A BIG Thank You to Amy of Amy’s Quilt Room in Uniontown, PA. I’m just now home from teaching a One Block Wonder (OBW) workshop or as Amy would call “Quiltpalooza”! It was fabulous! I had so much fun. The Hilton Garden Inn at Uniontown PA was the perfect venue. We had a great space and were very well cared by the staff.
This group of ladies did such a great job. They learned all about OBW’s and how to make Hollow Cube 60’s & Star 60 units. We delve into how to design and enhance our OBW’s.
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.
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:
I’m playing around with a panel by Spirit of the Bush, Saltwater Dreaming. I want to see how many intricate hexagons I can make. They seem like they would represent tidal pools to me. The large hexagon on the bottom of the panel is 15″ finished. Can you tell what Deb Tucker techniques I used to make it?
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.
I fell in love with this panel the first time I saw it. The colors are just fabulous. Resplendent is by QT Fabrics. The panel measured 36″ x 44″. Resplendent will be in stores June 2024.
I removed the borders and saved them to use as a outer border and binding for the finished quilt. I cut my strips 3.25″ for 5″ finished hexies. I had a total of 105 hexies to design with.
I created Star 60 stars and surrounded the peacock with half hexies using QT Fabrics blender line Rapture. The colors Ocean and Amethyst blended beautifully.
I embroidered peacock feathers to add to the design. I’ve had the large feathers for many years. I downloaded them from The Stitchery Mall by Dancing Thread. The small peacock feahers were purchased from OESD.
I made the stars using Studio 180 Design’s Star 60 Tool. I’ve created a lesson plan to share with you to show you how easy it is to make a Star 60 star.
When I saw this panel by Rubin Design Studio “Intricate Illustrated Kitty” of EQuilter, my heart skipped a beat. I just love the colors, the curves and the movement in this panel.
The panel measured 29″ x 43.5″. I could have cut 3.75″ strips for 6″ finished hexies and trimmed the panel to 42″. But, I decided to cut 3.25″ strips for 5″ finished hexies using my Star 60 Ruler. I would need to trim more of the panel, but I felt a smaller strip would make more interesting hexies. There is some stretching with bias edges, but in the end, I only needed to trim 1″ from bothe sides of the panel. I placed the panel in the middle of my design wall and began designing.
It is always a guessing game when trying to ddecide how far to go past the end of the panel when establishing the bottom row. We know that when we stitch together our hexies, we lose 1/2″ between the seams. But the vertical seams are much harder to calcutlate. The photo above shows the shrinkage, it was abut 3″.
I was playing around trying to find interesting ways for the Star 60 ruler to interact with the hexies. I came up with what I call Star 60 Spinners.
Basic Spinner: You need one hexie (taken apart), and two strips cut the same size as you cut you hexies from. Bedazzled had 5″ finished hexies, cut from 3.25″ strips. I cut one 3.25″ strip for the inner companion triangle and one 3.25″ strip for the side triangles.
With the strip folded, cut 6 sets of 2 side triangles and 3 sets of 2 companion triangles.
Decide what point is going in the center of your hexies, stitch the companion triangle to the opposite edge. Press seams open.
Lay out you side trinagles as shown above on either side of the companion triangle. Stitch the right sides first, then stitch the left sides. Press all seams open.
Construct as you would a hexagon, stitch 2 together, press the seams open then add the third. This made a 10″ finished hexie.
Once I made the Basic Spinner, I knew I could replace the companion triangle with other Star 60 units. I made the units half the size of my 5″ finished hexies. I made 6 – 2.5″ Capped 60, Framed 60, Quad 60 and Star 60 units. I really love these Star 60 Spinners.
Bedazzled measures 88″ x 71″. To get my uneven curvy sides on my OBW, I use half hexies following the Star 60 instrutions on page 10. Bedazzled is not quilted yet.
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.
I fell in love with this panel from QT Fabrics as soon as I saw it! The colors are so rich!
The panel by Gina Jane for QT Fabrics, measures 36″ x 42″ including the frames. I cut my strips 3.25″ to yield 5″ finished hexies. The 6 panels yielded 165 hexies.
This block was created by fellow Certified Instructor, Sonny Dewitt. He is so creative. He used Deb Tuckers Geese on the Edge Technique Sheet and Wing Clipper Tool to make the Geese on the Edge units & then trim the square units using the Star 60 Tool to create a hexagon shaped block. I thought it looked like a spider web, so I embroidered a cool looking spider in the center. It added so much to my OBW.
After designing with my hexies. I sitched them into 4 sections around the panel.
I centered and laid the the top section on the panel to show me how much to trim off each side to make the panel the same size as the top and bottom sections.
I remove a few stitches from valley’s of the top section and pressed under the 1/4″.
I pin the top section to the panel and top stitched using MonoPoly thread.
Match up the dog ears of the left section with the dog ears of the top and stitch using a partial seam stopping about 8″ from the bottom.
By matching the dog ears it allows me to know where the bottom section will attach to the panel. Remove a few stitches from the valleys and press under attaching it to the panel as with the top section.
Once it is stitched in place, finish the partial seam.
The right side is easy to add now.
I added 3″ borders and few tweaks. Abra-Cat-Dabra measures 71″ x 85″. Abra-Cat-Dabra is not quilted yet.
You can probably tell, I’m a huge fan of Josephine Wall panels. I feel so lucky to have found this one.
The name of the panel is Wings of Joy. I added “Emerging from the Cocoon” because I think the design suggests she is emerging with great joy. The panel measures 35″ by 43″.
I cut my strips 3.25″ to yield 5″ finished hexies. With 5″ finished hexies I would fit 8 across the top and bottom of the panel. I will to trim the panel to fit the top and bottom sections. I had to give her a destination, so I using my Star 60 Ruler and my Star 60 Log Cabin Technique Sheet, I added a 15″ log cabin star.
My Star 60 Log Cabin finishes as 15″. I stitched three rows of hexies together above and below each half of the log cabin star, which made it possible to seamless add the 15″ star.
Now, I have the top, right and bottom sections ready.
Above, all four sections have been added to the panel.
After a little tweaking “Wings of Joy, Emerging from the Cocoon” is ready to quilt. She measures 100″ wide by 70″ tall. As always, I use Island Batik fabrics to enhance my OBW’s.
If These Threads Could Talk 