Block Party Block 52 – Patched Up

Block Party Block #52 – Patched Up introduces a new technique recently released by Studio 180 Design. This fun and easy technique is perfect for use with the Four Patch Square Up tool. In this tutorial, I will guide you through creating the Time Out units for the Patched Up block. You will need your Four Patch Square Up tool, Wing Clipper tool and instructions, and Offset Four Patch and Time Out Technique Sheets from Studio 180 Design.

Download your free block now: Block Party Block #52 - Patched Up

I use three fabrics from Deb Tucker Studio 180 Design's newest collection Bubbles, Curves and Corners by Island Batiks, plus a white background fabric. This block would look fantastic with just three colors, but you could add a few more if you want to be adventurous.

Time Out Technique

This unit utilizes strip piecing to create a modified four-patch unit. Refer to the Time Out Technique Sheet to determine the appropriate strip sizes for your units. You will need three strips: one for Strip A (your first color) and two for Strips B and C (your second color).

Start by stitching Strips A and B together lengthwise with a ¼” seam allowance. Press the seam toward Strip A. 

After that, sub-cut the units into sections based on your strip size.

Next, gather Strip C and place the sub-cuts right side down on the strip, ensuring that Strip A is at the top so that the needle enters the strip first. Stitch with a ¼” seam allowance.

Roughly cut the units apart to create oversized units and press the seams toward Strip C fabric.

Now, you are ready to trim the units down using your FourPatch Square Up tool. Locate the circle for your finished unit size on the tool and place the circle in the center of the sewn seam intersection, aligning the dashed line radiating from the center circle with the seams. Trim the first two sides. Note: I'm trimming and cutting my left hand. Check out the Technique Sheet to see the right-handed layout.

Rotate the unit 180 degrees on the cutting mat. Realign the Finished Size Circle with the center seam and ensure the dashed lines align with the seams. Ensure the previously trimmed edges align with the Cut Size of Units lines and trim the final two sides.

Your units are now ready for the block or quilt you are making. 

Finishing

For the Patched Up block, you must create Unit B, which consists of eight Flying Geese units, and Unit C, which consists of four Offset Four Patch units, according to the tool and technique instructions.

Once all units are assembled for block assembly, lay them on your cutting mat or design board. Stitch the units together, and it is recommended to press the seams open as you construct the block to help manage bulk in certain areas.

This block is a great way to practice your skills and try this new technique.  If you want to play with another block using the Time Out Technique, check out the Studio 180 Design Free BlockBuster #96 Fireflies. 

You can check out my other Free Block Party Blocks by checking out my website.

Day Seven - Bubbles, Curves and Corners Blog Hop

Welcome to the final day of the Bubbles, Curves and Corners Blog Hop. 

I hope you have enjoyed the projects shared by the Studio 180 Design Certified Instructors, who have used the new Deb Tucker Studio 180 DesignBubbles, Curves and Corner Fabric Collection for Island Batik, and Blockbuster Blocks. It's been great to see the different projects that each participant has created. One thing I love about the Studio 180 Design Fabric Collection is the vibrant array of colors in each new collection they release. 

If you missed any of the other blogs, please check the list below to read and see the beautiful projects by Studio 180 Design Certified Instructors in this block hop.

Saturday, October 12 - Studio 180 kick-off

Monday, Oct. 14 - Allison Spence

Tuesday, Oct. 15 Sue Adams

Wednesday, Oct. 16 Tracy Stinger

Thursday, Oct. 17 Diana Mann 

Friday, Oct. 18 Kathy Tucker

Saturday, Oct. 19 Tina Dillard (Today)

Monday, October 21 - Studio 180 wrap-up 

Hello, everyone. I’m Tina Dillard. I am a Certified Instructor, Author, Teacher, and Designer at Quilting Affection Designs. I love designing companion patterns for the Studio 180 Design tools, and I have two helpers who assist me in my studio and office daily. In fact, I had the pleasure of creating a new pattern that includes Bubbles, Curves, and the Corner Fabric Line. Keep reading for more information.

Today, I want to showcase my Bubbles, Curves and Corner project, which was made with Blockbuster #86, What’s Your Angle Block. This block utilizes the Studio 180 Design Corner Pop® III and Tucker Trimmer® tools. If you follow me on social media and my patterns, you know that I enjoy working with the Corner Pop tools, so I couldn't resist making this block. Using these beautiful fabrics for this block was genuinely delightful.

Bench Pillow made from Blockbuster #86

For my project, I chose to make a bench pillow instead of a regular table runner or wall hanging. I selected four different fabrics from a collection that included cool and warm colors. For the background fabric, I selected an Island Batik neutral called "Almond," which perfectly complemented the collection. I designed two blocks with different red and blue stars alternating between them.

My Fabrics

Let me walk you through the four units needed to make this block. Before that, let’s talk about how I used the four colors in this collection. I used warm red and blue colors for the center stars and corner diamonds to make them stand out. For everything else, I used cool teal, lilac, and background fabrics to create a subtle background.

Removing a Corner with Corner Pop® III

This block consists of four units that need to be "popped." When we say "pop," we use the Corner Pop® III tool to remove a portion of the starting unit, which can be either a half-square triangle or just a square, as in this block. Then, you will replace it with a replacement triangle of a different fabric color and trim it down using the tool.

Units A and B

Units A and B are Single-Pop Half-Square Triangles. Unit A consists of Type #1, which replaces the right side of the Half-Square Triangles, and Unit B will be Type #2, which replaces the left side of the Half-Square Triangles. 

Unit C

Unit C, a Double Popped Half-Square Triangle, replaces two opposite sides of a Half-Square Triangle. 

Unit D Final Trim

Unit D, Popped Corner Squares, will pop all four square corners, making the center diamond pop at the end. You will need four units for all the units in this block.

Little Ruler Work with Q16

After assembling my blocks, I arranged them in a row and added a subtle border around the edges. To complete the project, I used my Q16 sit-down machine for quilting and to enhance the units in the blocks. The final step was adding an envelope pillow backing to turn it into a pillow. 

Bed Pillow

The finished pillow measured 36” x 16” and looks beautiful!  So, if you are considering a project other than the typical table runner, why not make a bench pillow or individual pillows instead?

Let me introduce another project you can create using the Bubble, Curves and Corners fabric collection. Every time Studio 180 Design launches a new collection, they release new patterns and update some older ones. They also invite a couple of Certified Instructor pattern designers to create patterns using their latest collection. I am always thrilled to be asked to design patterns for their collections.

Collaboration

Introducing my latest pattern, "Collaboration," which elevates your Wedge Star® tool by integrating fundamental Wedge Star techniques with the Diamond Four Patch Technique Sheet. This pattern incorporates four unique fabrics from the Bubbles, Curves and Corners Collection. With the Studio 180 Design Wedge Star® tool, straight piecing, and no Y-seams, this pattern enables you to create this elegant 67" x 67" quilt.

Pattern Cover

You can purchase this pattern through my website, and the fabrics, which are arriving now, can be found at your local quilt shop.

If you're interested in learning how to make this elegant pattern, I'm teaming up with Amy's Quilt Room to teach it in person at a 2 ½ day Quiltapaloosa Special Event Workshop from June 5^th to 8^th, 2025, in Uniontown, PA. If interested, click HERE to learn more and register. Only a few spots are available. Amy's Quilt Room also has kits available for preorder. I hope to see you there.

Thank you for allowing me to present different projects you can do with this new and exciting fabric line by Studio 180 Design. Please make sure to check out Monday’s Wrap-Up Blog by Studio 180 Design for the Bubble, Curves and Corners blog hop.

Day One - Squiggles, Dots and Lines Blog Hop

Welcome to Day One of the Squiggle, Dots, and Lines Blog Hop. This week, five Studio 180 Design Certified Instructors will share beautiful and creative projects they have made with Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design's newest collection, "Squiggles, Dots, and Lines," with Island Batik. The blog hop will include small projects that feature one of Studio 180's design tools and techniques.

Let me start by introducing myself to all the newcomers to my blog. My name is Tina Dillard; I'm a Certified Instructor, author, and designer under Quilting Affection Designs. My two partners in crime in the image above are my sewing buddies, Anna and Lucy. I'm so happy you are here, and I can show you my project. Additionally, I have an announcement later in this blog.

I am very excited to be part of this blog hop again because I love this newest collection, Squiggle, Dots, and Lines. The fabric collection is one of my new favorites because it features bold and bright colors, including various greens, blues, and purples.

Just days before being asked to participate in this blog hop, I was playing with a new design for a table topper that uses the Star 60 Tool and Techniques. When Studio 180 Design asked for volunteers for this Blog Hop, I knew I wanted to make this design to test it out with these fabrics. This was not the first time I had played with the Squiggle, Dots, and Lines fabric collection since I designed a pattern around this collection; more about that later in this blog. 

I used the fabrics I had left from that project: four different values of blues, two greens, and one purple. For the white background, I used an Island Batik neutral called Glaze.

The small hexagon project, which I called Radiant Light Table Topper, features the Star 60 and Capped 60 units, measuring about 23" inches. However, I'm using the Capped 60 units differently in this project. I'm not using them as regular units; I made them as side triangles for the Star 60 units instead of the regular solid piece side triangles. This adds some interest to the block, and depending on how you place your fabric colors, it adds some separation between blocks. I want to highlight the center of the table topper and the six partial hexagon blocks on the outer edges.

As I worked on the fabric placement in the project, I knew I wanted to use dark purple and a variety of blues as the borders. The center diamond flowers were created using two different greens: the lighter color in the center of the project and then the darker green on the outer edges. The white and light blue background added highlights and outer borders for the hexagon project.

I finished the quilt using some straight-line quilting on my sewing machine. Which shows off the shape of the project.

Now that this project is complete, I love how it turned out. I have a good feeling that it will become a pattern later this year. What do you think?

Special Announcement

As I told you earlier in this blog, this was not my first time using the Squiggle, Dots, and Line Fabric Collection. In early 2023, the Studio180 Design team and other designers asked me to create a pattern for this new collection. Today, after lots of hard work behind the scenes, I would like to announce I'm releasing this new pattern called "Midnight Snowflake."

This pattern allows you to enjoy the beauty of "Midnight Snowflakes" as they twist and turn on the ground. It uses the Studio 180Design Wedge Star to make twisted wedge blocks and combines them with other fundamental tools to create secondary blocks. Combine them with this new fabric collection to produce a stunning quilt top.

This pattern is now available as a physical or digital copy on my website, quiltingaffection.com. If you are a shop owner and wish to purchase the pattern for your shop, please check out the wholesale page on my website.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Check your local quilt shop for the "Squiggle, Dots, and Lines" fabric collection, which is arriving now. If they don't have it, ask if they can order it. 

Please return tomorrow as the blog hop continues with my fellow CI Jackie O'Brien from If These Threads Could Talk. The schedule of featured Certified Instructor bloggers is below; click on the links below.

Friday, March 8 - Welcome on the Studio 180 Design Blog

Monday, March 11 – Tina (me) of Quilting Affection Designs

Tuesday, March 12 – Jackie O'Brien of If These Threads Could Talk

Wednesday, March 13 – Phyllis Fay of Tucker University 

Thursday, March 14 – Diana Mann of Murgaboo Quilts

Friday, March 15 – Toni Reynolds of Love Pieced Perfection

Saturday, March 16 – Wrap Up on the  Studio 180 Design blog

Chromatic Blog Hop

I am so glad you are joining us for the Deb Tucker Studio 180 Design Chromatic Blog Hop. I and several other Studio 180 Design Certified Instructors made projects this week using the Chromatic Fabric Collection by Deb Tucker of Studio 180 Design.  You can find this week's Chromatic Blog Hop schedule below. I hope you will check out all the posts this week.

Monday, October 16th - Amy Costabile of Amy's Quilt Room

Tuesday, October 17th - Diana Mann of Murgaboo Quilts

Wednesday, October 18th - Tina Dillard of Quilting Affection Designs

Thursday, October 19th - Nicole Merriam of Heart of a Quilter

Friday, October 20th - Phyllis Fay of Tucker University

Saturday, October 21st - Studio 180 Design Wrap Up 

If you love bold colors, then you will love this fabric collection designed by Deb for Island Batik. The collection features colors such as oranges, reds, teals, blues, and purples. The first time I saw these fabrics, I was smitten with the colors. I even designed a quilt for the Island Batik catalog.  Later in this post, I'll show you more about this new pattern. First, let me introduce you to my Blockbuster project.

Choosing which Blockbuster to use was not easy. There were over 80 different blocks in the collection to choose from. In case you're unfamiliar with the Blockbusters, they're a set of free blocks where you can practice your quilting skills with the marvelous tools from Studio 180 Design. They are available on the Studio 180 Design website on the free downloads page. The latest ones are on their Facebook page.

My project was created using Blockbuster #52 Sparkler. The Tucker Trimmer and Corner Pop tools are used to make this block. I really enjoy playing with the Corner Pop tools.   

To complete my project, I decided to make a table runner out of the blocks. Blockbusters come in three sizes, and for this project, I chose a 9" block and an Island Batik basic white background to help the blocks stand out. Next, I needed to choose the Chromatic fabrics. In order to make the Sparklers really stand out, I chose a variety of colors.

In this BlockBuster, you start by making your popped corner units. With your Corner Pop tool, you can make these units quickly and easily. If you want to make this block, make sure you use your tool instructions. The chart tells you what size to cut your replacement triangles. 

With your Corner Pop tool, you will cut off the corners of a basic square and replace them with new oversized triangles. Using the Corner Pop tool, trim down the oversized triangles to create the perfect block each time.

The last thing you need to do is make the center pinwheels for each block. In order to achieve this, I made several oversized half-square triangles and trimmed them with the Tucker Trimmer.

To create a spinning effect in the table runner, I decided to make two different blocks and alternate their placement.  To give the table runner a whole new look, I placed all my blocks on point as I laid them out. I added two borders to complete the project.

My table runner turned out so beautiful, I just love it.

Now let me introduce to you my newest quilt pattern created with the Chromatic collection. Gears in Motion is a dynamic quilt that uses the Tucker Trimmer and the Split Rects tool. In order to make the quilt flow, one block is made in two different color schemes. Gears in Motion is available to purchase from my website.

Tomorrow Nicole Merriam of Heart of a Quilter will have another beautiful Chromatic project. Thank you so much for joining me today on the blog hop.

Day Two - Exuberance Blog Hop

It's my pleasure to have you on my blog today for day two of the Deb Tucker Studio 180 Design Exuberance Blog Hop. For those of you who haven't visited my site before, let me introduce myself. Hi! I'm Tina Dillard, the owner of Quilting Affection Designs and a Studio 180 Design Certified Instructor. I have recently joined forces with my friend, fellow Certified Instructor Diana Mann of Muragboo Quilts. I'm bringing you an improved Precision Block Academy, which I created in 2021.

Throughout this Blog Hop, a few of my fellow Certified Instructors are sharing projects they have done with precuts from the recently released Deb Tucker Studio 180 Design's Exuberance Fabric Collection Line for Island Batik Fabrics. Landing in your local quilt shops now.  

Here is the Blog Hop Schedule:

• Sunday, March 26th – Introduction at Studio 180 Design
• Monday, March 27th – Diana Mann of Murgaboo Quilts 
• Tuesday, March 28th – Tina Dillard of Quilting Affection Designs
• Wednesday, March 29th – Karen Overton, The Quilt Rambler
• Thursday, March 30th – Phyllis Fay of Tucker University
• Friday, March 31st – Amy Costabile of Amy’s Quilt Room
• Saturday, April 1st – Raija Salomaa of Quilter’s Treasure Chest
• Sunday, April 2nd – Wrap up at Studio 180 Design
• Monday, April 3rd – A special free treat from the people at Studio 180 Design

When the Studio 180 Design team named this new collection, they got it right. The colors are full of energy, excitement, and cheerfulness, which is what Exuberance means. They have really brought it together in this collection with the bold and rich colors that pop in any project you bring them into. 

For my project, I decided to do an original quilt that uses 10" squares to show off the colors. This is the first Star 60 project I have designed, and it utilizes one of the new Star 60 Technique Sheets, Power Strip 60. I'm in love with this creative technique that allows you to make multiple Star 60 units or Shaded 60 units. In this original project, I chose to make the Shaded 60 units using 10" squares and some Island Batik white fabric for my background.

I started off with this project by selecting a variety of 14 different 10" squares; half of the 14 would be for the diamond tips of the unit, and the other half for the companion triangle. I also cut background strips for the side triangles and more companion triangles. 

When making Shaded 60 units, they are very similar to Shaded Four Patches. However, you use the Star 60 tool for making 60-degree shapes and trimming. Using strip sets with bright, Exuberance colors for the diamonds and background fabric for the side triangles, a pieced Star 60 unit is created using these strip sets. Pieced Star 60 units can be added to a parallelogram unit cut from Exuberance and Background fabrics. On the pieced section, you can also mark stitching lines through the point diamonds. On the marked line, stitch a parallelogram right sides together with a pieced section. Press the seams toward the companion triangle and cut them apart 1/4" from the stitched lines. You now have some newly pieced diamonds ready to assemble.

It's time to add side triangles to those diamonds. Before I do that, I need to trim the sides that will have side triangles attached. Once I had the first trim done on the diamonds, it was time to add those side triangles.

Having assembled the units, I wanted to play with the quilt layout before trimming it down. I found the final layout to be the most challenging part of the whole process. Once I was happy with the layout, I did the final trim on the units. When I put the quilt together, I stitched the units into rows. At each row's end, I added half rectangle triangles to make the quilt square. Then I stitched all the rows together to finish the quilt top.

Once the quilt top was assembled, I added borders to each side to finish it.

This project was super fast and easy, thanks to the Power Strip 60 Technique. The bright, bold colors of the Exuberance fabric collection really make the pinwheel effect stand out. In the future, I'll make this a pattern. However, I'd like to tweak a few things to make it even easier for you if you want to try it out.

We're glad you're here for Day Two of the Studio 180 Design Exuberance Blog Hop. Please visit your local quilt shop and ask about the beautiful Exuberance Fabric Collection. This will bring energy and excitement to any quilt project you plan to make, just like it did for this project. I have more quilt patterns in this Exuberance collection in the works, so stay tuned for them.

Also, if you're interested in learning more about the Power Strip 60 technique or any of the Studio 180 Design Star 60 tools, check out Precision Block Academy. Registration opens in May.