4.5" square-in-a-square block, deconstructed

following the (eventual) success of finding the measurements for an exact cut method for the 3.5" square-in-a-square block, i've worked out the measurements for the 4.5" block. at first i was a bit perplexed how to do this since the first time around, i simply measured a completed block made with the flip-and-stitch method to discover the completed measurements. but i didn't have a completed 4.5" block to measure. i was going to make one with the other method first, but then i thought i could just draw one and take measurements. and it totally worked! (and despite the wonky, distorted look of the above photo, this block is spot on.)

here are the measurements:

center square - 3 3/8", diagonal orientation

2 corner squares - 3" each, cut in half on the diagonal

below follows a quick demo of cutting for this block.

 i wanted to fussy cut my center square. to make this as easy as possible, i used my 3.5" square ruler, which is 1/8" over size. first, i aligned the square where i wanted to cut, around a cluster of mushrooms and flowers.

 just a slice on each side and i have a square out.

 then i used the ruler to measure off that extra 1/8" on two sides so my square would measure 3 3/8" rather than 3 1/2" i first cut. the green border on the top two sides of the diamond are 1/8", making this easy.

 on a larger ruler, the 3 3/8"measurement looks like the above photo. if you look at the far right side, you can see the little, shorter dash marks on the grid lines that are the 1/8" measurements. it's easiest to see just to the right of the circle with 45 in it (which is marking the angled lines passing thru, not the across measurements).

 next, cut two 3" squares and bisect them on the diagonal to make four triangles for the corners.

attach as with the 3.5" block.

there will be a tiny bit left over to trim off each side. use the 4.5" ruler, or a larger one, to square off the block. again, to get the best points, make sure each of your points is lined up 1/4" away from the edge of the block. if you look closely, you can see my points are all 1/4" away from the  ruler's edge. this means i got the measurements for the center square right. i was pretty happy to see this the first time around! it's so nice when math works out.