "Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star" ruler that is used to make perfectly pointed Lemoyne Star blocks. (more about that ruler in this post)

Another handy ruler I use often is the "Tucker Trimmer" which comes in handy when you make a purposely oversize block, and then trim it down to size.  I used the large size Tucker Trimmer to trim the center star:

What's handy about the Tucker Trimmer is the diagonal lines, and the center square that help you find the exact center of the block you are trimming so that you trim it evenly all around.

I also used the small version of the Tucker Trimmer to square up all the 3" half square triangles:

You can use the large Tucker Trimmer to trim small blocks, but it gets kind of unwieldy to work so far away from your body.

Lastly, I used the Quick Trim and Circle ruler (more about that ruler in this post) to make the triangles that I needed to add to the Lemoyne star in the center:

A girl collects a lot of rulers when she's been quilting for almost 20 years!  Yikes! That's still a lot of rulers!

Other than the Lemoyne Star ruler, the cuts using the trimmer rulers could all be done using the markings on the average rulers, but being lazy, and since I happen to have them in my sewing room, I prefer the trimmer rulers.

I'm not advertising any particular ruler, just thought I'd share a couple that I find myself using most often and that are versatile enough to be used in a variety of projects.