Problem spacing points in a ring

[yarnexpress]

Hi,
I'm trying to draft a Seven Sisters block enclosed in an outer ring of points. To simplify things I'm only drafting a quarter of the block. The quarter ring has 8 outward points, & 7 + 2 half inward points. I'll attach the file. I probably approached this the hard way but this is what I did. Since in the entire 360 degree ring there are a total of 64 point, inward & outward. I set the angle 5.625 degrees (360/64) & set the base to 90 degrees. I also set the rotation to draw 64 lines, if I was doing the entire circle. In Design mode I used straight line. I then drew a line from the lower right corner to the upper right corner. This gave me the radiating lines; I have to assume the angles were correct but it looked good.

Next I drew lines from a point on the outer part of the ring, to a point on the inner part of the ring using the radiating lines I had previously drawn. I tried drawing these lines using point to point & straight line modes. I then removed the radiating lines.

When I print the templates, I'm getting a template for every patch. I checked the outward pointing templates; 6 were identical and 2 were a different size but identical to each other.

I can't figure out why these patches aren't all the same size. I'm attaching the file. The 2 patches that are different are B.B & B.A.A.A.A.C.

Also when I try to print the templates, my only choice is to print a template for each patch.

Thanks,

Doris

[yarnexpress]

Hi,
While pondering this issue, I thouht that perhaps that the fractional number of degrees might be the issue. (3 decimal places)

I decided to try to change the number of points to 30, for the entire circle. This allowed me to draw the radiating marking lines at a 6 degree angle. I did everything else the same. After drawing the radiating lines, I deselected snap to angle, selected snap to corner, mode point to point, & rotations to 30.

I drew the point using the intersections of the marking lines at the inner & outer insection. The number of rotations automatically completed all other necessary points. I then erased all extraneous lines.

For printing the templates, QA "wanted" to print 19 (I think) of 30 pieces. I printed the templates checked for duplicates & varying sizes of points in the outer ring. I only had 1 template for the outward point & 1 for the inward so the problem is solved. I can only assume that QA really didn't like that fractional degree.

I used the naming mode to select only the 9 unique templates I needed to piece the circle. (I drafted only 1 quarter of the design so there were a number of extraneous partial pieces.)

I think circles are a bit tricky in QA. Maybe a tutorial would be a good idea, a Mariner's Compass block?

Doris

[Madhu]

Thank you for this amazing tool! I am drafting some blocks with 15" circles, so this has been a great help! 
However, I have some problems, which I hope you shall be able to help me with!
1. Snap to angle - am not sure exactly how it works. To draft a mariner's compass I need radiating lines but am unable to get the correct angles! Also, it rounds off the angles to the tenth ( one decimal place). Can you not add an option of how many radiating lines one wants in the circle, instead of specifying degrees? Thus if I want 64 radiating lines , that is the option provided! Instead of 360/64 degrees!
2. I name the sections for paper piecing, but the naming cannot be saved. Also despite naming the sub assemblies, the print preview shows all the pieces separately.
3. What is the purpose of the mirroring option under the print menu?
Thank you!
Madhu

[Arnout]

Hi Madhu,

If you want to draw a compass or other shape with radial symmetry, the easiest way is to use the "Symmetry Settings..." in the "Display" menu. There you can switch on "Rotational Symmetry" and specify how many lines (64 in your example) you want.
With rotational symmetry, if you draw one line, the other ones are drawn automatically. Just experiment to get a feel for it.

When naming pieces for paper piecing, two things are important:
1. All pieces in the entire design must be named, before the software can print the sections. This is because the software will re-group the shapes internally before printing them.
2. The pieces must be suitable for paper piecing. If not, the software may still print them as separate pieces even if you manually assigned them to the same named group.
Again, it is best to experiment first with a small test design.

The mirroring option in the print menu is there mostly for paper piecing: when you sew onto the printed paper, the completed patchwork will be a mirror image of the design. So by printing the paper piece sections mirrored, the final result will match the on-screen design.

Hope this helps.
Arnout