i was wanting to make this kind of quilt,and i was wondering what ruler any of you use to make this design,,i have the general concept of what to do but i am not sure about the ruler,,thanks for your help,,carolyn

WE approach Stack and Wacks a little differently than some. We use pillow panels instead of regular fabric. Mo9st pillow panels have good sharp edges which keep the block from getting lost in the background.

Lanny

Main thing is, and this is a must, do NOT prewash your fabric. Prewash shrinkage causes the print patterns to mutate and you'll find it impossible to match the prints up.

I think most people use a 60 degree triangular ruler or the 60 degree line on your straight ruler. Personally I've always used the straigt ruler.

However, I've seen some 4 patches made with large prints or border prints that end up looking similar to Hawiian applique.
Experiment around until you come up with something that you really like.

There are many designs for stack & whack, using different angles, so you need to choose your design first. Then you may decide that you want to use a specialty ruler for that design.

If you google stack and whack videos, you will find a couple of different ways to make this which require different rulers, you can make kaleidoscope blocks or square blocks, watch the videos and decide what you want before buying a ruler

How many pillow panels do you need?

Each S&W design can have anywhere from 3 - 12 wedges/pieces...

If each block has 4 S&W pieces you need 4 panel pieces that are identical... If the block has 12 S&W pieces, then you need 12 panel pieces that are identical.

Depends on which pattern you are making. I use regular rulers for mine.

I was looking on connecting threads website this morning and they had a free pattern for kalidiscope table topper. Called Eye of the Storm. It was a free download and has directions and template pattern. I was excited because I have been wanting to try the stack and wack and had not been able to pay the prices for the book yet. It is not a ruler. But you might get some ideas how to use what you already have.

You need 8 identical panels. And as far as cutting them, its not a problem.

I'm including our instructions as a download.

Lanny