Stack and Whack

Stack and Whack is a Bethany Reynolds invention. She has written several books on the technique. Basically, it's stacking a large-medium print fabric- precisely matching the motifs of the print- such as a flower. Then you cut the fabrics and the pieces will create a pattern like a kaleidoscope. It is fascinating to see how the different blocks develop, but it uses a fairly large amount of fabric to get the number of repeats you will need. An internet search will locate hundreds of examples for you to look at and and admire!

As far as fat quarters go... it depends! There are quite a few patterns and books that are 'fat quarter friendly'. For many/most quick piecing and strip piecing methods you will need full widths of your fabric. If you are feeding your stash, FQs are a nice way to get a lot of different fabrics and easily. You can buy FQs in 'sets' from a particular line or in color gradations or in a vast assortment of fabric prints and colors or buy them individually. Keepsake Quilting has a sale of FQs every once in a while-

So, as in so many things in quilting.... it depends!

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

Literally: pile up and cut! It is actually a technique used to make patterns very like kaleidoscopes. There are specific ways of cutting to get the desired effect. If you fancy doing one, I think you would be best getting a book with patterns - at least for your first one. They can be stunning and very much depend on the fabric chosen. This is the sort of thing a book will tell you.

Now, someone else will have to come along with a link to a book; or you could Google and search for Stack and Whack. . In message , Starsong writes

What is a squishies quilt. Google brought up a mixed bag of things....... ?!?!?!

From the RCTQ FAQ page-

What is a Squishie?

A squishie is an envelope that comes to you, that's slightly fat and squishie. It can be a bit of fabric someone knows you'll love, or a birthday surprise, the main thing is that when a squishie comes in the mail it makes you feel like smiling. The same thing happens when you send them out, oddly enough! When thanking someone for a squishie please try to contact them privately, off the list. If you aren't able to, most of us don't mind sharing in the joy of a public thank you. A follow up post with a more eloquent explanation will follow this post.

What is a Thunkie?

Its similar to a squishie but it can thunk instead of squish and hold interesting things related to quilting, like chocolate or special things we quilters find indispensable for quilting.

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

"Stack and Whack" is answered by others. Fat quarters for a first project. If you are making a sampler for a first project, fat quarters can be a lot of fun to use, albeit usually a bit more expensive than the equivalent yardage. I often suggest students working on Bible Block samplers begin with yardage of a to-die-for multi-coloured print for their borders and to be used in each block, as well as yardage of a background fabric in a solid or tone-on-tone to be used throughout. Once you have those, use the coloured dots printed on the selvege of the print to guide you as you pick a couple of fat quarters to "go with" the print [which is known as a "focus fabric."] Buy additional fat quarters as needed/wanted/can't help yourself. Try to have a variety of light, medium and dark fabrics, play with texture [swirls, florals, checks etc.....stripes can be a bit tricky, but fun too.] Remember "go with" does NOT mean matchy-matchy. You're not dressing yourself: slightly clashing can be exciting, and every quilt benefits from a "zinger" that's a bit brighter, darker, stronger or whatever.

If you're just looking for a quick to make first project, buy yardage and make something like Warm Wishes....easy peasey, instant gratification:

Here's my one foray [so far] into Stack and Whack: htttp://members.shaw.ca/whiskerwerx/gallery/quilts/kims/pages/kimcar_jpg.htm

I got sick of seeing them after a while: they were at every quilt show: some were stunning, some were so-so, and some were frankly heinous.

But, now I'm ready to tackle another one: I have some fabric that's crying to be whacked. [My son and husband think it's so ugly it should be whacked into teeny tiny pieces and burned...phooey on them!]

Anyone else have stack and whacks of their own to share? Let's have a virtual gallery show on this technique!

Here's a link to Bethany Reynolds homepage -- it will give you an idea of what it looks like. (It can make the ugliest fabric in your stash look just magnificent.) Remember, the larger the print, the more yardage you'll need to get 6 (or 8) repeats. Personally, I prefer a medium print with a consistent-background color -- it gives more of a "together" look to the quilt. There's lots of others who've written books using similar techniques.

Hi Meredith,

Others have given you a lot of good advice that is well worth heeding. I would like to suggest that if you just want to "go for it", try a "Stack 'N Slash" project. They are very forgiving and are fat quarter friendly. I googled and found several links. This one seems to be pretty easy and fun. NAYY (You'll find out what that signifies if you stay here for any length of time.)

Rita L. P.S. Be sure to read the notes at the bottom of the page that tell you how to make this even easier.

Stars> All,

Talking to myself here. This link has clearer directions for stacking and slashing...with lots of pictures.

Rita L.

Stars> All,

This was my first try at Stack and Whack several years ago. It is queen size and is on my bed for the Christmas season every year. It's always the first Christmas decoration I get out and the last one I put away :)

The next photos are two lap quilts I made for the local Ronald McDonald House.

I made this one for a sister-in-law. It turned out larger than I had anticipated so it is a large throw that she uses on her bed.

This is another throw that went to another sister-in-law.

Julia in MN

Kim Graham wrote:

Thank you. We learn something new every day.

Howdy!

Beauties, all of them!

R/Sandy-- wondering what Julia would turn out if she really-really liked the pattern/design

When you do a quilt like that, how do you finish the edges of the block so you can attach other blocks to it? Do you fit pieces in so the end result is a square block?

Just gorgeous quilts, Julia.

-Irene

The ones that end up looking like a pinwheel (the first 3 I listed) have pieces cut from the background added to the print triangles so that you end up with 8 45-degree right triangles to sew into a square block. The other two are 8 45-degree triangles sewn together into an octagon and then small triangles added to 4 sides to form a square. In the green floral one, the triangles in half the blocks are all the green print; the rest of the blocks have the green print in only 4 of the triangles. In the brown one, all of the bigger triangles are from the brown print. The fun part of these is seeing how each block turns out, as each one is different depending on which part of the print it uses.

Julia > When you do a quilt like that, how do you finish the edges of the

Thanks, Sandy. I do enjoy them. I have the fabric for a couple more -- one is a red and black Valentine print, the other is an Elvis Christmas print. Since making my very first one, I can't help but thing "Stack 'n' Whack" when I see some of those large prints. Sometime I do want to try the 4-patch version that I've seen recently. It's so much fun to see how each block looks, as each one is different.

Julia > Howdy!