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.
I love Deb Tucker’s Star 60 ruler! It can be used to cut out equilateral triangles for a One Block Wonder (OBW), and has 8 accompaning technique sheets for stars and cubes that can be added to a OBW or any quilt.
Traditional Lone Star’s are made using a 45 degree angle. I wanted to make a Lone Star quilt using the Star 60 ruler.
I chose 7 fabrics and a background fabric from Island Batik. I used the Checkerboard Technique Sheet and made 6″ finished Checkerboard units and 6″ diamond units.
The trick with creating multiple pieced diamonds is to only trim the side of the diamonds that are being stitched together at that time. To help with this I created a chart So I always know which sides are trimmed. This combination makes a 12″ finished diamond.
I made 6 of the pink and green diamonds, 6 of the blue and orange diamonds and 12 of the blue and green diamonds.
This shows the layout and how the four diamonds fit together.
Once trimmed, stitch the halves together to create a 24″ diamond.
I cut 13″ WOF strips and used my Star 60 ruler and my 6″ x 24″ Olfa ruler to establish the 60 degree line and continued to cut side triangles for my 24″ diamonds
Layout the side triangles on the left and right sides of the diamond.
Stitch the right side triangle first, press toward the diamond. Stitch the left side triangle, press toward the side triangle.
Rotate the unit so that the untrimmed edge is either by your right hand for trimming if you are right handed or by your left hand if left handed. Locate the Flat Edge trim line on the Star 60™ Tool. Align the Flat Edge trim lines with the seams of the Diamond. Bump up a 24″ long ruler next to the Star 60 ruler and trim, leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance.
Stitch triangles together in groups of 3, creating half hexagons, press seams open. This is a 48″ star.
Create Half Triangle Rectangles by cutting a 25″ WOF strip, trim to 16″ x 25″, make sure they are right or wrong sides together, align the ½” line on the tool with the top edge and the center line with the edge of the rectangle, place a regular ruler next to the Star 60 tool. Move the Star 60 tool out of the way and cut along the edge of your long ruler.
The Half Triangle rectangles (HTR) turn the hexagon into a rectangle. Once the HTR’s are stitched to the half hexies I added 4.5″ strips to the side to make it a square.
My Star 60 Lone Star top measures 65″ x 65″, and was made Island Batik fabrics.
I love this fabric, it’s Coleus by Philip Jacobs, for the Kaffe Fasset Collective. I thought it was meant to be a One Block Wonder.
The fabric is darker than what is shown. I had to lighten it to get a photo.
It made some beautiful hexagons. I decided to call it Night Shade. I added one 12″ Quad 60 Star and nine 6″ Quad 60 Stars, made using the Star 60 tool and Quad 60 Techniques Sheet. I always use Island Batik fabrics to make my stars and cubes. Night Shade measures 62″ x 69″.
I’m planning for Spring 2023 when Summer 2022 is not even over yet! Join me for a creative journey learning to making a One Block Wonder (OBW) – Wednesday March 29, 2023 through Sunday April 2, 2023 at the Strong House Inn, Vergennes, Vermont
Class Description:
Identifying and cutting your repeats.
Aligning repeats including difficult fabrics.
Choosing a ruler and understanding the difference between pointed & blunt tip rulers.
I just completed my 95th One Block Wonder! I guess I need to shoot for making at least 100 OBW’s!
A World of Wonders
“A World of Wonders” is made from a panel by Josephine Wall and measures 72″ x 97″. I integrated Star 60 and Quad 60 Stars and Island Batik fabrics to enhance my quilt’s story.
