Bread and Butter - A Unique Take Using a BlockBuster!

Every month I participate in a block challenge with several of my fellow Studio 180 Design Certified Instructors. We take a BlockBuster block and make it our own. Last month we worked with BlockBuster #33 Take a Gander. I love this block! It uses the Geese on the Edge technique and hourglass units. 

I started by picking fabrics from the Bubbles, Curves and Corners fabric collection that Deb designed for Island Batik. This collection is special to me because it's the first one that was released when I started working for Studio 180 Design in 2022. 

I got to work making my block, without changing any of the units but instead playing with color placement. Geese on the Edge is my favorite technique sheet. Instead of using my Wing Clipper to trim the corner I used my 4" x 8" First Choice ruler. My First Choice rulers played a huge part in the success of this project. 

 

I put my block together and I fell in love with how it looked!

Ever since I taught Symphony in 2025 to my students I've been fascinated by how different blocks can look when they are set on point. When I turned this block on point it gave it a completely different look. 

It got me thinking about making an entire project with this block. One of the first patterns released by Studio 180 Design is Bread and Butter. It uses the Tucker Trimmer to make simple star blocks that are then set on point with clever borders added. I decided to substitute my Take a Gander block in the pattern. I made two more blocks and then got to work putting the runner together. 

Bread and Butter is written for 9" blocks and my blocks are 12". I had to adjust the setting triangles to make the pattern work for the larger blocks. To do that I watched Deb's Tips & Tricks video on How to Set Blocks On Point. This video was the key to getting this project to work! It's full of great tips and of course learning from Deb is fantastic. 

I decided on a fabric for the setting triangles and cut them according to the measurements I worked out after watching the video. 

Once I got the center sewn together it was time to start adding the strips at the top and bottom. To do this you make them larger and trim them even with the blocks. The setting triangles are also oversized and need to be trimmed down. I used my 8" x 24" First Choice ruler for this. Usually I don't like setting quilts on point because the trim down is hard to do. Not with the First Choice rulers! Those 45° lines make it so easy to trim everything perfectly. 

Even though my blocks are larger than what the original pattern called for, I kept the strips the same sizes as listed in the pattern. I added the first border and also used the 45° lines to ensure the angles were perfect. 

I added the final border and I absolutely love how this project turned out! 

This is an easy pattern to adapt to any block! You can choose another 9" block, or adjust the size like I did with my 12" blocks. The BlockBuster library is a great place to start. There are 115 different blocks to choose from. You can find all of them through the end of 2025 on the Free Downloads page of the Studio 180 Design website. The blocks for 2026 are on the Studio 180 Design Facebook page. 

I hope you enjoyed this peek into how I made my own Bread and Butter project using BlockBuster #33 Take a Gander. Hopefully it will inspire you to experiment with your Studio 180 Design tools and make your own!