Originally Posted by Olivia's Gramy
I haven't done a OBW yet. Are they challenging? How big are they usually?
Of the 10 different quilts I've made, each being a different pattern or method, making a OBW is the easiest and shortest from cutting the fabric to having a top sewn together. If you make one with hexagons, (there's also octagons) each block is then made from 6 pieces of fabric, each a triangle. So there's 2 seams to get 3 triangles sewn together to make half hexagons. At this point you finalize your block arrangement, before sewing the half hexagons together into strips. Then when the strips get sewn together, the whole hexagons appear. I cut repeats, strips, triangles, sewed half hexagons together for a quilt for my other son, in 4 1/2 hours! That quilt top measured about 4' X 5'. It does go fast. I think the longest part is deciding on the final block arrangement. There's so many ways you can put them.
They can be whatever size you want them to be. If you have a repeat in the print of your fabric that's less than 6", you'll probably want to buy more fabric than just 6 repeats worth, because you won't have much to work with. The width of the strips you cut will be half the finished hexagon width. I've seen quilts made in this method that covered a queen size bed. Others were lots smaller, down to 2' X 3' or so.