Sunshine Quilts

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Stack & Whack Obsession

I had commented to Samantha about loving Stack & Whack Quilts and she mentioned that she'd like to see some of the ones I made so . . here are a few. If you don't like Stack & Whack quilts, you'll think I'm nuts for making so many but I love them!

This was the first one I made. The fabric is kind of patriotic and has the New York skyline, including the World Trade Towers. I had the fabric for a while but made the quilt after 9/11 and this is one of my favorites. I never look at this quilt that I don't remember where I was, and what I was doing on 9/11. The hardest part of making this quilt was deciding on a background and accent fabric. This is the version my quilting classes call the "easy" stack & whack.

The second one was made using a fabric with pretty ladies and cars from the 50's (or sometime thereabouts. This is the fabric I used. I made one of these quilts for my dad and one for my brother-in-law. Both are in their 70's and I figured they'd get a kick out of the girls and cars. I used the same fabric for the backing on both. This is my favorite setting with the nine patches in the sashing.

Next one was made using fabric with Chinese food. There's a story behind this one. Vince loves Chinese food. I can tolerate it every now and then but for the longest time, every time we'd go out to eat, which is rare, it was Chinese. It got to be so bad that we almost had a serious argument about it and we never really argue. I was sick of Chinese food and besides, the Chinese restaurant here is on the poor to awful scale as far as restaurants go. So, I made Vince this quilt as a joke. I need to get a better picture of it . . this one is kinda blurry and the blue isn't nearly as bright as it looks in this picture. And, Vince now eats Chinese food when he's out of town and we don't go to the Chinese restaurant here.

Starting to think I might have had too much fun with these quilts? :) This one was fun to make but I do think it's kinda ugly. It really is sometimes surprising to see how some of the fabric is going to turn out when stacked and whacked. I gave it to one of Chad's teachers last year as a Christmas gift. It was a man teacher and he just loved it (or so he said).

This one was also a teacher gift last year at Christmas. One of Chad's teachers loves purple and green. The green wasn't quite as green as it appears in this picture. I also like purple and green so this one was hard for me to give away. I had originally wanted to use a lime green swirly fabric for the background but the star points just blended into the background and were lost so I had to switch to this darker green. Last but surely not least is my black stack & whack. This quilt won Best of Category at the AQS Expo in Nashville in 2004. It was so weird because I had two quilts in the show. My other quilt had won several ribbons at other shows and I really hoped it would win something in Nashville. My friend, Betty, went to the show with me and we were walking around looking at vendor booths. I told her I was going to look at the quilts so she stayed behind in the vendor booths. I got to my green quilt first and . . no ribbon or anything. I didn't even think the stack & whack might have a ribbon so I casually made my way through the remaining quilts. The quilt was entered in the "AQS 20th Anniversary" category and it had to be quilts made from an AQS book. When I got to that section, they had the quilts hanging with the first place quilt, then my quilt with a purple ribbon, then the second place quilt, then the third place quilt. I stood there for a minute trying to figure out what the purple ribbon meant. Wasn't sure. So, I went and found Betty and asked her. She said . . I think it means you WON. Hmmm, still couldn't figure it out so I bought a show guide thinking it might tell me. I called Vince and I was whispering "My black quilt might have won!" He called me back about five times before I ever figured it out. Yep, it won and I was so excited! There are a couple more stack & whack quilts in my UFO pile and a couple more in my "to be quilted" pile. Yep, they are so much fun to make! Judy

14 Comments:

  • Judy,
    Those are ALL gorgeous. I have made 3 S&W's and it is truly fun to see how the blocks turn out...especially the same groups just turning them differently...AMAZING!!! Great job on all of them...
    Laurie

    By Blogger Laurie, at 12/13/2005 08:21:00 PM  

  • Wow, you really did love making these. Congrats on the win. Gotta say I love the quilt with the cars and women - very fun.

    By Blogger Tonya Ricucci, at 12/13/2005 11:19:00 PM  

  • I love the black the best, then the cars. But they're all beautiful! I've never had the desire to make one...I guess that's a good thing because it looks like they turn into an obsession! :o) Beautiful quilting on the black one, Judy!

    By Blogger Carolyn, at 12/14/2005 05:27:00 AM  

  • How fun is the quilt with the cars.... I never suspected that teh stars are made by that fabric.

    By Blogger Lucy, at 12/14/2005 05:27:00 AM  

  • Is the black one published in the McTavishing book? (I almost bought that book so I could send it to you for an autograph! Call me star struck!)

    BTW I made an example of how not to do a stack & whack - really bad fabric choice & I ruined it by trying to quilt it myself... June B. then told me about this really terrific long arm quilter....

    I started to make another that I called stack & opps, becasue I forgot to unfold the yardage before cutting it.... I never sewed it together, I just trimmed the triangles - all 1 million of them (this was going to be a bed quilt and I didn't figure out my mistake until I cut them all out...) into squares and they are now in 4 patches waiting for me to decide what to do with them....

    BTW Big picture on my blog today....

    By Blogger The Calico Cat, at 12/14/2005 05:47:00 AM  

  • I love s&w quilts. I've just never made one. I did buy the book but I think I gave it away a few years ago when I went thru my books and only kept the ones I truly loved. (Another stash gone out of control!)

    By Blogger Nancy, at 12/14/2005 05:55:00 AM  

  • Haven't done a stack and whack yet, but after looking at all of yours, I may have to. I like the black one the best and then the chinese food one because it is such an excellent story! What would you call the Buggie Barn Heart Crazies pattern? I stack it and then whack it, and then sew it back together. But it's not a star. Thanks for sharing all those photos!

    By Blogger Laurie Ann, at 12/14/2005 10:42:00 AM  

  • Beautiful quillts Judy, and why not do them if you enjoy it? I think that is just fine!!! They are all so neat. I've never done one, and have no desire to, but I do admire the wonderful effect you get with them. If you need an excuse just tell them you were making one for the gals who aren't going to...*VBG*

    By Blogger Finn, at 12/14/2005 11:06:00 AM  

  • Wow, see, and I thought I made a lot of 'em. Of course, really, I only made 4, and bought fabric for lots more...

    LOVE your prize winning black one! It's so lovely. Thank you for sharing!

    To Laurie ann- I think the style you're describing might be called stack n slash?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12/14/2005 01:14:00 PM  

  • They are all beautiful. And I liked the one for the teacher you think is ugly (not the teacher - the quilt!). I've never made a Stack and Whack -- guess I'll have to add it to the "someday" list!

    By Blogger Joanne, at 12/14/2005 02:32:00 PM  

  • Oh they are so great! I love seeing the pic of the original fabric that they came from.....it just boggles my mind how that works! I've quilted lots of them, have never made one myself :c) I love the setting with the stars and the 9 patches!

    Bonnie

    By Blogger Bonnie K. Hunter, at 12/15/2005 12:42:00 AM  

  • You wacky stacker, you!!! Your quilts are ALL awesome, Judy! I don't know if I could pick a favorite from your pics or not. Each one has its own uniqueness. I love the stories that go with them, too.

    Thanks for sharing all of those, Judy.

    By Blogger Darcie, at 12/15/2005 06:47:00 AM  

  • I haven't done any S&W quilts either but I am tempted. I just bought a software program that will turn photos into repeated images so I am entering the gray from the back door. They are pretty interesting. . .hmm. Maybe I could use some of that ancient fabric of mine to experiment. thanks for the quilt show!

    By Blogger Debra Dixon, at 12/15/2005 03:06:00 PM  

  • I just finished my first Stack and Whack, the easy kind, as a present for my son's principal. Yours are absolutely wonderful, even the one you think is ugly. Thanks for sharing.

    By Blogger Jules, at 12/15/2005 03:50:00 PM  

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