Using Omnigrid Instead

As a bit of a rest from the step two nine patchers, I decided to do some hour glass blocks. I don't have the ruler Bonnie recommended, but the Omnigrid 98 ruler is a perfect substitute. Put the "3" line against the cut edge of your fabric strip. The pointed tip of your ruler will
stick above the edge of your 2 inch strip, but that is okay. If you want your strip to be the exact size to match the ruler, make your strip 2 1/8 inches wide.

I layer a red and white fabric strip with the white on top. (In fact, I layer the red and white fabrics together when I'm cutting the strips, then I know that they are exactly the same width.)

I find that putting the the fabric strip vertically works best for me. In the first picture I have just cut off the squared edge of the strip, a left to right cut. Without moving the ruler, I will next make a right to left cut. Both of these cuts are moving away from my body.

I'm using a 17 x 11 cutting mat, and I find that I can make more accurate cuts by turning the mat instead of moving the fabric strip. In the second picture you can see that I don't place the edge of the ruler against the cut edge. I find it's more accurate to cut a new edge on the top. Then I'll cut the edge below, lift the ruler and remove the cut triangles. Then I turn my cutting mat and do the whole thing over again.