Tag Archives: sewing

Quiltapalooza with Amy’s Quilt Room

It’s a wrap! Wowza, what a great One Block Wonder Workshop we had with Amy’s Quilt Room in Uniontown PA! So much so, we have scheduled back-to-back 3-day workshops starting July 31st – August 6th, 2025. Check with Amy’s Quilt Room for details and reservations.

We started with a trunk show. My fellow Studio 180 design Certified Instructor, Carolyn Ratola made her version of Creepin it Real by QT fabrics. It is always so much fun to see how different they come out.

Getting started. We had a great space at the Hilton Garden Inn in Uniontown.

We got to visit Amy’s Quilt Room. Amy’s quilt shop is sooo wonderful. She has the best selection of Island Batik’s. It is so special when 4 Studio 180 Design Certified Instructors get to spend time together! From left to right; Amy Constible of Amy’s Quilt Room, Carolyn Rotola of CaTs Quilting in South Carolina, Jackie OBrien of If These Threads Could Talk, Whitesboro NY and Tina Dillard of Quilting Affections, Waldorf MD.

Tina’s winter scene is so beautiful. I love her star made from Quad units. She has a frozen lake down in the bottom left corner.

This panel was a challenge. But as you can see, Karen knocked it out of the park!

Dianne worked so hard to design and adjust this Van Go like panel, fabulous job! Carol was exploring and learning to make Hollow Cube 60 units. Her fabric created beautiful whimsical hexies!

Christine’s bird panel is going to sing! Kristi’s Aurora Borealis panel is just stunning!

I can’t wait to see Trixie’s Buffalo finished. Caryn’s beautiful midnight flowers is fabulous!

Madonna’s Unicorn is so colorful! Sherry’s Bears are just magnificent! She got the whole OBW together, I just love it!

Sherry’s horse panel by QT fabrics has the best colors. Gitta’s panel so playful!

Ann’s polar bears are going to be great, I love the colors. She is also adding Hollow Cube 60 units. Carolyn’s Northcott panel is going to be a work of art. She is painting with fabric.

Rhonda’s deer panel is amazing. I did realize how much blue she managed to pull out of it. Madonna won one of the door prizes. It was 7 mini versions of the Creepin it Real panel by QT Fabrics. We also gave away two Quilter’s Dream Battings generously donated by them.

This OBW Workshop Hosted by Amy’s Quilt Room was so much fun! I can’t wait to come back in August!

@Amy’sQuiltRoom @Studio180Design @QTFabrics #Quilltapalooza

Spirited – OBW #114

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The Spirited panel was designed by Elise Genest for Northcott Fabrics. The panel measures 24″ x 44″.

I cut my strips 2.75” which yields 4” finished hexies. There were 210 hexies. I let the design tell me what it needs to tell a good story. After cutting my strips I had about 2.25” strip left. This allowed me to cut diamonds and make 11 kaleidoscope Star 60 units. I added 4” finished Hollow Cube 60’s and a 12” hollow Cube with 4” cubes inside it to represent the stables.

Spirit was left in the corral far too long. It began to rain and she jumped over the fence and headed for the stables, where it was dinnertime. Spirited measures 71” x 68”.

Spirited was made for The Quilt Crossing quilt shop in Boise, ID. They have invited me there to teach a 4 day Sleep in your Own Bed One Block Wonder Workshop, June 18 – 21, 2025. Maybe I will get to meet you there.

@northcottfabric @studio180design #Star60 #HollowCube60 #DebTucker #Spirited

One Block Wonder Workshops: A Trip to Kentucky and Tennessee

Autumn Smiles and Bread & Butter

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Bread and Butter is a fun table runner from Deb Tucker and even better when made from Qt Fabrics Autumn Smiles fabric line by Anne Lehman Stolpe. Autumn Smiles will be in quilt shops in early 2025.

This is a great beginner project to learn to use your Tucker Trimmer 1. Bread and Butter measures 18″ x 49″. The three 9.5″ blocks are made Using 3 color hour glass units. I will show you have to make the hour glass units.

Tip: I use plain plain plates to organize the fabrics required for my units.

Making 3 Color Hour Glass Units

Bread and Butter pattern Steps 1 -7 show you how to make your hour glass units.

Pair 3 “A” squares with 3 “B” squares and pair 3 “A” squares with 3 “D” squares.

Mark one of every pair with 2 diagonal lines using the Magic Wand.

Stitch on the drawn lines and then cut them apart.

Press toward the “A” fabric. You will end up with 6 A/B units and 6 A/D units. Remember: whatever you are pressing toward, goes on top.

Mark the back of the A/D units on with 2 diagonal lines using the Magic Wand.

Position each of the A/B units with right sides together with A/D units. Be sure the A’s are not layered on top of each other. Carefully align the center seams. Stitch on the lines and cut apart.

Swirl the centers and carefully press, ensuring the sections are completely pressed to the seams.

This is a 3.5″ unfinished hour glass unit. Place the half circle in the upper right hand corner of the unit. Carefully align both the common diagonal and 3.5″ size diagonal lines over the center seam lines of the unit. Trim up the right side and across the top. Rotate the unit. Line up the 3.5″ lines with the just trimmed raw edges and the 3.5″ size diagonal line as before and again trim up the right side and across the top. (Lefties place the half circle on the Tucker Trimmer in the upper left corner so they can trim up the left side and across the top.)

Make 12 – 3 color Hour Glass units. Follow Steps 8 – 10 to make the pieced units that will be the corners of the block. Note: Deb Tucker has a new Timeout Technique Sheet for these corner units.

Lay out the hour glass units, corner units and the center “G” square as shown above. Stitch into rows.

Join the rows to make the 9.5″ unfinished block. Finish your Bread and Butter table runner by following pattern Steps 12 – 18.

Back of the table runner.

@QTFabrics @Studio180Design @DebTucker #BreadandButter #TuckerTrimmer1 #AutumnSmiles

Click here for a supply list using Autumn Smiles fabrics:

Autumn Smiles Bread and Butter Supply List Download

Create a Stunning Quilt with Bohemian Sunrise

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Does anyone remember an old song from the 40’s called “I got the Sun in the Morning “? It was written by Irving Berlin in 1946 for a musical called “Annie Get Your Gun”.

I’ve been humming that tune while working on this great panel designed by the Morris Group for QT Fabrics. The panel measures 36″ x 43″. Bohemian Sunrise will be available in early 2025.

I was at a quilt retreat last weekend with my friends the Turtle Crew. I took off the borders which left me with a width of 28″ for the panel. I cut 2.75″ strips that yielded 190 – 4″ finished hexies.

I picked coordinating fabrics from QT Fabrics Color Essence line and Morris Group Bohemian Sunrise line for making adding stars and cubes to my design.

Using a set of equilateral triangles for the center and light orange from the Color Essence line and stars fabric from the Bohemian Sunrise line, I made 2″ finished Star 60 units that were stitched to the equilateral triangles to make diamonds. I then made 2″ finished Capped 60 units that I used as side triangles for pieced diamonds. This made a 8″ finished star.

Using a light, medium and dark fabrics from the Color Essence line I made 4″ Hollow Cube 60 units.

I began designing in the upper right corner. I placed hexies 7 across and started going down the left side until I passed the bottom of the panel. Then another 7 hexies across the bottom and up the right side of the panel.

Once I have the four sides established, I can then add hexies until I am please with the design.

I added half hexies on the sides and half rectangle triangles to the top and bottom of each row and numbered my rows.

I used 4″ and 8″ finished hexies in my design. I stitched the 2.5″ rows together above and below the 4.5″ half hexies so they could be stitched to the 4.5″ half hexies. Then joined all the rows on the left side.

The photo above shows the top, bottom and left section attached to the panel, and how much shrinkage there was when the hexies are joined into rows.

Bohemian Sunrise measures 78″ x 63″. OBW # 113, not yet quilted.

“Got no diamond, got no pearl. Still think I’m a lucky girl. I’ve the Sun in morning and Moon at Night”!

@QTFabrics @TheMorrisGroup @Studio180design #BohemianSunrise #Star60

Mysterious Kitty, OBW # 112

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If you follow me you know I love my Chihuahua Tucker.

But, These cat panels by Rubin Design Studio, exclusively from eQuilter are just fabulous!

Mysterious Kitty panel measures 43.5″ x 29.5″. I decided to cut my strips 3.25″ yielding 168 – 5″ finished hexies.

I decided to start my design at the top of the panel, choosing the upper right corner to start, and placing 8 hexies across the top before going down to start the left side.

Above is the design I settled on. The edges of the panel range from black to dark blue. I didn’t think the green from the eyes would show up much, so I added Framed 60 stars to the upper right corner. They make the Kitty’s eyes sparkle more. I added Star 60 units to the left side in orange and blue made using the Star 60 Tool.

Above shows the top and bottom sections attached to the panel. Notice how much it shrinks when stitched together. We know we lose 1/2″ between straight seams. But, when stitching the hexies into rows we lose 9/16″ between seams. Depending on how many hexies are in your row, you lose about 3″ or more.

There are always two opportunities to tweak the design. The first is while designing with the hexies. The second is after you finished designing and the rows stitched are together. The photo on the right shows the top stitched together un-tweaked. I needed to soften the dark corners on the bottom of the panel. The photo on the right shows the top tweaked. I added appliqued Star 60 units on the lower right and left corners of the panel in different sizes and colors to created more of a curve I was looking for.

In my OBW Supply List, I show you a method to create appliqued hexies using fusible knit interfacing. This time I tried something different. I used Steam-A-Seam. I traced the fabric unit on the Steam-A-Seam paper, and then cut it out at least 1/4″ smaller. Following the Steam-a-Seam directions, I attached it to the back of the fabric unit. I removed the paper and finger pressed the raw edges under 1/4″. It was now ready to be attached to the quilt top. Once I have all my appliqued units attached to the top, I top stitch them down using Superior Monopoly clear thread.

Mysterious Kitty measures 90″ x 71″. I love her!

@rubindesignstudio @eQuilter @studio180design #MysteriousKitty #star60tool

Traditional Ukrainian 4 Seasons Panel by Rubin Design Studio

OBW Workshop Retreats

Play Among the Stars

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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

QT Fabric’s Queen Bee – OBW #108

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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