ckcowl

the fabric needs to be opened up---not folded
you can cut it at the fold for it to be easier to work with if you need to but you will not get it accurately lined up if it is folded--at all

Glassquilt

Although the pattern may repeat across the fabric, the repeats are not identical. When I make stack n whacks I buy 6 or 8 repeats. I cut the fabric in half length-wise and then cut the repeats cross-wise (from selvage to selvage).

Those are the sections I line up very carefully. I actually hand baste the obvious points of the pattern together. I can then cut my shapes and the basting keeps each bunch together until I'm ready to work on it.

cheezythequiltmaker

It is a very common mistake to think you can get away with using the second side of the fole to do the same stack. It doen't really work as whilst it looks similar it isn't exactly always the same.

What you need to do is you take your yardage which contains the number of fabric repeats you need. i tell my students to count a distinctive motif near or on the selvage. so if you are doing a 6 layer stack you need to have seven of your motifs to get 6 full repeats of the pattern. Take that piece and open it up. then cut (or you can tear if you wish) down the fold line. this gives you two lengthwise strips paralel to the selvage. take one of those and chop it up into your repeat pannels and stack those. The other half may also need to be stacked, but leave it in one piece until you are ready to use it. If you didn't need more blocks you can use that for borders etc, or you can share with a friend and split a nice fabric.

As you have gone so far, hopefully you have the rest fo the yardage you purchased. if so, take the second piece and cut it in half down the fold. Identify which side belongs to which panels you were trying to cut and cut enough to give you a full stack all containing the same edge of the selvage. try stacking those.

I LOVE stack N whack I even picked Bethany reynolds for a course assignment when doing my City & Guilds.

Hope that helps
best Becks

babeyruth

Great explanation I'll give it a try
:thumbup:

babeyruth

Awesome thank you. I did pick up other fabrics to play with. It is very cool, I hope I can figure out how to remove the witches hats :-D
You all are awesome