Hive 6 March Traditional Sunflower Block

 Hey all! Happy March, spring is almost here. I love spring and all of the azaleas blooming in the neighborhood. Flowers are so pretty and colorful, the sunflower is my favorite.

 I moved into a new shop in September. When we were finished homeschooling the boys, the school room became a dedicated sewing studio. I was able to grow in there, but when we decided to get a longarm, we quickly learned the space was not big enough. While it fit, it was a major muscle movement whenever I wanted to use the big machine. My husband promised to build me a studio along the back of the our property, but due to the pandemic, it was put off for a bit. Last year it became a reality. All of this to say, I have a quilt that hangs above my ironing board. It's Elizabeth Hartman's lightening bug quilt. I decided it was time to change it out to a sunflower. In my research I came across this block pattern. While I didn't use the pattern in the quilt, I fell in love with this block. It's called a traditional sunflower block.  

This is the tutorial I stumbled across in my research. It is a fantastic tutorial, easy to follow and thorough. 

https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-traditional-sunflower-quilt-block?_pos=1&_sid=a5c6f39cd&_ss=r

 Having found Fabric 406, I think it is a great resource for free block patterns and tutorials.

 While I like this tutorial, my process is a bit of a different approach. I like getting my sewing done in groups of like techniques, and my tutorial will follow that train of thought. 

Fabric choices: think flowers and make it your own. I'd prefer blenders or low volume prints, or fabrics with flowers. I used a charm pack of bright colors as well as some of my stash to come up with some examples. (The first two I messed up when I squared the smaller blocks.) I'd like the dark fabric to be green to mimic leaves and the background to be a light blue or aqua to mimic the sky. I also used three mediums while the above tutorial used two. Honestly, make it your flower. I'm interested in seeing your color creativity.

 

 

Cut sheet:

Background: 

    A. (2) 5.5 x 5.5

    B.  (2) 3 x 3

    C. (8) 2.5 x 2.5 draw a diagonal line on 4 of the 2.5 squares

Med 1:

    D. (4) 5 x 5

Med 2:

    E. (4) 2.5 x 4.5

Med 3:

    F (1) 4.5 x 4.5

Dark (Green, 2 shades): draw a diagonal line on all of the green squares

    G. (2) 3 x 3 lighter green

    H. (2) 5.5 x 5.5 darker green 

Steps:

 1.

 

 Take pieces C & E and place them right sides together with the diagonal line running from the top right corner to the bottom left corner of the C block. Sew along the line, iron back, and trim to 1/4 in seam allowance. Make 4 CE units, set aside.

 2. Half square triangles:

    B & G: make 4, cut, iron, trim to 2.5 and set aside

 

     A & H: make 4, iron, draw a diagonal line perpendicular to the seam, sew AH to D making 8 quarter square triangles.

 

    

You will have two sets of quarter square triangles. You only need one set of 4. The other is a bonus set.

Hard to describe, but place both triangles with the background up and choose the one with the left facing D triangle, the diagonal seam running from the top left corner to the bottom right corner.

 Square the quarter square triangles to 4.5.

Half and quarter square triangles are finished.

3. 

Take the BG half square triangles made in step two and add a C square to the top of the hst with the left G side of the triangle facing upper left. Make 4.

4. 

Take pieces CE from step one and BGC from step 3 and make a four patch. You'll make 4.These should measure 4.5 square.

 5. Putting the block together:

Orient the the quarter square triangles so the background is to the outside, and the four patches have the background square in the corner. If you notice the left one in this pic is the wrong way. I corrected it before I sewed it together, but failed to take another picture. 

And you're finished! The blocks measure 12.5 inches.

Hive 1 March 2025 Trees Tutorial for Marie

Dear Bees,

 

This month, we are going for a walk in a forest of colorful trees.

 

We will follow the tutorial called “How I Make a “Tree” Quilty Block” by Louisa Enright 

 

What I love about this block is that we will prepare the tree trunks using our scraps, and that we will be able to sew with as many “branches” as we want. I am pretty sure that these two reasons will be an inspiration for you.

 

For the block background, I recommend starting with a 12”x12” square of a vibrant solid color (the colors shown on the blogger’s design wall in the tutorial are great!) and making three diagonal ruler cuts from the bottom to the top. As suggested in the tutorial, you may want to mark the four resulting pieces, so you don’t mix them up at the assembly step.

Let’s now work on the “tree trunks”. You may want to follow the tutorial and prepare a block of 1 to 1 ½ in wide strips of swatch of fabrics. You may also want to reach out to your scrap bin and randomly make yourself a nice crumb fabric. That is what I did 

 

From your newly prepared block of scrappy fabric, you need to cut at least three ruler stripes. If you cut more, you may use them as additional "branches" (more about his possibility below). So how wide should these stripes be? This is for you to decide. Do you want to make skinny or wide trunks? Will you want to add skinny or large “branches”? 

 

Assembly:

 

Sew the strips to the background block, keeping the order as labelled on your pieces. This step will result in a block made of 4 background pieces and three “tree trunks”. 

 

Do you want to add “branches”? Then make more cuts, smaller this time, and insert your leftover scrappy fabric.

 

Here is my final block!

 

The block should be a little larger than 12”x12”, depending on if you went skinny or not for the tree trunks/branches. Please send me what you have, and I will adjust your block to the size I need at the time of the quilt top assembly.

 

Thank you so much for your contribution!

 

Marie

Hive 2 March Tutorial: 12.5" Strip Pieced Block for Susan

One of the things that I find difficult about putting together a quilt is "creating" a random look - somehow I always over-think placement of color and design and it takes me forever to make decisions. So you all can help me with this by doing some of that spontaneous creativity for me! This month's request is an exercise in a sort of "enforced randomization"  - the block is a simple strip pieced 12.5" square, but there are a couple of rules and options to satisfy those rules.

Like Kim in February, I'm going with blues and white this time - and just a spot  - or two or three - of red...

• FABRICS: Prints are OK, but please no holiday or novelty fabrics, and nothing with glitter, metallic or sparkles.  Batiks OK, solids OK, tone on tone, floral, large or small print, text prints all are fine, as long as the primary color of the fabric is blue or white. Or the red accent piece (more about that below).
• For colors, have a look at the photos below. Only three colors -  
• BLUE - think indigo, faded blue jeans, the blue and white china pattern that you see in antique shops
• WHITE - leaning toward bright white, but not cream or off white. White on white prints OK
• RED - think bright lipstick red, but not orange. Err to the side of cranberry or darker reds rather than pink or orange red. 

     

 

 

• I got the idea for this block from these quilts that I found on Pinterest, but the block I'm requesting is a variation on these blocks: 

      

• STEP BY STEP: The is a pretty straightforward strip block, with the variation of adding a square of red to one (or more) of the strips.  It will end up looking something like this: 
  
  
  
  
  It would probably be best to read through all the directions below before deciding how you want to proceed with the block.
• Choose 6 fabrics (you can repeat one or two fabrics if necessary) in different shades of blue, white, or blue and white.   Cut 6 strips 2.5" wide and 13" long.
• If you have nothing that you can use to cut one strip piece 13" long by 2.5" wide, you can sew together similar fabrics to get your strips, but please aim for a uniform color look within each discrete strip. 
• Plan your block so that contrasting fabrics are alternating (one lighter, one darker, etc.) 

Auditioning fabric/deciding strip order

• This is where you have a chance to be really random. You can do this step once, twice, or three times for your block.  Choose one, two or three RED fabrics, and cut 2.5" X 2.5" squares (no more than 3)

• Choose one of your blue and/or white 13" strips, and randomly cut it into two new rectangles that are 2.5" wide. In the photo below, I've chosen 2 different strips to cut.
  
  
  
  
  
• Now choose one of your red 2.5" squares and sew it to one end of the strip you just cut.
  
  

  

  Red square sewn to the shorter end of a blue strip

  
  
  
• Sew the other piece of the cut strip onto the other side of the red square - you should now have one 15" X 2.5" strip. 
  
  

  

  Preparing to add the remaining blue cut strip

  
  
  
  

  

  Ready to sew longer blue strip onto left edge of red square

  
  
• Press the seams toward the darker fabric and trim to 13" length.
  
  

  

  Trim to 12.5"



• Repeat the step of adding a red 2.5" square up to 3 times for your block. It could be on 3 separate strips, or 2 red blocks on one blue or white strip...all three red blocks could even be on one strip. Or they could be on 2 or 3 separate strips. Where you add the red square and how many (up to 3) red squares you add are choices that are up to you.
• Sew your 13" X 2.5" strips together lengthwise, using a quarter inch seam, and press toward the darker color in each instance. 

  

  One pair of strips ready to sew together

  
  

  

  Strips sewn into pairs. Two more seams to go!
  
  

• Once you have all 6 strips sewn together, press the seams toward the darker color and  you are done!  I'll do a final trim once I have all the blocks.

 Here are a few completed blocks:

 

Please let me know if you have questions about this block, since it's my first time explaining the process without a prior tutorial to rely on.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations of these instructions! 

Susan

Hive 5 - March Tutorial - Granny Square Block for Sara

As always, I have been so indecisive about what to choose for the month but ended up settling on a granny square quilt block. I used to cut my scraps into pre-determined sizes, including 2.5" squares, and still have quite a few left in my stash. I find these blocks to be fun and relaxing to make.

Before we get started

• Blocks will be 9" square unfinished
• Press however you prefer - I recommend nesting seams
• Blocks can be scrappy or not

Color Palette and Fabric Selection

I'm leaning into teals and burnt oranges for these blocks. Here's a palette for inspiration:

Each block is two-toned, with the low volumes and one color in various values. As you can see below, I've used a lighter and a darker value of contrasting teals for the pattern. For the exterior dark print, please choose a mostly solid color (i.e., if there's a contrasting print, the overall block should read as a consistent value) to help maintain the contrast. For the interior colors, I'm less particular. This is also a good block for fun focal fabrics as your interior square, if you'd like.

Looking at the photo on the left, I've pulled different oranges that may work. To the far left, these would make good dark contrast/exterior blocks as I'd prefer them to read as one color. In the middle, these fabrics start to have more contrast within the block and can visually be differentiated from the darker contrast exterior blocks. For the blocks that I played around with, I found that I preferred a strong contrast. The rightmost fabrics can either be similar to the exterior blocks, with strong contrast to the interior 4 but feel free to fussy cut if you'd rather. 

The photo on the right has diferent low volumes. The top row, with softer contrast, is preferred for these blocks. The bottom fabrics have strong contrast and end up making the blocks feel busy.

Directions

Cutting Directions

• 12 - 2.5" low volume squares (30" strip)
• 8 - 2.5" dark contrast squares in the main colorway (20" strip)
• 4 - 2.5" light to medium contrast squares in the main colorway (10" strip)
• 1 - 2.5" dark contrast focal square in the main colorway

Piecing

1. Lay out squares and determine placement. The focal square will be surrounded by the 4 light/medium contrast squares, which are then surrounded by the dark contrast squares. Finally, the low volume squares will make up the exterior of each row. First row of photos.
2. Using a 1/4" seam, sew the blocks in each row together. Press. I recommend alternating the direction of the seams for each row to help with nesting. Second row of photos.
1. You can either eyeball the placement of the topmost/bottommost low volume squares, or crease the rows at center to help with alignment.
3. Using a 1/4" seam, sew each row together. Press. I found the seams cooperated best when I pressed the rows above the middle row towards the top, and the rows below the middle towards the bottom. Third row of photos.
4. Trim block to 9" square. Be careful to leave 1/4" around the edges of the dark contrast fabric. Last row of photos.

A big thank you for sewing along!

Sara

@rippingoutstitches