My camera has gone absent-without-leave - grrr.  There is a $1 reward for anyone who finds it, so keep your eyes open.  ;)  Hopefully it turns up soon because I have a little red wagon and wheelbarrow full of tomatoes I would like to take pictures of, not to mention a birthday party tomorrow and the fair later this week.  This week is not the idea time for the camera to decide to take a vacation.

But the point of the missing camera story is that I am going to do the tutorial on how to cut the 9x9 inch squares with minimal waste for the Heather Ross Swap without pictures.

Step One:
Unfold the yard of fabric completely.  Fold the fabric in half the opposite way, so that the selvages are folded back on themselves.  Instead of the selvages being opposite the fold, as fabric normally comes off of the bolt, the selvages will be on either side of the fold.

Step Two:
Trim off one of the selvages.

Step Three:
Starting at the newly trimmed side, cut off four 9x36 inch strips.  You should have a remaining scrap of fabric that is approx. 7x36 inches.  (Much better than a bunch of 9 inch scraps.)

Step Four:
Cut each 9x36 inch strip into four 9x9 squares.  Measure your strip before you start to know how much wiggle room you have.  Some stores give you 36.25 inches when you order a yard and some stores cut off a more generous 37 inch yard of fabric.

Step Five:
Package up your 16 squares and send them to me!