Measure Twice?

Measure twice, cut once.  This should be my mantra.  Actually, more like calculate twice.  I know why I had so much trouble getting started on my french braid - I was not too comfortable with my plans. As I now know, my dimensions are not ideal on the table runner - the braids are narrower than I think they should be.  But it's what I needed, to get the overall dimensions I wanted.  I should have sketched it to scale - I might have rethought the whole thing.

But now I'm committed.  And there are placemats planned to go with the runner.  So I cut those out yesterday, after a quick calculation to scale my runner down to the right size for an insert in the placements.  Except, as I sewed them together today I realized that I calculated them COMPLETELY wrong.  7"x12", rather than 3"x12".  Wow.  That is NOT going to work.

So, recalculate (when using a "square in a square" calculator, it is useful to know the difference between inside square length and outside square length).  Then I eyed my (very small) pile of fabric. I bought just what I needed this time, rather than over-indulging in the pretty stuff.  But fortunately since I'm working with 1.25" strips, it didn't need a lot to re-cut the placemats.  I cut new strips (wider and shorter) and hopefully I can get these assembled soon.

Unfortunately, I think this leaves me without any yardage for binding, so I guess a quilt shop visit is in my future this week.

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