It's been a great year sewing with Hive 1. Even though we had some folks drop out, I love that we are still sending fun things in November to our hive mates.
My exchange buddy for November didn't have any blocks they were working on, so I'm sending a surprise fat quarter. Happy sewing, Beth!
Nicole
Thank you so much for your patience with me, Jai! This belated bat is on its way to you right now.
Can you believe it's November already? Or finally?
This month I am requesting that you all make a not quite completed Scrappy Bear Paw Block. Instead of a completed traditional block like the one below, I am asking that you only make the 4 "paws". This will allow me to mix your paws with my paws and the paws of the others to get a very mixed up, scrappy look. It also saves you fabric as well as some time cutting and sewing.
I love Bear Paw blocks, they are simple in their construction, even a beginner could make them. They can look modern and cheerful when made with bright fabrics, vintage or traditional by changing the colors. They can be feminine or masculine.
This is what I am asking you to make.
Below is what the completed block will look like, As you can see, what you will be making is not quite "finished" as it's lacking the sashing and center cornerstone.
Because you are sending separate paws you can make them all the same, you can use the same fabrics just mixed up in each block, or you can make each block completely different. It's up to you.
I do ask that you not duplicate a fabric in a block and instead use 8 different fabrics, not counting the background fabric. The 4 blocks above were made from 9 different colored fabrics, not counting the background fabric.
For the fabrics I am looking for bright colors either prints or tone on tones that have good contrast against the background fabric. Please no brown, gray, white, or neon. Below is a photo of some suggested colors and fabrics to add to what is shown in the photo of the "paws" above.
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You will be making 4 paws so in total you will need:
16 colored squares, it can be 4 each of 4 colors or any variety you choose
16 half square triangles of a background and a color, 4 each of 4 colors or any variety you choose
4 black squares
Cutting
16 2 1/2" squares from the colored fabrics
4 2 1/2" squares from the black background fabric
8 3" squares from the colored fabrics (or whatever your preferred method calls for to make 16 2 1/2" half square triangles)
8 3" squares from the black background fabric (or whatever your method calls for to make 16 2 1/2" half square triangles)
Making the 16 Half Square Triangle Blocks please use the method that works best for you. This is the method I used, it makes 2 half square triangles at a time:
Using the 3" squares of colored fabrics draw a line from one corner down the center of the square to the opposite corner. Place a colored square and a black square right sides together. Sew a 1/4" from the line on each side. Cut the block in half on the drawn line, you will now have 2 half square triangles. Open, press seam to the dark side, trim to 2 1/2". Make 16 of these.
Assemble Rows of Blocks
Row 2 will be 1 Half Square Triangle, then 2 colored squares, press seams opposite direction of Row 1
Row 3 will be 1 Half Square Triangle, then 2 colored squares, press seams in same direction of Row 1
Sew the rows together in the order listed.
Press the block, it should measure 6 1/2", make 4 of these
I hope you all enjoy making these blocks! I look forward to seeing what you all come up with!
Thank you - Bretta
I love traditional quilt blocks in bright, modern fabrics! I have chosen the Shoo Fly quilt block for my month. There is a tutorial here for the 12" Finished (12 1/2” unfinished) Shoo Fly block: https://www.polkadotchair.com/shoo-fly-quilt-block-tutorial/
Picture of blocks I received last year:
I prefer bright colors, any type of print except for cartoon characters is acceptable (florals, stripes, dots, animals, solids, geometric, just whatever you want to use). Fussy cutting is at your discretion, not expected nor required. Red, pink, orange, yellow, green, aqua, blue, purple or any color in between. Scrappy background fabric is good: white, white-on-white, cream, white-on-cream, or coordinating low volume fabrics welcome. I am wanting a nice scrappy look! Here are some pictures for color inspiration:
You will need the following for one 12" finished quilt block, measurements given here are for the 2 at a time half square triangle method.
2 - 5"X5" blocks of brightly colored fabric for half square triangles
2 - 5"X5" blocks of background fabric for half square triangles
4 - 4.5"X4.5" blocks of background fabric
Use your method of choice to make 4 half square triangles from the 5"X5" squares - I use the 2-at-a-time method shown in the referenced tutorial. I draw lines on the back of my background fabric using a quilters' quarter ruler and sew on both lines, then cut the blocks apart.
Press and trim the half square triangles down to 4.5"X4.5". No preference on pressing directions, I press open because it is more precise for me but no judgement here - do what works for you!
Arrange the finished blocks in the following order. Sew the blocks together and press as desired:
I’m excited to add to my blocks and make a bright, happy quilt to grace my bed during the long dark winter here in Alaska! Thank You all for the challenges, joys, excitement and learning opportunities that you’ve granted me this year. Have a great Holiday season everyone!
Hello everyone, Michelle here! Hope you're having a great Autumn so far. I'm very busy at the moment with the holidays coming up and I'm sure all of you are too, so here's an easy block to end out the year! The pattern I'm requesting is a 8 inch 16-patch block using hot pink and any color of your choice.
Since this is a smaller/simpler block, please make me four of these blocks, but don't sew them together so I can mix and match them later! You can make four using the same fabrics or do different ones for each block, your choice.
Size: 8.5" unfinished (8" finished)
Fabric + color requirements: Pretty much any type of fabric is okay. Solids, batik, prints including novelty, licensed characters, text and holiday - whatever! The only type of print I'd like you to avoid is anything religious.
Color A: Hot pink/magenta/fuschia. If you don't have this color in your stash, red or purple will work okay too. Here are some examples:
Color B: Any color you want except white or black (gray is fine)!
You will need one 20" by 2.5" strip of each color for each block, though you may want to cut slightly longer strips if you'd like some wiggle room. A great opportunity to use up a random leftover jelly roll strip!
If you'd rather go scrappy, I'm fine with that too as long the block still reads as a checkerboard of two colors (so if you use scraps for Color B, please make them all med-dark blue for example as opposed to a mix of different colors).
Instructions:
Cut a 20" by 2.5" inch strip of both colors:
Sew the strips together along the long sides:
Cut the new strip into two 10" pieces and sew together along the long sides, making sure the colors alternate. You'll want to press all the seams in the same direction to make it easier to nest seams later:
Subcut into four 2.5" sections:
Rotate two of the sections 180 degrees to form the checkerboard pattern:
Sew the sections together into a 16-patch block, press, and trim to 8.5 inches:
Now just make 3 more using the same process, and you're done! Thank you and can't wait to see what color combos everyone picks!
Happy November everyone!
I drew inspiration from Block #52 from Tula Pink's City Sampler/100 Modern Quilt Blocks. This is a simple block, but I love all the different configurations you can play with!
For colors, please choose one pink fabric and one black and white fabric. The pink should be solid or read solid visually. Think raspberry, coral, rhubarb, hot, strawberry. The black and white can be any pattern, but the white should be nice and crisp, not off-white or cream. This one can be geometric, floral, abstract...whatever you like!
For each block, from each fabric cut one 4.5"x 2.5" rectangle and four 2.5" x 2.5" squares.
Set one of each color of 2.5" squares aside, and on the back of the remaining three pink squares, draw a line down the center of the square. Sandwich the pink and the black and white squares together, right sides together.
I will get it out in the mail in the next few days. Thanks for letting me push my comfort zone!
Tasha
You had me at chicken. I can't resist a good chicken block! This is going on the mail tomorrow. Have fun! 🖤🖤
