See How Making Curved Corners Just Got Easier

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Lazies, I found a new tool I simply must have. I didn’t even realize I needed it until I saw a video demonstration and I had a light bulb moment.

This is my Sassy Bag design (pattern #108). All of the pieces for this bag design are rotary cut strips and pieces. That means straight lines and square corners. But I wanted rounded corners for the flap and body of the bag as shown below.

In order to round the corners, I needed to find a template with just the right curve. Then I had to accurately use the curve for a perfect finish for each of the four corners.

I scoured my sewing room while designing the Sassy Bag and I happened to have a spool of elastic with just the right size round base. I created a template from that spool and transferred it to the pattern.

Coming from a sewing background, the only bona fide tool I had in my arsenal to make the curve I needed was a french curve. Have you ever used these things? They are fine and they do what they are supposed to do, but I need to use the same part of the curve more than once. Most of these tools don’t have marking to use as a guide, so using a french curve the way I needed to is a gamble at best.

Non-Slip Curved Corner Cutter Ruler
So, here’s the tool that’s got me ga-ga for curves. It’s the Non-Slip Curved Corner Cutter Ruler from Creative Grids. I have got to get one of these. I don’t even own one yet and it already has me dreaming about how to use it.

 
Here’s a link to the video demonstration at Checker Newsletter,
the new blog for Checker Distributors.

I’m a little embarrassed to tell you this, but I should have fallen in love with this tool before now. Although it’s new, my friend Rita is the Demo Goddess on the video for the link above. That means she’s had this tool for a little while, knows how to use it and has probably told me all about it at some point in time.

But I didn’t realize this tool fit a need that I already had until I watched the video and had one of those ‘a-ha’ moments. Rita aligned the tool on a cornerstone on a block. Using this ruler, Rita could cut that corner quicker and more accurately than I ever have.

Rita did the same thing to that cornerstone that I do when I use my home made template to round the corners on my Sassy Bag. I don’t know how many Sassy Bags I’ve made over the years, but I feel like I’m re-inventing the wheel every time I round a corner. I still use the original template I made so long ago, but it could be better.

The diagonal line at each curve of the ruler is part of the magic. The edges of the tool match the edges of the item being cut, the diagonal line points to the corner -smart! That is an extra guarantee that the tool is properly aligned before cutting.

Rita will be demonstrating this ruler (as well as others) at the American Quilter’s Society show in Paducah soon. Rita will be in booth #1705, right next to the big AQS booth as you enter the showroom. Again, here’s a link to the video demonstration. Go watch, enjoy and dream.

Image courtesy of Checker Distributors.