I belong to a mixed up generation who grew up using cm for measuring lengths, miles to measure distance, feet and inches to measure height and lbs and ounces to measure weight. What a mess is all I can say. I cannot possibly tell you how tall I am in cm and even now I have to check how many ounces are in 100g when I'm cooking. I am just about getting the hang of km but 100 km an hour sounds outrageously fast when in reality it is only 60 mph. On the other hand it is easier to stick to a 50 kph speed limit than a 30 mph limit as it just sounds faster and that I'll get there quicker!

What to use when quilting? Since I started quilting when I lived in North Carolina, I automatically started using inches. All my rulers were in inches, my cutting mat etc. So now in Germany I continue using inches. Most of the groups I am in are heavily dominated by US quilters and so inches is the norm. But now I am a member of some European bees I am beginning to have to use cm.

So why when I am so used to cm from school (in fact I think I can better guesstimate a cm than an inch) does it throw my brain into a meltdown when I try and think of a quilt block in cm?

I actually christened my cm measuring ruler by making these blocks for Monika for The Euro Bee. I have had it for about 5 years but never used it to measure with.



Monika asked for strips and squares in blocks measuring 19cm. And you know what sewing the blocks was easy! At last my European machine came into its own. It has 0.5cm marked for the seam allowance. No effort needed to make sure I get 1/4" seam. It pretty much sewed itself!



Next time I will try a more complicated block to try and get to grips with all the maths involved with seam allowances etc! Still one step at a time! Before you know it I will be a bi-measuring-quilter!