Hive 9 - June Block Tutorial

Happy June! My name is Renae. I am a teacher, so June is a chance to breathe and take a little break before I start working on things for next school year. I live in Northwest Indiana, about 45 minutes from Chicago and about 10 minutes from the beach and Lake Michigan.

My husband, daughter and I with the in-laws at Disney

Tell us about your family (Spouse, kids, grandkids, pets, etc.)

My husband Mike and I have been married for 6 years. We have a wild tornado of a daughter who will be 5 next month. She LOVES fabric and crafting as well as screeching and running around. She does not know it, but I am giving her a sewing machine for her birthday. We also have two dogs, Bella and Roxy. Bella is an English Bulldog, she went with me to college and was my baby long before I had one of the human variety. Roxy is a Corgi and though we got her to befriend our aging Bella, they are not friends really.

My daughter 

Tell us about how you got interested in quilting.

I am a self taught quilter. I saw a quilt and decided I would make one for my Nana(my grandma) when I was a Senior in High School. It was awful and I did it completely wrong. In college, I decided that I needed a hobby and I might as well figure out how to quilt the right way. I love making things that are beautiful and usable.

How do you organize your fabric stash? (Picture appreciated)

We are currently looking for a house and we are renting a house until that happens, so my fabric is in clear plastic tubs. I try not to think about the lovely walk in closet and antique hutch that housed my fabric at my last house. I do have it separated between yardage, fat quarters and scraps. The scraps are sorted between warm and cold colors.

Who is/are your favorite fabric designers?

I LOVE prints and color! Some of my favorite designers are Sarah Jane Studios, Ann Kelle, Laurie Wisbrun, Heather Ross, Rashida Coleman, Joel Dewberry, Amy Butler and most of the things that come from the designers at Dear Stella.

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

How important seam allowance and measuring is. That first quilt was really bad!

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

My favorite tool is my small clear ruler, it is a 1” by 12” ruler. It is really helpful because it is small enough to hang out at my machine.

Who is your favorite fictional character and why? (Could be from a book, movie, TV show, etc.)

I love Jane from Drop Dead Diva. She is fun and sassy and something crazy is always happening to her. So sad that the show is ending!

Tutorial

For my month I would like for you make a star stringquilt block. It is paper pieced. I have shown you how I paper piece, but there are lots of tutorials out there. If you don't like my way or are confused, let me know and I will help you or find you a good tutorial. The block was created over at wombat quilts and I just fell in love with her finished quilt! I love low volume, rich colors and bright colors, so I would like to combine all of those with these flora hues.

 Please use the following colors: Navy(#1), Low volume gray, white and cream (#6 & #7) and the other spots can be a mix of lime green, purple, raspberry and teal.

Paper Piecing PDF link for Renae's block

I turned her jpeg into a PDF to help insure that everyone ends up with a block the same size. Make sure that when you print that the scale is set to none. You can check to see if it is the correct size by measuring the 1” square in the bottom right corner. You will need to print out 5 copies. I always print out an extra copy so that I can use it as a template to cut the fabric. This is not necessary, but I think that it really helps! 

First you want to cut your pieces of fabric out. Remember when you cut it out that the fabric is going on the opposite side of the numbers, so if you cut with the wrong side of the fabric up, you will need to cut the fabric out with the number up. I usually forget this rule a time or two and try to cut them in a stack. Always make sure that you add at least 1/4” to the size that you need.

Next place the fabric for piece 1 on the non-printed side. This piece should be navy. I always add a little bit of glue from a glue stick to the paper so that the fabric does not move around. You can hold the paper up to the light to make sure that the placement is correct. You are going to next add piece #2(right sides of fabric facing). Make sure that you have at least 1/4" seam allowance. You will add fabric pieces in numerical order.

You want to use a short stitch length so that it perforates the paper and makes it easy for me to remove. You are going to sew directly on the line. 

After you sew each piece down, fold the paper back on the seam and trim the seam allowance ot about a 1/4". You do not need to measure, just eyeball it. You can again hold it up to the light to make sure that the placement is correct. 

Continue adding fabric in order. I want the center to all be the same color, but the other side can be raspberry, lime, purple or blue. I always finger press open and then I add a dab of glue from a glue stick to hold it down.

After I added piece 6 and 7, I ironed down the pieces and then glued them down before trimming the squares

Now trim on the dotted line and sew them.

I folded the paper down and tore it off on the seam allowance. I then pressed the seam open. Please send me the blocks with the rest of the paper intact. It makes it easier to sew them together.

The final block should look like this:

Thank you for making this block for me ladies. I cannot wait to see how these turn out!

Renae