Hive #1 August Block

This month's block is really pretty simple.  My youngest son, Gideon, is 9 and a half, and needs a 'grown up' bed quilt...he's done with baby stuff ;)  So these blocks will be used to make that quilt. (Edited to add: no girly hearts and flowers fabrics, then...but I was able to find many that worked, even some with plant-like patterns, but not 'girly', so it shouldn't be too hard!  I even used one, third from bottom, that has a heart on it, but it's sort of hidden in the graffiti ;)  I don't know that it really has a name - I've seen it called Uneven Stacked Coins, or Stacked Volumes. 

Block Size - 16.5"  If you want to leave a bit extra around the edges, I'd be happy to trim it down.

Background fabric - Light to Medium Greys...Kona Ash, Iron, Steel, Medium Grey, etc...all are fine.  Or if you have a light to medium grey from some other quilt quality line like Bella, that's fine too.  I just don't want it to be really dark, like the Charcoal - although it that's all you have, use it.  I don't want anyone to have to buy something special.  Then again, if you've been dying to have a reason to buy a new solid like the Iron or Steel, feel free to use this as an excuse ;)   I used Medium Grey for my block below.  You will use strips 2" wide x the width of fabric.  More on that later.

Other fabrics - I'd like to have all blues, aquas and yellowish-greens...bright, happy water colors for my son who sleeps in a bed shaped like a pirate ship ;)  They will be differing lengths (good if you have scraps!) of 2" wide x anywhere between 5" - 13" or so.  That way the strips can be staggered in the block.

2" wide strips

2" wide strips of the scraps, too

A shot of me half way through, laying the strips out as I add the grey.  Excuse the washed out photos...it's been raining here for days...I actually looked up today's weather at 1:00 this morning, and decided to take a chance and wait til today to post this, just so I could get that photo at the top, of the finished block in the sun, lol.  Thankfully it worked, but it's raining again already!  Anyway... the best way to do this is the cut/arrange your scraps out first, then make note of where you had them (I took quick pics with my iPad, which worked well to help me remember how I wanted them) and then attach grey to each side.  I laid my strips out on my cutting mat, so I could eyeball about 18 inches square and then added grey to either side so that they would have enough on each side to trim it to 16.5" later.  Does that make sense? Once they are all laid out and it looks right, you attach the grey to either side and sew the 12 strips together.  

Here is a tutorial for it, too, that you can use...it's a lovely one that The Sometimes Crafter put together.  I searched for one because I wasn't sure I did a very good job explaining here :(   There is a PDF at the bottom of the pics with her instructions.  Just remember that the strips for this one are 2", so that the finished size will be 16.5" square...instead of the smaller dimensions used in the tutorial.  Thanks so much...I can't wait to see the blocks you come up with, and my son is over the moon with excitement!!

http://sometimescrafter.blogspot.com/2010/04/stacked-whatever-block.html

Lisa