stack 'n whack

Or, how to turn this fabric (see above) into ....

this ....

and this ....

Saturday, I took another awesome quilting class at the Golden Triangle Fabric Center. We learned Bethany Reynolds' "magic stack 'n whack" technique, and boy did it expand my quilting horizons! Basically, you make "stacks" of fabric, and then "whack" (cut) triangles from them of the same pattern repeat. These triangles then make up hexagons (or squares or octagons, depending on your pattern) that have an amazing kaleidoscope effect. Having no clue about what was an effective fabric for this technique, I showed up to class with this fabric in hand:

Which I quickly learned created pretty lackluster results. See my first hexagon below--it looks just like the original fabric! So much for the kaleidoscope effect.

So, with the encouragement of my instructor and classmates, I picked out this wild fabric for attempt number two. Definitely not fabric I would normally be drawn to! I was honestly a little nervous making my purchase, thinking "what have I been talked into?" But the results are awesome .... see my favorite blocks above and below. I've made just enough to make another baby quilt ... and a very trippy baby quilt at that! Now I just need to decide how to piece the blocks together. The pattern it's based on suggests piecing the blocks into vertical stripes, with vertical strips of complementary fabric in between. Or I could see making some diamonds in between the blocks ... we'll see.