Hive 6 April Block

Hi Hive Mates!  I've been having a great time getting to know you all and sewing some awesome blocks as well! 

April is my month and I'm going to go ahead and just run through the questions real quick so I can get you to the block tutorial (which I'm sure you're just going to love!)

My name is Kim Thomasson. This is me:

 I live just south of Charlotte, NC in a little town called Monroe.  We used to live closer to Uptown (what we in Charlotte call our downtown area, I know, weird) but we moved out to the country so our five kids could have some space to roam around.  We now have six acres, along with some goats and chickens.  Fun times.  I did say five, I do have five kids, which most people think is a lot, but when they're yours, it doesn't seem like a lot, it's just the size of your family.  They are 16, 14, 12, 10 and almost 8.  I have always homeschooled our kids, but when the oldest reached high school we opted to send him.  So, my oldest is a junior in high school, my second is about to start his freshman year and the other three I still teach at home. 

I started quilting a few years ago and have loved it.  My mom has been quilting for many years and I have always loved her work, but it wasn't until I spent some time in a "real" quilt store that I started to get hooked.  I fell in love with fabric first, and then decided it would be fun to make awesome stuff out of beautiful fabric. So, quilting it was!  I love it so much I started blogging about it at www.windsorandmain.com.

I keep my stash in baskets scattered around my studio.  Most of my fabric is organized by color, however I keep all of my solids together and if I'm working on a project, I keep all of the fabric for that project in it's own basket.

My favorite designers are Lotta Jansdotter,  Allison Glass, Bonnie and Camille, and so many others.  The fabric lines out there lately are just amazing.  Who don't I love?

My favorite tools by far are my quarter inch ruler for paper piecing and my wonder clips, (love them).

The one thing I wish I knew when I started was to just be really patient.  Unsewing is part of the gig.  It really does matter that the seams line up and that it actually measures a quarter inch.  That darn quarter inch is so crucial.  It's easy to learn if you're patient with yourself and don't expect perfection.

Okay, last question:  Who is my favorite fictional character?  I wish I could tell you it was someone noble and respectable like Elinor Dashwood (who is wonderful)  but alas, I cannot.  I would be faking it and trying to impress you, no my favorite fictional character is hands down, Severus Snape.   I know.  I can't help it.

Now, the good stuff.  This is the block for April.  Please don't hate me.  I know a lot of people don't love flying geese, but I just adore them and I'm not that picky about perfect points!  Take a close look at my block and you'll see some blunt points scattered here and there!  No problem at all!

Before we get started I guess we should talk about fabric selection.  You can see by my choices that I'm going for a super scrappy look.  I love scrappiness and I love vintage/modern prints.  However, all that being said, I want you to be able to pull from your stash and I know we don't all have the same stuff floating around in our stashes, that would just be crazy, so use what you have.  I don't mind darker prints either.  Now, the background.  I've been wondering what to do about that.  At first I thought I would just go ahead and send you all some white fabric, so it would be all matchy-matchy.  But, whatever, I decided not to be that uptight.   So, white would be great.  The white I used is more optic white than creamy white.  If you don't have a solid white-white, then I would prefer a white on white print rather than a creamy white solid.  And if you don't have that, then how about a low volume white background?  I'm really just going for as white as possible. 

If you have the book, Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from your Favorite Designers by Susanne Woods, then you're all set, because this block is in there!  This block is called Follow the Leader and is designed by Sherri McConnell.  You can find the block and instructions on pages 66-67.  If not just follow the directions below and you'll be just fine!  Okay, so here are the cutting instructions:

White (Background) Fabric:  Cut 4 rectangles 3 1/2" X 6 1/2"
                                                      Cut 32 squares 2" X 2"

Feature Fabric for Flying Geese:  Cut 4 rectangles in each of the four fabrics:  2" X 3 1/2"

Flying Geese:  Love 'em or hate 'em; this is quick review on how to make 'em!

1.  Lightly draw a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner on the wrong sides of two squares.

2.  With right sides together, place a square on one end of the rectangle.  Sew directly on the line trim the seam allowance to 1/4" and press open.

3.  Sew directly on the line trim the seam allowance to 1/4".



4.  Press open.

5.  With right sides together, place the other square on the other end of the rectangle. 

6.  Sew directly on the line, trim the seam allowance to 1/4".

7.   Press open.

You have made the flying geese units using 2 white (background) 2" x 2" squares and 1 feature fabric 2' x 3 1/2" rectangle.  Repeat the process until you have 4 units in each color you have chosen.  For me it was 4 green, 4 blue, 4 pink and 4 yellow. 

Next join 2 Flying Geese units of the same color together as shown below.  Press.  Make 8 pairs of geese.

Join the pairs together with a different color pair as shown below.  Join two pairs of flying geese side by side into a 3 1/2" X 6 1/2" unit. 

Add the 3 1/2" X 6 1/2" white (background) rectangle to the 4 flying geese units to create 1 quadrant.  Make four quadrant units.  I attached the following pictures to show you how the Flying Geese are laid out.  When the quadrants are laid out it's easier to see how the flying geese pairs are really opposite each other.

When you are putting the pairs together the opposite color needs to be on the top.  In the above picture the pink is on top and below the green is on top.  This is a crucial step in the process.  You need to make sure they both face the same direction and have different colors on the top of each pairing.  Make sense?

Again with the opposite pairs.  The piecing is done exactly the same way expect the yellow is on top in the first pair and the blue is on top in the second pair.

This diagram is from the book, but it does such a great job putting it all together so you can really visualize the whole thing.

Okay, and here's my version.  I'm just trying to inundate you with as many pictures as possible so you have no doubts whatsoever on how to put this block together! 

One last thing, just so you can see that my points aren't always points!  You know what they say....."that'll quilt out"  No big deal, so please don't stress. 

Of course, if you have any questions or need any help at all, please don't hesitate to ask!  I will be happy to help in any way possible!

Have fun!   

Kim :)