Hive 11 - April Block Tutorial

What is your name? Lisa Lake-Johnson

Where do you live? Prosper, Texas (Dallas Suburb)

Tell us about your family.  I got married in 2006 to my husband.  We are both only children and we have no children ourselves.  However, we have 2 dogs, 1 guinea pig, 2 freshwater fish tanks, and 1 salt water live reef tank.  We own a professional pet sitting company locally and take care of fur babies for a living.

Tell us about how you got interested in quilting.  Ever since I can remember, my mom has quilted, so I grew up around it.  She taught me how to sew and I made my first quilt top when I was 15.  As a teenager and into my early20’s, I didn’t really pursue sewing and quilting.  However, after I got married and settled down, I really started to get into the hobby and have learned many techniques from the internet and books.

How do you organize your fabric stash?  As you can see, I make mini bolts of fabric with comic book backing board.  I love this method and love being able to look at my collection instead of digging through stacks.

Who is/are your favorite fabric designers? My favorite fabric designers are Amy Butler, Kafe Fasset, Nancy Halvorson, Kate Spain, Tula Pink, Sue Daley and I LOVE Liberty of London fabric!

What is one thing you have learned that you wish you knew when you first started quilting?  That sneaky darn tricky “Scant Quarter Inch Seam Allowance” That scanty thing was just about the death of me!

What is your favorite sewing/quilting tool and why should we all go out and buy it? Just one?  There are so many!!  Honestly, I really love to glue baste with tiny dabs of Elmer's School Glue…is that weird?  It really enables me to achieve perfect points and nesting every time without my fabric shifting as I stitch it.  I learned about it on Craftsy’s blog and since I have tried it, my seams and points have never been so perfect!  If you ever struggle with perfect points and shifting nests, then Elmer's School Glue in a bottle with a extremely thin tip is perfect for you.

Who is your favorite fictional character and why? I am a big Steven King fan and my all-time favorite series is The Dark Tower books.  The main character, Roland (AKA The Gunslinger) is my favorite fictional character because of his perseverance to his goal and everything that he sacrifices for it.

Now on to the GOOD STUFF!!

The Block that I chose for the month of April is called “Good Vibrations” by Pat Sloan.  This is a block that she designed for Aurifil’s  BOM for December of 2013.

Her tutorial can be found here.

My inspiration for the colors comes from Tiffany and Co’s holiday ad:

Here is my completed block and the color scheme that I would like:

I would like the background to be a grey.  It can be a grey print or solid.  For the star’s points, I would like either white or a white on white.  For the outside corner four patch, I would like a nice bold red with the grey.  Lastly, for the inside 16 patch, I would like an aquamarine with the bold red.  I would like the aquamarine to be as close as you have to the Tiffany Sea Foam Green if at all possible.  Remember, all seams will be sewn using a scant ¼” seam allowance.  If the seam isn’t scant, the block will end up being too small and unusable. Your block should measure 12.5” x 12.5” (unfinished) when you complete it.

Cutting Instructions:

Grey Background:

Cut 4 Squares 4” x 4” for HST

Cut 8 Squares 2” x 2”

White Star Points:

Cut 4 Squares 4” x 4” for HST

For the Red Squares:

Cut 16 Squares 2” x 2”

For the Aquamarine Squares:

Cut 8 Squares 2” x 2”

Piecing Instructions:

Draw a line diagonally across the white 4” squares.  (I like to do this on a sand board, as it prevents the fabric from shifting or stretching when I draw across it)

Stack the white 4” squares on top of the grey 4” squares.  Right sides facing each other.  

Sew a scant quarter inch alongside the line that you drew across the squares

Cut along the drawn line

Trim each of the 8 HST’s to 3.5” x 3.5”

Next you will make 4 sets of 4 patches with the 8 red 2” squares and the 8 grey 2” squares.  Make sure you use your scant seam allowance and nest your seams

Next you will make 4 four patches using the 8 2” squares of aqua and the remaining 8 2” squares of red

Now you can lay out all your pieces like so:

You will start by joining your white and grey HST’s:

Next you will sew your four middle four patches into one 16 patch:

Next you will sew your 16 patch and the star point on each side:

You will then sew your top and bottom rows together:

Lastly, you will sew it all together:

You did it!!  Awesome job!  I hope you enjoyed making this block and if you really love making it…..send me extras!!  (I would LOVE that)  

I can't wait to see what the finished product will be!!

~Lisa