Stack N Whack

Dorothy-

I think you might be confused about S n W. You do not "collect" fabrics for this.... well, maybe sachings and borders and backing. But the whole idea of the project is to buy a single piece of a medium to large print and to stack and cut it up so that the various blocks are formed. You wouldn't buy several pieces of different fabrics like for piecing a "regular" quilt.

Depending on the size of the print, the number of repeats and the size of the quilt, you might need any where from 2 to 5 or 6 yards of the focus fabric for the blocks. If you bought a yard or two each time, the repeats may get chopped up and it would all be a waste as you couldn't use much of the fabric. I hope that's understand-able! And, without seeing the fabric in person, we really can't advise you on how much you need, either. Wish it were more simple. It was very confusing for my students when I taught S n W. They wanted to know *exactly* how much fabric to buy and all I could say was "it depends". Even the book has some vague statements like that..... there's quite a few variables.

It would be better- and much safer- to save money towards the purchase rather than chance buying the wrong fabric or not enough and then having it sold out when you need more. Sorry to be so un-helpful.

Dorothy, for a Stack and Whack, you need a specific number of repeats of the same fabric. So you really just need yardage of one multi-color fabric plus a background and maybe an accent fabric. The main fabric should have very little background showing, and have medium to large scale motifs. You will want to know the length of the repeat, and will need a certain number of repeats of the print. If you are doing an eight pointed star or pinwheel, you need 8 repeats, if doing a six pointed, 6 repeats and so on. I am sure that if you have a chance to go into the shop and ask this question, they will show you what types of prints will work well.

Have fun with it.

Pati, > Can anyone give some ideas of fabrics to use for this type of

A picture is worth.....

Picture one is the finished quilt, followed by two shots of different blocks followed by a shot of the border, which is the fabric I used for the blocks. For scale purposes, it will help to know the blocks are about 12"; the border about the same. Repeat length of this fabric was rather large [I seem to remember it was about 16"], so I had to use a lot, but I put the extra strip in the middle of the back so DH could admire all the old cars [which are accurate representations...it's a guy thing: Frank and all his friends feel honour-bound to point out which of the cars they owned and in what colours.]

Hint: I would NOT pick out your background fabric until you have a couple of blocks made. Ditto for accent fabrics. I originally intended this to be on white with black accents [think racing flag]. Didn't work at all: the beige on creme print was the best option from my stash, and the turquoise blue was about the 12th different fabric we tried for accent, and I think it absolutely makes the quilt. Serendipity: it happens to be the colour Frank intends [someday] to paint his 1964 Beaumont Acadian when he restores it.

Maybe looking at quilts others have made will help.I've made several stack-n-whacks. As others have said, a large print with quite a bit of contrast works well. I usually use the main fabric in the border. I have used a Christmas print the first one I did): , a Hershey candy bar fabric: , an outer-space-looking fabric: , a brown stripey print: (the border here was only part of the print), and a green floral stripe:

Julia > Can anyone give some ideas of fabrics to use for this type of

...cut...

I found that candy bar fabric on one of my rare trips into Wal-mart and their fabric department. It screamed "stack 'n' whack" at me, so I had to buy it :). The salesperson cutting it for me asked what I was going to do with all that fabric and seemed surprised when I told her "Make a quilt".

Julia > Oh heck ... I really like that SnW with the chocolate candy bar fabric.

What do you mean "even I"??? I don't think you're tacky at all, Pat!

IMHO, I tend to like medium size prints - with background showing up often enough to "carry the color" so that every block has some consistent color/print. Too big of a print, IMHO, tends to give a choppy look. Of course, a lot depends on the size of the blocks, too. Take a couple of mirrors with you when you shop - (they make rectangular ones that hook together at one end) so you can move it around the fabric and sorta get an idea of how the print will look once it's chopped up into triangles.... some of the ugliest fabric looks soooo great when whacked up! Too small of a print doesn't seem to work as well and you don't get the "right" effect. Maybe try the mirror thing on some of your fabric at home first to get the idea.

I've done WUH-type S'n'Ws with a lot less fabric by cutting the fabric down the center fold and laying one half on top of the other and matching the prints. Depends, again, on the size of block you're making, how wide the repeat is (less, usually for smaller/medium prints than for large prints.) and how many blocks you'll need. But, WARNING!!! S'n'W can become very, very addictive! ME-Judy

I usually organize them as two groups of roughly complementary colours so you get a checkerboard-like effect (i.e. fabrics in one group end up with borders only against those of the other).

Or use the same general hue but plains or near-plains in one group and patterns in the other.

No other technique puts such a big dent in your stash so fast.

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