Category Archives: Hollow Cube 60

Play Among the Stars

I’ve been playing among the stars, literally! In August I will be going to Amy’s Quilt Room in Union Town, PA to teach a One Block Wonder (OBW) Workshop. I want to show them how to design aound a panel and how to add hexies/stars of different sizes.

The panel is Salt Water Dreaming by Spirit of the Bush, it measures 41.5″ x 27″. I decided to cut my strips 3.25″ to yield 5″ finished hexies. When you want to add hexies/stars/cubes of different sizes, they must be divisible by the original size of the hexies. Deb Tucker’s Star 60 tool makes it easy to do this.

15″ Star Block – This 15″ star is divisible by 5″. This star includes 2 rings of 2.5″ finished Capped 60 units. Your units are always half the size of the finished hexie.

Center: 6 repeats cut into 3.25” strips = a 5” finished hexie.
Companion Triangle: (Black Fabric) Cut 1 – 3.25” WOF strip, cut 6 triangles using the 60 degree line .
Inner Capped 60: ( Orange point, yellow Trapezoid) Make 12 – 2.5” Capped 60 units. Cut two 2” WOF strips from a medium and light fabric.
Half Hexagons: (Bronze fabric) Cut one 3” WOF strip. Using the Star 60 ruler, place the 5.5” line on the bottom of the strip and cut 6 half hexies from a medium fabric.
Outer Capped 60: (Gold points, orange trapezoids) Make 12 Capped 60 units. Cut two 2” WOF strips from a medium and light fabric.

Stitch the center hexie triangle to the black companion triangle. Press seams open.

I used Capped 60 units as side triangles to the diamond shape created by stitching the hexie center to the black triangle. I stitched the second ring of Capped 60 units on either side of the half hexie and then stitched that pieced unit to the pieced center triangle.

Stitch 3 triangles together, pressing the seams open, repeat with the other 3 triangles.

Creating with a Star Center

When I was cutting out my hexies from the aligned panels, I had a strip left that was less than 3.25″. I usually save these for cutting out smaller hexies to applique on the quilt top. This time I trimmed the strip to 2″, the size that would make diamonds for a 2.5″ finished Star 60 unit.

See Star 60 Instructions:

Star_60_01.18.22 Download

I cut the diamonds following the Star 60 instructions on pages 2 – 3. I made 12 – 2.5” finished Capped 60 units. They were trimmed down to 2.25”. Stitch a Capped 60 unit on each side of the diamonds.

Cut a 3” WOF strip. Cut 6 companion triangles. Stitch to the Star 60 Units creating a pieced diamond. Cut another 3” WOF strip. Cut 12 companion triangles. Stitch to each side of the pieced diamond.

Stitch 3 together, press seam open. Stitch the remaining 3 together and press seams open.

Another Star Variation

Center: 6 identical equilateral triangles cut from 3.25” strips. Make 6 – 2.5” Star 60 Units. I used diamonds cut from a 2” strip of 6 repeats. Follow Star 60 instructions pages 2 – 6. Stitch the triangles to the Star 60 Units.

Make 12 – 2.5” finished Capped 60 units. Follow Capped 60 Technique Sheet Instructions. Stitch the Capped 60 units on both side of the pieced diamond.

Carefully pin and stitch 3 pieced triangles together, press seams open. Stitch the remaining 3 triangles together. Press the seams open.

I encourage you to “Play Among the Stars” with the Star 60 tool and the 8 technique sheets that create:

@studio180design #star60tool #debtucker @amysquiltroom

Cubed Hexies – OBW #110

8 Replies

While I was teaching a OBW workshop at the Strong House Inn in April, I figured out how to put a hexie inside of a hollow cube. I couldn’t wait to get home and start playing.

I had 6 yards of this fabric from the Astral Voyage line by Josephine Wall and 3 Wishes Fabrics. It only had an 8″ repeat, but the design elements were large. I cut my strips 3 3/4″ for 6″ finished hexies. I make my hollow cubes using Deb Tucker’s Hollow Cube 60 Technique Sheet and the Star 60 Tool. I can make hollow cubes in 16 sizes from 3″ to 18″ finished cubes.

I wanted to start with 18″ finished cubes. I cut 2 short and 2 long frames from a light, medium and dark fabrics. I layered and aligned 6 repeats of my fabric and cut the size strips I needed. Then I cut my triangles using my Star 60 tool and following the technique sheet instructions. I layed out the triangles choosing what point I wanted in the middle.

For the first short frame, I layed out the triangle center pointing away from the short frame and the second short frame, the triangle gets turned one time to the left.

With right sides together stitch the triangles to the short frames. Press toward the triangles. Repeat for the medium and dark short frames. Add the long frames according to the Hollow Cube 60 instructions.

I layed out the framed triangles with the light ones on top.

I made three 18″, six 6″ and six 3″ finished hexies. I started by playing with the 18″ hexies and trying to decide where to place the circle of 6″ cubes in relation the 18″ hexies. Then I started to place the hexies on the right side of the 18″ hexies. BIG mistake. I know better. When designing around a panel you should always work your way around all four sides to establish the top, bottom , right & left sides. It is the same when working with hexies of different sizes. I should have designed on all sides of the 18″ hexies. Because I didn’t I was off by one triangle, you can see it on the left side just under the middle 18″ hexie. To fix that, I needed to remove a diagonal row under the middle hexie. As it was, I had 10 hexies down the left side andd 11 hexies down the right side.

Once I fixed the left side I had to totally redesign the right side. I wanted to share this so if you ever find yourself off by one triangle, you will know you have to remove a diagonal row to correct it.

My Cubed Hexies measures 83″ x 62″. I was pleased that with only an 8″ repeat I was able to get a pleasing design.

@studio180design #HollowCube60 #Star60

QT Fabric’s Queen Bee – OBW #108

5 Replies

When I started cutting the hexies from Queen Bee strips, I knew it was going to be a beautiful OBW! The Queen Bee panel is by by QT Fabrics. It measures 36″ x 44″. The Queen Bee line will be in stores June 2024.

I cut my strips for the hexies 3.25″ for 5″ finished hexies. I cut off the borders. The inner border containing flowers measured 3.25″ so I was able to use them for more hexies. I had a total of 106 hexies to design with.

I used QT Fabrics blender line Rapture to create Hollow Cube 60‘s, using the Studio 180 Design Star 60 tool. I chose Charcoal, Orange and Marigold to make the cubes and half hexies surrounding the quilt. The Rapture fabrics were perfect.

I started out by making a 15″ Hollow Cube 60 containing 5″ Hollow Cube 60’s, but I felt that it over powered the bee.

I decided to make 5″ finished Hollow Cube 60’s and Quad 60 stars.

After I completed my four sections and laid them out around the panel, I realized I needed to add a strip to the bottom of the panel to be able to join the bottom section to the panel. That meant I would have to hide the strip by appliqueing hexies. The photo on the right above shows that you can no longer see where I added the strip of fabric.

Above shows a closeup of the hidden strip. I applique hexies of various sizes to tweak my design.

TIP: When you cut your hexies from the strips, you have a leftover piece on both ends. One side of the leftover already has a 60 degree angle. If you put the 60 degree line of your ruler on the straight edge of the leftover piece as shown above and cut , you will have a small hexie that can be appliqued on your OBW. Below I have created a lesson on how I create appliqued hexies.

appliqueing-hexies Download

Queen Bee measures 65″ x 60″. I absolutely love the way my Queen Bee OBW came out. Queen Bee will be in stores June 2024.

As I was quilting Queen Bee it occurred to me I was making a Bee Line, LOL!

@all @QTFabrics @QTCreatives @Studio180Design #QTFabrics #Studio180Design #Star60 #HollowCube60 #QueenBee

Playing With My Star 60 Tool

7 Replies

I was at a quilt retreat this weekend with my quilting buddies. I brought plenty of projects to work on, but a local quilt shop had a sale going on so I bought some beautiful fabric.

Shadow Play by Maywood fabrics had a nice light, medium, dark and a great green for a backgound, everyting I needed for Hollow Cube 60’s. I had an idea and wanted to see if it would work.

I love my Star 60 tool by Deb Tucker and I love Hollow Cubes using the Hollow Cube 60 Technique Sheet. I wanted to see if I could fit a circle of 6 – 6″ hollow cubes inside a cirlcle of 6 – 18″ hollow cubes and it worked. I love the look! I bought the fabric on Thursday and made the quilt on Friday! The quilt measures 60″ x 60″.

Next up was a challenge to make a 36″ finished quilt with the main focus using 7 fat quarters of 30’s reproduction fabric.

I decided to use Deb Tucker’s Star 60 Log Cabin Technique Sheet and of course my Star 60 Tool. I chose to add 6 rounds of 1/2″ finished logs for a 27″ finished log cabin star. I added Half Rectangle Triangles using the Star 60 tool instructions to make the hexagon into a rectangle. I added 2″ strips to make it square and added a 2″ border to make it 36″. I love my Star 60 Tool! All together a very productive weekend.

@studio180design @debtucker #studio180design #star60tool

Merry Christmas to All – OBW #105

4 Replies

I don’t know about you, but in our house Christmas decorating begins after dinner on Thanksgiving! My house is full of Santa’s & Christmas trees.

I love Santa’s. I had this panel for over a year, but got a chance to work on it before Thanksgiving.

This panel is called “Merry Christmas to All” by Marshall Dry Goods. The inside of the panel measured 29.5″ x 37″. I cut 3.25″ strip for 5″ finished hexies.

The odd width of 29.5″ left me with a 1″ wide red strip I would have to hide later.

I attached the top portion, then I decided to attach the left section first instead of the right. That left me with a 1″ red strip I had to hide. I did that with 3″ finished Hollow Cube 60 units made with my Star 60 Tool by Deb Tucker. I added 5″ Stars in gold to give Santa a destination and to follow the curve of the Reindeer.

I love the colors in this quilt. It reminds of me of going out after dinner to play in the snow and go ice skating at the rink behind my Grandparents house. This quilt measures 70″ x 75″.

Give yourself a gift and join me for a One Block Wonder Retreat at Strong House Inn, Vergennes, Vermont April 25 – 28, 2024.

Besides being pampered by our hosts you will learn about:

Identifying and cutting your repeats.
Aligning repeats including difficult fabrics.
Choosing a ruler and understanding the difference between pointed & blunt tip rulers.
Deciding what strip widths to cut
And of course, cutting all your equilateral triangles.
Designing with the hexagons,
Integrating stars & cubes
Designing around a panel

Happy Holidays!

Star 60 Solar System

2 Replies

I love my Star 60 tool from Studio 180 Design. I’m teaching a Hollow Cube workshop at the end of September at Tiger Lily Quilt Company and in October for the Thread Bears Guild in Oneida, NY. I wanted to create a quilt that would showcase all that the Star 60 tool can create.

I had this quilt, but it didn’t include the Star 60 Log Cabin or Power Strip.

I call this the Star 60 Solar System, it measures 76″ x 76″. In the center is the Star 60 Log Cabin. Starting at the top left and going clockwise is the Star 60, Framed 60, Striped 60, Capped 60, Power Strip, Checkerboard 60, Quad 60 & Hollow Cube 60.

Links to the Star 60 Technique Sheets:

Aside from adding Star 60’s to One Block Wonders, they can be turned into a square to added to traditional quilts.

Chrysanthemum made with just the Star 60 tool and Tucker Twinkle is made with the Framed 60, and Checkerboard 60 technique sheets. The Star 60 tool can definitely bump up your creativity no matter what you are working on.

Heading to the Turtle Boudoir – OBW #102

9 Replies

I fell in love with the colors in this panel by Carol Cavalaris and QT Fabrics.

I did not want to include the panel borders in my One Block Wonder (OBW), so I measured the inside as 30.75″ x 36.75″. I cut my strips 3.25″ to yield 5″ finished hexies. As there was little design in corners, I aligned around the turtles and plants in 12 different places. I cut my strips on the shorter 30″ side as opposed to the length of the panel. I had 165 hexies to design with.

I started designing on the bottom right of the panel going across the bottom and up the right side. I added a 15″ Hollow cube that had 3 – 5″ hollow cubes inside it. My cubes are made using Deb Tucker’s Star 60 ruler and the Hollow Cube 60 Technique Sheet.

I added half hexegons made using the Star 60 ruler and a darker Island Batik fabric to fill in around the hexies from the panel.

My rows are numbered and ready to be stitched together into sections .

The photo above show how the 15″ cube is incorporated into the 5″ hexies. I don’t trim the panel till I’m ready to stitch the sides to it.

All four sections are stitched together and ready to add to the panel.

I add the bottom section to the panel first. I did not want to trim the points, so I took out few stitches in the valley’s and pressed under about 1/4″. After the bottom is stitched to the panel, I add the right side and stitch, ending about 8″ from the top of the of the panel. This shows me where to attached the top section to the panel. Once the top is attached I can finish the seam of the right section to the panel. Now the left side can be easily added.

Once all the sections are attached to the panel, I can begin to tweak and soften the edges around the panel.

I made 3″ finished Hollow Cube 60’s to applique on the left side and on the top to hide where the panel border was showing. I use Island Batik fabrics to create my Hollow Cube 60’s. Heading to the Turtle Boudoir is now ready to be quiulted. This quilt won a 4th Place Ribbon at the New York State Fair, 2023.

@studio180design @islandbatik @star60 @Hollowcube 60

Star 60 Log Cabin & Hollow Cube 60 Zoom Classes

17 Years of Leftover Hexies – OBW #100

18 Replies

Crazed quilter makes 100 of the same quilt, sort of! I made my first One Block Wonder (OBW) in April 2006. One evening looking through my Hancocks of Paucah catalog I saw an ad for a book called “One Block Wonders, One Fabric, One Shape, One of a Kind Quilts” by Maxine Rosenthal. Little did I know that in 2017 two of my OBW’s would actually be in Maxine’s book “One Block Wonders of the World!

I was intrigued and ordered the book. I was so excited and had so much fun making my first OBW. I was totally hooked. Everyone loved my OBW’s. I started teaching the process that same year. I never thought in a million years that I would end up making 100 OBW’s. I made #99 in December 2022. Everyone kept asking what was I going to do for #100? I didn’t have a clue. Then the light bulb went off. I should make a OBW from all my leftover hexies, thay would certainly be different.

When making OBW’s, sometimes you use all your hexies and sometimes you don’t. I just started storing the leftover hexies in a tub. After 17 years I had quite a collection of leftover hexies. I love trees and had hoped to fashion a tree out of my leftovers. But I didn’t have the right colors and couldn’t quite get there. I was discouraged, then I thought I should just start designing and see what happens. I sorted the hexies by predominate color and went to work.

I thought…this is going to work! I counted hexies from 32 different OBW’s going back to the first year, wowza!

I was closely supervised by my Quality Control Chihuahua, Tucker!

I wanted the hexies to tell the story, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t jazz up the borders. I added Hollow Cube 60’s, Framed 60’s, Capped 60’s, Quad 60’s Checkerboard 60’s and Star 60’s using my Star 60 Tool by Deb Tucker. 17 Years of Leftover hexies measures 74″ x 108″. I seem to keep making quilted murals!

I still have leftover hexies!!!

Hollow Cube 60 & January 2023 Zoom Classes

17 Replies

I’m so excited, the Hollow Cube 60 Technique Sheet has been released by Studio 180 Design. The Hollow Cube 60 can be made in 16 sizes using the Star 60 tool and is a great addition to your One Block Wonder’s (OBW’s). These cubes are easy and fun to make.

January 2023 Zoom Classes:

January 7th – Star 60: 3 hour class. Difficulty 2 Stars. This class is an introduction into making the Star 60, which can be made in 17 sizes. As with all the Star 60 Stars they can be incorporated into your OBW’s. We will be using the free pattern included with the Star 60 instructions, “Hexstravaganza”.

January 14th – Tucker Twinkle: 3 Hour class. Difficulty 4 Stars. Learn 3 Star 60 techniques in one class. This 18: finished block is a combination of 3 Framed 60 units, 3 Checkerboard 60 units, 6 Star 60 units and 12 Half Hexagons.

January 21st – Hollow Cube 60: 3 hour class. Difficulty 3 Stars. Add the illusion that light is shining on your quilt from the direction you choose by adding Hollow Cube 60’s. These cubes can be made in 16 sizes. I will help you stay organized.

January 28th – One Block Wonder 1: By the end of class you will feel confident about the OBW process, including:

Identifying and cutting your repeats.
Aligning repeats including difficult fabrics.
Choosing a ruler and understanding the difference between pointed & blunt tip rulers.
Deciding what strip widths to cut
And, of course cutting all your triangles.

Reserve your spot now: OBW & Star 60 Zoom Classes for 2023 | If These Threads Could Talk !

I have added them to 5 OBW’s so far.