Kaleidoscope City...

I just taught a class on the Stack and Whack method of peicing, Saturday. It is a method taught by Bethany S. Reynolds, in her books The Magic of Stack and Whack and Stack and Whackier. I had six students in the class, which is a full class for me. It was six hours long, and that might explain the barkin' of my doggies- that's a slang term for aching feet, Lucy. We really did have a good time. The top quilt that is set in black is my Xmas quilt and the first Stack and Whack I had ever done. Sarah saw it on Simply Quilts and showed it to me. Way cool, I thought. I named it, "Oh Holy Night," because they kinda reminded me of stars. The original fabric- and all the blocks are from the same peice- was of these very nice kimonos. The two blocks that are sitting by themselves are the ones I made in class to demonstrate how to choose the fabric, how to cut and then sew. This fabric didn't look too interesting on the bolt, but it was a Stack and Whack fabric, so figured I'd give it a go. It's turning out prettier than I thought it would. Yes, there are only two blocks done, because the teacher doesn't get a whole lot of sewing-machine time in. The bright orange and pink blocks are leftovers- the ones I liked the least- from a baby quilt I made for a friend. The tropical print quilt is leftovers from a baby quilt I made for a cousin's son. Seems a bit girly, but then, I set his in royal blue. His daddy is a surfer dude, so it seemed appropriate.

There are several things I like about this quilt peicing method. First, it uses those larger scale fabrics that we rarely get to play with- other than borders and backing. The hunt is always fun when I visit my favorite quilt shops- I grab them whenever I find them, because a good one is a rare find. Second, one slice is all it takes to cut out a whole block. Each block consists of only 6 peices- even a 9-patch has 9 peices! But it still looks more interesting than just 6 peices. It goes together very quickly. Third, you never how each block will look, when it's been stacked and whacked! It keeps the process interesting. All in all, I like the variation in the looks of these.