2018 Master the Rulers: Studio 180 Design Blockbuster #16

Well, today we return to start the Blockbuster series 2, blocks #15-25 that means we will be done with series 2 in ten weeks and I have a feeling they will go fast just like the first series did.

Blockbuster #16, Peaks & Valleys uses the combination of the Studio 180 Design Diamond Rect® tool and the SideKick/High-Low Technique Sheet to make this block.  I again used the same Island Batik Fabrics that were used in Blockbuster #15, just adding coordinating fabric to the mix.

I began with making the four diamond rectangles, by cutting out the centers and the side triangles with my Diamond Rect® tool. Once they were all cut out, I sew them together, just as I did in blockbuster #15.

My diamond rectangles were now complete.  Time to get started on the next step the High-Low Units. 

I have made the High-Low units in blockbuster #10 the twisted pinwheel block. Making the High-Low units are relatively simple, you just need to pay attention to the direction your slant must go. These units use the "V" Block® trimmer.  I need to make a total of four units that slanted to the right.

Finally, I completed the units by making some four sidekick units, followed by cutting some large and small squares for the corners and the center of the block. 

 Now I was ready to layout the units to begin the assembly.

I started with the center block assembly first.  To do this, I need to sew a partial seam using the small center square and one of the sides of the Diamond Rectangles. This is very similar to how we put the Shuriken blockbuster #14 together.

Then I continued to work, sewing the diamond rectangles together. The last step was to stitch the partial seam to the last diamond rectangle.

The center is complete, now I can finish it by stitching all the pieces together and assembling them to the center block.

Blockbuster #16, Peaks and Valleys is finished.  This was another fun, block to make due to it helped me reinforce everything I have learned in the first series of blocks fresh in my mind.  

Tina

"Designing to Inspire"

You can check out my completed Blockbuster blocks HERE.

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2018 Master the Rulers: Studio 180 Design Blockbuster #15

This week, I have moved my Blockbuster Challenge blog up one day for an excellent reason.  Tomorrow, I'm participating in the Northern Woods Blog hop, so I had to move this blog post up one day.

Today, I have Diamonds in my eyes as I make Blockbuster #15 Floating Diamonds, the last one in Series One.

Floating Diamonds uses the Studio 180 Design, Diamond Rects® Tool and I used three colors from my Island Batik Fabric Stash from past years.

I started with making the 3" x 6" Diamonds. Referring to the chart that came with my ruler, I needed strips of fabric that measured 3 1/4" wide, to cut out the diamond centers.  Placing my Diamond Rects® tool on my stack of strips I made my first cut.

Rotating the strips around, I made my second cut using the Diamond Rects® tool.

I now had 4 perfectly cut diamonds, two of each color.

Next, I started to cut the side triangles from 2 3/4" x rectangles that I cut from a 4" strip of neutral fabric.

This would yield 2 side triangles per, one rectangle and  I need 4 side triangles per diamond.

Now that the diamond center and the side triangle were cut out. I positioned the side triangles around the diamond center, making sure the bias edge matched the center bias edges and the straight edges were facing outside.

I started stitching the two opposite sides together on the center of the diamond. Making sure the edges matched up, and pressing away from the diamond.

Then continuing with the remaining sides and pressing away from the diamond.

Now I was ready to trim the rectangles down to size.  Using the trim down side of the Diamond Rects® tool, I placed it on top of the rectangles and trimmed down to 3" x 6".

Now that the diamond rectangles were finished, it was time to cut out 8 - 2" x 5" rectangles of the neutral fabric and 4 of each color I used as the diamond centers.  I laid them out and stitched them together.

Now I have the long rectangle units made, I again laid the blocks out and stitched them together with the Diamond rectangles. I wanted the colors to be the opposite of the diamond rectangle fabric.

Once that was done, I began stitching the four blocks together.

Blockbuster #15 Floating Diamonds is now complete.  There is a lot of color combinations you could do with this block.  I'm looking forward to next week when we start series two. I think they will be challenging blocks, but rewarding at the same time. This is great practice as I prepare myself for the Studio 180 Design Certified Instructor Class in July.

You can check out my completed Blockbuster blocks HERE.

Have a Great Week! Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter and blog here, when you sign up you will get a Free Pattern.

Tina

"Designing to Inspire"

For more Information, click HERE 
                       
Join the Ramblin' Star Block of the Month Group! HERE