Hive 8 - August Block Tutorial

What is your name?

My name is Helen Lyman

Where do you live?

I just bought a house in the “country” better known as Paeonian Springs, VA. From my bedroom window, I can see the Blue Ridge Mountains. Paeonian Springs is a very small town located 3 miles West of Leesburg VA or about 40 miles from Washington, DC. My new address is: 40601 Hurley Lane, Paeonian Springs, VA 20129.

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

I live with my soul mate – Rich. I have two sons, Ryan and Andrew. Ryan just graduated from UVA and Andrew is a sophomore at Longwood University. We just adopted two dogs from the FOHA rescue shelter – Forest, a three year old Bloodhound and Josh, an eleven month old Anatolian Shepard. We also have Ginger the cat. I absolutely love the country living and my two new additions.

By profession I am a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) in real estate development. Basically that means I’m in charge of counting the money. My office is located in Georgetown which is quite a contrast to Paeonian Springs.

Tell us about how you got interested in quilting.

As a high school student, I made a lot of my clothes. Quilting was a progression from those days. Due to raising a family and working, I got away from the quilting world for several years. I recently just started making quilts again.

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

Did I mention that I just moved. Currently my whole sewing room is in boxes. This is a picture of where my fabric will go someday……

Who is/are your favorite fabric designers?

Probably Michael Miller and Jenny Beyer

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

Take classes. Quilting techniques are always changing. Classes are essential to keeping the creative juices flowing and learning new techniques.

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

Rulers – the right ruler makes life so much easier.

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

My favorite fictional character (writer) is Dr. Suess and my favorite book is Oh, The Places You Will Go. In a very simple way, it describes most of life’s situations. Yesterday, I was waiting for a contractor to finish some work and I thought to myself I’m in the “waiting place”.

The Block

Now for the Tutorial – I picked a square block with a heart shape. The only color requirement is that the heart be made of a dark color and the background made of a light color. There are a lot of ways to make this block but I think this is the easiest. All strips are sewn with a quarter inch seam allowance. Since there is no top or bottom to the strips, the seams just need to be pressed in one direction. The strips can then be “locked” together when sewn. Of course if you prefer to press your seams open it’s fine with me. The block laid out to be sewn should look something like this:

To get the heart shape, you sew blocks to make strips then sew the strips together. For example, Stripe 1 consists of sewing the following blocks : 2.5 inch light block, 2.5 inch dark block, 6.5 inch light block, 2.5 inch dark block and a 2.5 inch light block. The remaining strips are sewn as shown:

2.5 Inch Light	2.5 Inch Dark		6.5 Inch Light		2.5 Inch Dark	2.5 Inch Light
	6.5 Inch Dark		2.5 Inch Light		6.5 Inch Dark
			14.5 Inch Dark
			14.5 Inch Dark
2.5 Inch Light			10.5 Inch Dark			2.5 Inch Light
	4.5 Inch Light		6.5 Inch Dark			4.5 Inch  Light
	6.5 Inch Light		2.5 Inch Dark		6.5 Inch Light

Stripe 1: 2.5 Inch Light, 2.5 Inch Dark, 6.5 Inch Light, 2.5 Inch Dark, 2.5 Inch Light
Stripe 2: 6.5 Inch Dark, 2.5 Inch Light, 6.5 Inch Dark
Stripe 3:14.5 Inch Dark
Stripe 4: 14.5 Inch Dark
Stripe 5: 2.5 Inch Light, 10.5 Inch Dark, 2.5 Inch Light
Stripe 6: 4.5 Inch Light, 6.5 Inch Dark, 4.5 Inch Light
Stripe 7: 6.5 Inch Light, 2.5 Inch Dark, 6.5 Inch Light

Stripes Needed:

Dark Colored Fabric
Length	Width	Number Needed
14.5 inches	2.5 inches	2
10.5 inches	2.5 inches	1
6.5 inches	2.5 inches	3
2.5 inches	2.5 inches	3
Light Colored Fabric
6.5 inches	2.5 inches	3
4.5 inches	2.5 inches	2
2.5 inches	2.5 inches	5
	Total	19

Once you have all the stripes then sew the strips together in order 1-7. You are done.

I know it’s that time of year when everyone is traveling so get the block to me when you can. 

Please note that I have a new address, please check the hive address sheet for the updated one.

Thanks so much.

Helen