Stash Bee: Hive 8- July Block Tutorial

What is your name?

I’m Sarah! Come find me on Instagram at craftyfesta!

Where do you live?

I live in Northern VA, in a cute, messy :) yellow house. Ok, not really messy, but 2 kids are hard to keep after.

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

I’ve been married to my husband, Andrew, for 7 years. We have two kiddos—Natalie who just turned 3 and Evan who just turned 1. No pets due to Andrew’s allergies. Womp. Actually, I don’t even know if I could keep up with a pet at this point in my life.

Tell us about how you got interested in quilting.

Here's a recent quilt I made for a friend to give at a baby shower--so fun!

I was a principal the year before I had Natalie. I decided to be a stay at home mom with her and found myself bored. I know that’s crazy, but it’s true. The SAHM gig was busy and tiring, but in such a different way than I was used to. I needed a way to get my creative juices flowing. I have always been a crafter—dibbled and dabbled in cross stitch, stamping, scrapbooking, you know, the usual. I ended up buying a sewing machine when I was pregnant to fix some curtains and then I found some quilting blogs when Natalie was a wee one. I started submitting blocks for charity quilts and then it just took off from there. I found a few good local friends who also like to quilt, so that has just fueled my fire! I also attended MidAtlantic Mod in April and I am without a doubt in love with quilting (and sewing).

I made my husband a shirt for Father's Day. It was a huge test of my sewing and pattern following skills.

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

I organize it by color in dollar store bins. I took over this closet and installed shelves myself (hello Barbara Villa!) and it has made my life a lot easier. Most of my pieces are small—fat quarters and such. I have a few pieces of yardage. I find it hard to pull the trigger on buying large pieces; I only do it when I need it. I’m a total FQ junkie.

Who is/are your favorite fabric designers?

I’m a simple girl. I love a good geometric print—tonal or white (think pearl bracelets, Waterfront Park domino dot, Pezzy). Since I have kids and sew lots of things with people with kids, I tend to be drawn to Ann Kelle prints. I also love Laurie Wisbrun.

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

I wish I knew more about fabric and designers. The #greatfabricdestash (head on over if you haven’t been) has made me aware of coveted, hard to find (HTF) out of print (OOP) fabrics—viewfinders, Heather Ross, fish in bags—you know.

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

Soooo, I really want to say Instagram. I’m fairly new to the IG scene (6 mo or less) and it has totally changed my sewing world. I have “met” so many great, supportive people on there, gotten so many ideas, and scored great fabric.

Since that’s not a tool you can buy, I’ll give you a real answer: Flatter. Have you tried it? I discovered it at MidAtlantic Mod. This stuff smells sooooo good and really does make your fabric nice and flat. I’ve never used starch or anything, so this is fancy schmancy for me. I don’t always use it, but when I do, I love it!

PSSSST: I'll give you one more tip...I have a dinky little Brother machine that's not much to brag about, but it does have a piecing function on machine. Do you? It gets my seems right every.single.time. No 1/4" foot. Happy Mama!

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

Olivia Pope, before she was all whiny and depressing. Back when she “handled” everything, looked great in cream and chugged wine like a champ. Ok, the last two are still true. Also, she has GREAT hair.

I’d like to enlist your help in making a rainbow ISpy quilt for my kiddos. I have some great prints that would work, but not enough to do an entire quilt. I do have some favorite fabrics that I would love to be included, so once I know who is doing what color block I will send out a few squares (and send you an email to let you know what’s coming).

Here are the colors for the quilt. Please email me at craftyfesta@gmail.com with which color you would like to do work on so that I don’t have all of one color. I will update the blog ASAP so that the list is up to date. I’m referencing my Kona color card so that you have an idea of what shade I’m referring too. Please use a solid in your stash that closely resembles these colors.

Black--ANNA!

White—LEONIE!

Gray (Kona: Iron)--HEATHER!

Red (Kona: Cardinal)--ANNA!

Orange (Kona: Carrot)--TAMI!

Yellow (Kona: Citrus)--CHRISTINA!

Green (Kona: Grass Green)

Dark Green (Kona: Jungle)

Hot Pink (Kona: Azalea)--HELEN!

Light Pink (Kona: Peony)

Berry (Kona: Cherise)

Teal (Kona: Breakers)--JAMIE!

Light Blue (Kona: Robin Egg)--HEATHER!

Blue (Kona: Ocean)--HELEN!

Purple (Kona: Crocus)--DAISY!

Brown (Kona: Brown)--KAT!

I know there are more colors/blocks listed than there are people, but someone might want to do more than one!

You’ll need six-5 inch squares that are in one color family; I chose gray. You will also need coordinating solid 2.5" strips—two 9.5” and two 17.5”. You don’t have to be hard and fast with the color rule—notice that I have two blocks with other colors in them, but they have a gray background. I would prefer clean, modern novelty prints, but if you don't have enough and you have a great geometric print that fits the bill, by all means, use it! The blocks should read as one color when put together.

Chain stitch your pairs and press each row in opposite directions; this allows you to nest your seams. I’m such a sucker for a nice, nested seam…it just looks so nice!