August 2011 Block of the Month – Stack and Whack!  (hint - want it all? click on the PDF Icon)

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This month we’re going to do a Stack and Whack block. 

This is an easy block and a good way to use up some of your smaller pieces. 

You start with 6 squares of different fabric. Cut your fabric into 12^1/2” squares.

Carefully stack your squares on top of each other and press with your iron. 

Pressing the fabric helps to hold the stack in place.

Next, you are going to make two cuts going from the top to the bottom at any particular angle you want, so you end up with 3 pieces.  Then, make one cut from side to side at any angle. (See picture 1)

Set aside the first stack.  Take the first piece of fabric from stack 2 and move it to the bottom of the stack.  On stack 3, move the top two fabrics to the bottom of the stack.  Now on the 2^nd row take the first stack and move the first 3 fabrics to the bottom of the stack. 

On the 2nd stack move the first 4 fabrics to the bottom of the stack and with the last stack move the top 5 fabrics to the bottom. (See picture 2).

Next, we’re going to sew the pieces back together again. Start with the top two pieces and you can sew them together. You can use chain piecing to work on all 6 blocks. Now add the third piece from the top row.

Now do the same with the bottom row, sewing all the pieces together. On the top row pieces, press all the seams one way and on the bottom pieces press them in them in the opposite direction. Now sew the top and bottom pieces.

Guess what? You’ve just made 6 blocks. Square them up to 11” each. If you want to make more, select different fabric and make your cuts different also.

Don’t try and duplicate. You can alternate your blocks to create a different look.

This is a great block to:

• Create an entire quilt out of this block
• Add sashing between the blocks to give the eyes a place to rest
• Alternate with another type of block, Use as a border or accent.
 

This is a block you can create using all different size blocks to start with. I’ve used 5” X 12” blocks to create my borders. The sky is the limit with the fun things you can do with a whack and stack!

If you’d like to mail your blocks to be used in a quilt for kids with cancer and our wounded soldiers, please send them to:

MSP Quilting Angels
Kathy Thorne
PO Box 335
Boyds MD 20841