azwendyg

Ditto! The accuracy of your finish blocks is totally dependent on accurate pinning.

mengler

Does glue work? Can you glue instead of pinning? I haven't tried these but am intrigued.

youngduncan

I've done a few of these and love the process. The slight uncertainty of the finished blocks is a lot of fun. I guess I like jigsaw puzzles a little too much. I definitely use a lot of the flower-head pins, and yes put a new blade in my rotary cutter each time. This is a lot of fun, so don't keep putting it off. I think you'll like this once you do a few blocks.,

wildyard

I wouldn't do it without using the 2 pin approach: Use one pin to go down thru the layers and to hold the layers straight on the pin, then take the flat flower pin to pin the layers together while the first pin is still in there keeping the layers in position.

SueSew

Great advice here!!!

I've done one, and I will say that the layout and photo is an iterative process - it can get better or worse the more you arrange the blocks. I stuck to the rue in the book about arranging the little pies only for straight of grain, but many people on the board have told me I could have done otherwise. (Perhaps if I had starched too, I could have done that). It gives you two more options for each assembled hex

Get a big enough design wall to see the whole thing.

And a 60 size rotary cutter with sharp blades!

Also I bought the ruler (why do I keep saying in various posts that I hate special rulers??? Every quilt I do is an exception to my hating them!) and it was a big help in cutting the triangles.

And get good quality fabric so you don't end up with misprints and variations which make it hard to line up perfectly.

And HAVE FUN!!! These quilts are lots of fun!

gramajo

I've made a couple Stack'nWhacks. You all are giving me thoughts of making another one. They were fun; it's fascinating to see the designs happen.

Quilterfay

I love stack and whack! Yes pin lots and make sure your pin is through the fabric at the same spot on each level. So you find a point on your top sheet and than make sure your pin goes through exactly on the other layers. Same as when you cut your fabrics. Find that one spot there your repeat will end and than cut your repeat. Than carry on making sure you are cutting at the same point each time. I truly agree with cutting your fabric in half length wise as it makes it easier to line up your repeats. Once you make that first cut you will feel better as I know I was scared Sh_tless. But it was easy after I got started.