zozee

I have the OBW on my bucket list but before I take it on, would like to hear about your experience if you’ve made one.

tallchick

My only tale of caution would be once you make one you’ll want to make more! Are you making the hexagon or octagon OBW? Either way be sure to share your progress and the fabrics you choose.

Macybaby

Pick a fabric with a very large print. I made one with fabric I fell in love with, but in the end didn't have the variety of blocks I'd hoped for. It as a black print with pink roses, with a secondary background print. I think it didn't have enough black space between the roses to work like I'd hoped. I also sewed my into rows, which meant a lot of layout planning as each row included 3 of the 6 block sections.

I did another using a white/gray/black print. I knew it wasn't going to give a of variation to start with, so I used White to turn it more into "stars" with different centers and not the typical OBW quilt. I really liked how that one turned out. Because I added the white, I sewed the 6 sections together and added one white to each side, and then sewed those sections into rows.

Since then I bought some fabric that is ocean blue with very large orange/gold fish. This one has more "open" space between the fish and I'm hoping it will give me more variation. Not sure when I'll get to it though.

Tartan

Choose a print that has different colours in it to get good variations in the blocks. If you do the hexagons, it can be constructed in rows using 3 of the 6 pieces.

Iceblossom

I did an octagonal Stack and Whack top years ago, and am making some hexagons for a current project (actually I made octagons first but wanted the more walnut shape of the hexes). Personally, I like to keep some of the fabric whole for the borders.

Chose something with a fairly large repeat (12" minimum) and get enough yardage! It takes a lot of yardage but doesn't have to be fabric wasteful, just that I'm not used to making most of a quilt from one fabric.

I've seen people who spent hours and hours on their projects only to have their work disappear because the print was just too tiny to start with. Some people carefully cut out their pieces individually, I cut identical segments (so 6 or 8 pieces) and stack them carefully matching the patterns into half (so 3 or 4) and baste the fabrics together about every 2 inches in both directions. Then I cut two identical pieces which gives me all the units needed, the basting keeps them together and is minor to take out (hint: use a high contrast thread). Depending on the fabric, I might draw a temporary line on my template to help line up the pieces, but again, I only cut twice for each block so I can usually place it accurately.

Warning about animals, you will always end up with rear ends. Now, that can be funny or not what you had in mind...

So the pictures are a stack and whack using only 3 yards or so of fabric and alternate blocks, and my octagons that just aren't what I wanted...

KalamaQuilts

there is a very good OBW on facebook, very to the point with excellent 'frequently asked questions' section

Doesn't take that long to cut as you are cutting six layers at a time
It took me weeks to arrange the stitched motifs on the working wall
Love my fabric, love my top, but in retrospect, less blank space would have made for a more interesting quilt.

I'm currently fascinated with the trend of using 7 panels, stacking 6 to cut and arranging the motifs around the 7th.

Iceblossom

A big advantage of using hexes -- picture is worth a thousand words but I don't have one of my own. I'll see if I can find the thread where I realized (for the first time) that you can lay out the hexes in rows (do not combine them into a hex, but keep the identical halves together) for easy sewing and layout.

Cheshirepat

Agreeing with Kalama the Facebook group has a wonderful set of informational posts -if you are comfortable finding info on that forum. Maxine Rosenthal's books are super helpful. There are several good videos that are searchable on YouTube...I think a visual of how to get the 6 layers of fabric aligned is very valuable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK_pB79uzHI That was one part I really needed to *see* before I did.

One lesson learned on my first obw was that after I sewed my half hexagons into strips, or vertical rows, I kept the rows pinned to my design wall for too long. It started to get pretty stretched out on the bias sides which I noticed when joining rows. I wouldn't sew then leave the 'rows of hexies' pinned up for longer than necessary. Place them down on a table, marked with a piece of tape/however you mark rows before assembly.

Krisb

I am similarly entranced by this idea, but scaled it back, because the panel I chose was pricy. So my version is one panel with a coordinated ombre. It is in design wall stage now. Will post a pic as soon as I finish my BH blocks.

Murphy224

I will also suggest the FB group. It really does have all you ever wanted to know about OBW.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/OBWQuiltForum/
Fabric choice is main thing in a OBW.
If you can get your hands on Maxine Rosenthal's book One Block Wonders it will help a lot. I got the kindle version and read it on my tablet and pc.
Here is a link to the design helper where you can insert a picture of your fabric and see how it will look as a OBW. Wish I had known about it before making mine. My fabric choice was not the best for a OBW and the finished quilt didn't look all that much different from the basic fabric. I finished it as a learning tool and it turned out ok but not spectacular like some.
http://oneblockwonder.com/design-helper/
Have fun!!