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Monday, March 11, 2024

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

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

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.

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

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:

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.

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Day Two - Modern Opulance Blog Hop


I’m so excited that you have stopped by my blog today during the Deb Tucker Studio 180 Design Modern Opulence Blog Hop. My name is Tina Dillard, and I'm a Studio 180 Design Certified Instructor, author, instructor, designer, and owner of Quilting Affection Designs. Throughout the week, a few of my fellow Certified Instructors are bringing you projects that are either table toppers or table runners.


These projects are using Deb’s newest fabric line with Island Batik, Modern Opulence. It's full of oranges, blues, and golds that are rich and bold. For those fall-themed projects, they're perfect. As soon as I saw this collection, I fell in love. The possibilities are endless with this line. The schedule for this week is below, so make sure to follow each of these as the week progresses.

Monday, January 16th: Studio 180 Design kickoff

Monday, January 16th: Diana Mann of Murgaboo Quilts

Tuesday, January 17th: Tina Dillard of Quilting Affection Designs (today)

Wednesday, January 18th: Phyllis Fay of Stitchin’ in the Ditch

Thursday, January 19th: Raija Salomaa of Quilter’s Treasure Chest

Friday, January 20th: Studio 180 Design wrap up

The project I designed for this Blog Hop will be this month's Block Party Block. I'll quickly explain Block Party Blocks if you're not familiar. Block Party Blocks look just like Blockbuster blocks from Studio 180 Design. They're free downloads that come out around the 15th of every month. These blocks use a variety of Studio 180 Design tools and provide practice, fun, and inspiration. 


Let me introduce you to my Block Party Block #32 and Blog Hop Project "Opulence Puzzle." Deb's Modern Opulence fabric collection inspired this elegant table topper. Using Studio 180 Designs tools and techniques, I made the sample using the 36" x 36" table topper size, Wing Clipper, Large Square Squared, and Corner Beam tools. In addition, I've included Technique Sheets for Pickets and Quickets, Stacked Squares, and Birds of Paradise.

I'll show you how easy this project was by showing you the tools, the units, and the fabrics I used. Stay with me until the end of this blog, and I'll tell you how to download this free project that comes in 36" x 36" and 24" x 24".


I used seven different fabrics from the Modern Opulence collection in this table topper. Their values range from Light to Dark and include a Background and Coordinating fabric for the borders.  

I'll start with the first unit of this table topper, the Corner Beam. With the Corner Beam, you can cut your Side Triangles and Center Beams and trim the units with one tool. No more paper piecing. I used a mix of background and medium/dark fabrics from the collection for my Corner Beam Units.

Next, I made Flying Geese and Quickets units with Light, Medium/Light, and Dark fabrics. The wing clipper tool is used for these units. I love having a Wing Clipper around for flying geese. Use this tool to trim down Quicket units from your Picket and Quickets Technique Sheet.


To finish this project, I used the Large Square Squared Tool to create Birds of Paradise and Stacked Squares (Economy Blocks). Combining Light, Medium, Medium/Light, and Dark fabrics makes this Birds of Paradise unit bright and colorful. Last but not least, the Economy Block from the Stacked Squares Technique Sheet was made for the center using a combination of Background, Light, and Medium fabrics. 

After I make all my units, I can assemble the table topper, starting with the main block. Here's how the three rows look put together. A quilt's center could be a great block by itself.


After that, make another set of flying geese units and combine them with rectangles and squares to create the pieced border. You'll then sew the pieced borders to each side of the center block. It's finished off with coordinating fabric borders.

A gorgeous table topper from Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design Modern Opulence Fabric Line from Island Batik is easy to make and put together. This Block Party Block #32 "Opulence Puzzle" table topper pattern can be made by clicking on this link and downloading it.

Thanks for joining me on Day Two of the Modern Opulence Blog Hop. I'll see you on Phyllis Fay's Stitchin' in the Ditch blog tomorrow.  

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Day Two - Tranquility Blog Hop - Asterisk Star


Hello, I'm so excited to welcome you to Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Tranquility Blog Hop. I'm Tina Dillard, a Studio 180 Design Certified Instructor, author, instructor, designer, and owner of Quilting Affections Designs. 
Using Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design for Island Batik's new fabric line Tranquility, I want to show you a fun and elegant design. These fabrics are starting to arrive in your local shops now, so make sure you check them out. You'll love this new line if you love earth tones. The quilter can choose from a variety of soft browns, tans, and greens. Check out Asterisk Star, a remake of a quilt from my book Poppin' with Wings, for an example of what can be done.

This eye-catching quilt uses the Studio 180 Designs Wing Clipper® I and Corner Pop® II tools. A basic Flying Geese unit with some corners popped to give it an extra kick. Corner Pop® II from Studio 180 Designs gives designers another level of creativity by popping corners twice as tall as they are wide. Combined with the basic Flying Geese unit, it has so many possibilities. Using these tools, I wrote a book showing the possibilities and how to use them.

Let me explain what I mean by popping the corners of a unit. Basically, you're creating a basic unit like flying geese, then cutting off one corner. You can then add another fabric piece to give it a different look once that's done. This is super easy with the Corner Pop Tools from Studio 180 Designs. I show you how to pop corners with the Corner Pop Tools in my book Poppin' with Wings. 

Example of Pattern

Quilts aren't just about the pattern and the tools. A quilt is just as much about the fabrics and colors as it is about the pattern. Asterisk Star is the perfect match for Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design's Tranquility fabric line. The brown, tan, and green colors of that line give the pattern a nice woodsy look and would look great in a mountain cabin or even in an apartment. The dark brown background creates a stencil look, which brings out the four colors.

The funny thing is, as I write this, I'm sitting at a campground in North Central Maryland watching the greens and browns of the forest. The Tranquility fabric has these colors right down to the last stitch. The beauty of nature around me inspires me to bring these colors home. If I ever need a break from the stress and anxiety of a busy life, I can look at Asterisk Star and immediately be transported back to a peaceful setting where a gentle breeze moves the green leaves as soft sunlight sprinkles through them.

Next time you're making a quilt, think about what colors bring you peace and harmony. Try working them into the pattern so you'll always have them handy if you need them. If those colors happen to be Earth colors, think of Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design Tranquility and Poppin' with Wings "Asterisk Star". By doing so, you can bring the outdoors inside.

Make sure to check out my website if you're looking for my Poppin' with Wings book. You can also check out the other fabulous designs in the book. 

Thank you all for stopping by. Check back every day this week to see what other great designers and instructors are up to, you will find the schedule below:

Also, be sure to stop back Friday, July 15th on the Studio 180 Design Blog to enter to win a Fat Quarter Bundle of the Tranquility fabric.