Inkscape: How do I make a perfect 45 degree circular curve

I know I can easily make partial circles by entering in the degrees. But my problem is that I just want the stroke of the curve of the circle itself. I keep ending up with something like this.

what I really want is just the curve and not the lines connecting that center node. I try to delete that node directly, but then I get an undesirable line connecting the two remaining points. Any suggestions?