Hive 11 - June Block Tutorial

Hive 11 – June Block Tutorial

 

Who are you?

Hi, I’m Bonnie Randell, and I live in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, which is an island province on the east coast of Canada.  I was born in Corner Brook, and have lived most of my life here, except for a few university years and early work years.  I am an Executive Director for a not for profit organization that offers programs and services to families. 

Tell us about your family

I live with my husband, Dave, of almost 23 years and a beautiful dog named Lacey.  I have a daughter, Rebecca,  who is 20, I still think of her as living at home, but she is usually away at university, and this summer she is doing a school work term in Belize, volunteering at an animal sanctuary with manatees and monkeys!  We all miss her this summer, but Skype is making it easier!

Tell us about how you got interested in quilting

I have always been a crafty person, I remember making Barbie a new dress from an old tube sock, she was very stylish!  I learned to knit from my grandmother, and that was probably the start of serious crafting.  When I started to date you husband, his mother was doing a quilting class, and she taught me the basics, which included making templates, tracing them and cutting them out.  I was hooked.  That was about 30 years ago.  I stopped quilting for a number of years, and picked up other hobbies, cross stitch, tole painting, knitting.  I became interested again about 10 years ago, and it has been my main obsession since!

How do you organize your stash?

I have tried lots of things.  At this time I am using totes for smaller pieces of fabrics and boards for larger cuts.  I absolutely love fabric, but my organization is terrible!

 

Who is/are your favourite fabric designers?

I love all fabric, and tend to buy what I like when I look at it.  I really love Camille Roskelley fabric and patterns.  I love bright colours; aqua, teal, red…….

 

What is one thing you have learned that you wish you knew when you first started quilting?

That would definitely be ¼ inch seams.  As we all know it is very important to make sure your seams are accurate.  I probably did not always pay as much attention to this as I should have.  I am much happier with the outcome when my seams are accurate.

 

What is your favourite sewing/quilting tool and why should we all go out and buy it?

I would say my rotary cutter and rulers, but I think those are fairly basic for everyone now.  I love sewing gadgets and buy lots, not all are worth the money.  I love the June Taylor  Half Square and Quarter Square ruler.  I use this ruler for squaring up ½ and ¼ square triangles.  I used this ruler in my tutorial to make the block I have chosen.

 

 

Who is your favourite fictional character and why?

I had a hard time with this question, but the more I thought about it, I am having difficulty narrowing down my answer.  I love Harry Potter, I read them aloud with my daughter, watched all the movies and even visited the theme park in Florida.  I am also a big fan of Matlock, but I think my favourite would be Columbo (do you remember the rumpled looking detective?).  I love how he always solves the mystery and how everyone underestimates him.

 Tutorial

For my tutorial I have chosen the block called Star Value.   I found this tutorial on Happy Quilting Melissa, and she also has it posted on Craftsy as a free pattern.

 

 

 http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/quilting/home-decor/star-value-quilt-block---5-sizes-options/53745  

 

There are a number of options listed for the block sizes, but I would like to have the 16 inch block.  I want scrappy blocks, with grey(for the diamonds) and low volume fabrics (white, beige).  A ¼” seam allowance is used in all of the seams for this block!

 This is what you will need:

FABRIC	QUANTITY	SIZE
Low volume squares for HST	16	3”x3”
Grey squares for HST	12	3”x3”
Colour squares for star HST	8	3”x3”
Colour squares for diamond HST	4	3”x3”
Low volume squares	16	2 ½”x 2 ½”
Colour squares for star	8	2 ½”x 2 ½”

 

 

This is what I ended up with! (I have cut out enough to do 2-3 blocks)

 

Lets start with the Half Square Triangles (HST).  Match up the blocks you have cut into the following sets:

8 – colour/white sets

8 – grey/ white sets

4 – colour/ grey sets

 

To make the HST, use a ruler to draw a diagonal line from the top left corner to the bottom right corner, of one of the fabrics from each pair. 

 Place a pin on both sides of the line.  Stitch a ¼” seam on each side of your drawn line.  This would be a good time to stitch them in an assembly line. 

 

When they are all complete, take a ruler and your rotary cutter, and cut on the line to separate the triangles.  Press your triangles open with the seam towards the darker fabric. 

 

You need to trim each HST triangle to 2 ½” squares.  (I used my June Taylor ruler here, but it can be completed with a ruler).

You will end up with 40 Half Square triangle units.

 

 

This block was easier to assemble in sections.  The first section I completed was the star center.  Lay out your star as shown with 4 sets of colour/white HST, 4 colour squares and 4 white squares.

 

Sew your squares into 2X2 blocks.

 

Then sew the 2x2 units into rows.

 

Then join both halves together to make the star center unit.

 

Next for the diamond units.  You will need 4 grey/white HST units and 2 grey/colour units.  Lay them out as follows.

 

 

Sew them together to make the diamond unit.  There are 4 diamond units to make this block.

 

Next will be the corner units.  Gather your remaining 4 coloured squares, 8 colour/white HT’s and 4 white squares.  Lay them out into 4 sets as follows.

 

Sew the block together as before, sewing the squares into rows, and then sew the rows together.

 

Now you have 4 corner blocks.

 

 

You are now ready to sew the entire block together.  Lay out the pieces as follows.

 

 

Sew units together into rows, and then sew the rows together to complete the block.  I used pins to make sure that my seams matched.

 

Finished block!  This block was fairly easy to sew, the most time consuming part would be cutting the fabric and the squaring up the HST’s.

I hope you all enjoy this block!  I hope my tutorial is clear, this was a first for me!

Bonnie