I just purchased Maxine Rosenthal's One Block Wonder book and started reading it this morning. Now I consider myself an advanced quilter, but I am feeling a little intimidated by the instructions (specifically lining up the stack of fabric with pins). For those of you who have made an OBW do you have any lessons learned that you would like to share? I'm heading to Lancaster 4th of July weekend and planned to purchase my fabric.....but I don't know if I am ready for this.....

The pins are just so that you keep the pattern on the fabric lined up correctly when you do your cuts. It really isn't that hard and they are so much fun!

If you are really intimidated with this, purchase some of the least expensive fabric for your first try. If it doesn't work, oh well. The worst thing that can happen is you make a "D" cup. :-)

I'm too scared to try it. I always admire then from afar,but I know I'm not there yet. They are so cool.

I'm a planner, so I have 4 different fabrics to try OBW's on and just bought up all the Floral Master fabric for sale here the last couple of days to try the one that everybody was doing awhile back.

However, I haven't started anything yet and am still very hesitant. I found better instructions in the OBW Encore book. The first book for me was confusing and not written very well.

Don't be scared you have the board to help you. I have not done one, but I would use Cutbuns help on the tutorials. She called them hexagons, I think that is the same as OBW.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-36954-1.htm

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-36954-1.htm

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-36316-1.htm

If you have an opportunity to take a class, either OBW or S&W, it will go a long way toward allwying your fears. I consider myself at best, an intermediate quilter. I only started quilting in Jan '09. I took a class to make the quilt in my avatar and did most of the work on my own at home once someone had shown me how to line up, pin and cut and it was so much fun. I could hardly wait until the next class to show everyone how much I had accomplished. Each and every block was a surprise. I plan to make a OBW this fall. I am waiting for the Peggy Toole fabric "Florentine 3" in the pewter colorway before I begin. It should arrive at my LQS in September. As an experienced quilter, I'm sure you will do much better than I and will have gained a new skill.

I have the book but haven't bought the material to try this yet. Maybe I'll find the perfect fabric at the Dayton shop hop!

Cutie's tutes make this sooooooo easy. You're not going to believe just how easy this really is to do.

Take a deep breath and dig in! :thumbup:

Just do it!! :) I do NOT consider myself an advanced quilter and I have done one! The blocks turned out great! You will love it!
:)

I was in the same boat you are .. consider myself pretty accompolished ... but its really its pretty forgiving. I spent more time than I needed to lining up the fabrics... cause I was soo paranoid.
Just go for it!!!

Go for it! It isn't as hard as it seems.

Reading through the book, and then read through cutebuns class, it will make more sense :wink: and you can always come back to us with questions and we will gladly help you.

Once you get the repeats figured out and how to line then up, the rest is a piece of cake :D:D:D

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: And send them to me!!

If you haven't worked a lot with bias edges before, starch your fabric really, really well. It will be stiff, but the triangle edges will be very stable :wink:

Spray it heavily and then let it hang to dry, if you press it while it is still damp, you may slightly distort the fabric and make lining up the repeats more difficult :D
Once it is dry, you can press and shouldn't have any distortion :D

Flat, flower head pins are almost a necessity, traditional pins won't work nearly as well, as you will be placing your ruler on top of the pins and the ruler will rock.

Cutting the whole length of fabric in half first, makes cutting/handling the repeats much easier too. You only have to deal with 20-22" instead of 40-44" :D:D:D

I did one and have to agree it was a little intimidating to try to get the fabric lined up. I think I spent a lot of time on that part, but finally just started cutting and it all came out fine. There is a lot of forgiveness in that busy fabric too. Jump it you will enjoy seeing the blocks come together....that was my favorite part.

I took a class on Stack and Whack and you have to do the same pinning thru layers. She suggested using a half inch to three quarter inch piece of styrofoam sheet. Worked like a charm no
slipping or sliding and just stick the pin in the same place all the way thru the layer into the styrofoam and when you are done,
use big straight pins to secure the fabric layers together as you
leave the pins in the foam until all is very secure. Sorry I am not a very good explainer. Good luck it is a lot of fun.
Karen /wichypoo

I was a bit nervous too. I'm not a good rotary cutter and stacks of fabrics always seem to shift on me. I have a bar tack option on my machine (actually, it's the sew-button-on option). I pinned the fabric as she states in the book, then put bartacks all over. This way I could remove the pins and not worry about the fabric shifting or running into pins with my cutter. Also, put a fresh blade in before you start. As another poster stated, it's pretty forgiving.

DON'T PRE-WASH! Then just follow the instructions in the book. When you have sewn together three triangles to make your half hex, line it up next to a ruler or the edge of your mat. If it is straight, no cupping. If it isn't straight, re-sew. No problem.

Don't pick a fabric where the elements are too small. A medium print with movement in the background is best. Also go for the 24" repeat. You will have more variety in your quilt.

Some recommend cutting your fabric in half, but I don't like to do that, because the designs are not the same on each side. Pick a long table or the floor. If your mat isn't long enough, just slide it up under the fabric for the second half.

Just re-read the matching and cutting instructions until you are comfortable with them, then keep the book open as you do each step.


You can always PM k3n or myself or anyone else who has done the OBW, and we will be happy to help you. You CAN do this.

I did one and it wasn't a big deal at all. I just followed Cutebuns instructions on this site..think someone has already posted the links.

Umm, how many should I send?? :lol: :lol: ;)

I think the selection of the right material is the hardest part. I have not been happy with any of mine and ended up making them into grandma's flower garden as they look better with the borders around each shape.

I've made 3 of them and helped to cut two more. My opinion is to put the pins across the top and one side to make the fabric line up better... an extra set of hands comes in as helpful! Unless you're using a fabric with geometric lines.... no one will be able to tell if you are "just a little off". There is so much going on with the overall design!! I've never washed my fabric first, so there's no need for me to starch, etc. Flower pins do work best..... also, after you get the fabric matched up in the six/eight repeats.... use a bunch of pins to hold it until it's cut. I also put each hex/oct on a paper plate so I could shuffle them around without handling the material so much. Have fun!! I think of these as tye dye for quilters!!! Never know just how it will work until you start messing with your pieces.

they are incredibly forgiving!! I can't seem to sew a straight line, but my quilts in OBW hide that very well!!

I have made 4 OBW's. Use lots of starch and flat pins. I agree with cutting the fabric in half as pinning is very tedious and can be awkward. I also use a lot of pins so the fabric doesn't move. It is a quick quilt to make and you'll love doing it.

Please: can someone explain the difference between the OBW, S&W, and the Hexagon?
Many thanks!
Sally

I bast my SNW layers together. I pick a part of the pattern and put the needle through it on each piece of fabric. Move over about ½~¾" and pick another spot. Move over..... ad naseum. Not only are they lined up but each stack stays together very well until I'm ready to make that block. It takes forever but I'm happy with the results.

I bought Kay Nickols' book, "Wonderful 1 Fabric Quilts." The explanations seem straight-forward. Perhaps a different book/explanation would be helpful.

Just jump in. Pinning the fabric is the hardest part, but really doable. Just tell yourself...."its ONLY fabric" so if you mess up...just go buy more. No big deal :)

DON'T prewash....very important!

I bought some border print at the Goodwill store to try the OBW pattern. It turned out so good that I make 6 placemats and gave to my DIL - she loved them. Just didn't tell her where the fabric came from.

Go for it. Little mistakes disappear when the blocks are hexagons are sewn together. A design board is essential for laying out the hexagons. I used Cutebun's tutorial here on the board and also purchased Maxine Rosenthal's books. Between them both I finished my first OBW top. Now trying to decide if I want to quilt it myself or send it to Charismah.

I find the layering of the fabric scary too, but I watched a video by Marti Michell in which she demonstrates how to line up and cut the fabric. I plan on using her method when I get my round TUIT to make my OBW quilt. Just copy and paste:

http://www.quilterstv.com/channel/video/0?video=1352

DO NOT pre-wash your fabric or it will be harder if not impossible to line up.

Hope this takes away some of your fear. Happy stitches,
Liz

I've made 4 OBW's and didn't starch any of them before cutting. Lining up the print is important, but once your flower pins are in to hold it together the rest is fairly straight forward. It's fun to turn your triangles the three different ways to select which way they'll be to form your hexagon. Chain piece them together, press seams open. Deciding on final placement will be the hardest, at least it is for me. Then it's just sew the half hex's together to make your strips and then sew the strips together to make the top. This method is by far the fastest way to make a quilt, I've found anyway.

I took a class for the obw and it was really pretty easy. The hardest part was finding the exact match. Our instructor had us tear (carefully) the fabric at every repeat, and use more pins than the book suggested. Pinning was the hardest part. I was surprised at how easy it was. Remember to starch a lot and have fun.

Thank you all for your suggestions and words of encouragement. I'm going to purchase my fabric next Saturday and then I'm just gonna dive in and make it. I will post pictures.

reading the instructions is daunting. the actual doing is not as hard as it seems from the written instructions. try a test block, or two, you will see.

Loved that video!! Wish I had seen it before my OBW. Mine is a tale of woe.

I took a work shop, and while the instructor had made one, she did not suggest starching the fabric, and she really did not emphasize pinning as much as was needed. (Once I got a close look at her quilt I realized that while it looked great from 5", the patterns in the triangles was not a good match up close). My patterns sort of matched, and since I was using a paisley and not flowers, the misses showed up more than the gals using florals. I plastered my design wall for weeks afterward and finally came up with a 5 hexagons that were pretty close, plus some halves that also matched, and made a table runner (with a few contrasting triangles that made a star). I have not figured out what to do with all those left over triangles, but I may tackle them soon -- however, I used all the fabric I used as contrast (of course) and it is a very unusual periwinkle blue.

From what I learned (the hard way, of course), I would say that starching (loved the tip about hanging the fabric to dry it), cutting the large pieces so the pieces are exact and pinning the patterns so they match before cutting is critical. Take the time. If you do this right, the piecing was really the easy part. If I did not have a design wall, I don't think I would have made anything out of the triangles -- it really helped to see what worked, what didn't and how I could get the look I wanted. I think I would have pitched everything otherwise.

Once I clear a few more projects, I will be making another -- now that I understand the technique much better.

I was just going to recommend that you cut the fabric in half instead of trying to line up the whole 44 inches. Lining up the 22 inches is a lot easier. You may lose a extra cut but it is not worth the hassle of trying to line up 44 inches.

I can't stress enough that once you start sewing the wedges together make sure to iron the seams open. It makes it a lot easier to quilt when you are done.

It is scary at first but once you do the first one you will realize how simple it is. Just pick a point to be your first cut and then look for that point for the next cut.

Quilterfay

I know how you feel. I was panicky about the pins but my good friend who had already done one showed me how and it was real easy from then on.
So far I have 2 place mats together and will do the table runner next.
After I make a new quilted bag for my DD as she hinted she would like a new one,LOL