Hive #3 January Block Tutorial

Happy New Year!  Hello to you all in Hive#3!  My name is Ruth and I blog @ Charly & Ben's Crafty Corner.  I'm delighted to be Hive mama this year and kick off our hive's Stash Bee for 2015!

I live in Ireland with Gordon and our two dogs.  I sew at the kitchen table and keep my fabric anywhere I can find room for it!  I started quilting in 2012 by following Jenny Doan on Crafsty and making blocks following Amy Gibson's Block of the month. I was instantly hooked and so a year later I started blogging to get more engaged with the quilting community and haven't looked back.  I took part in Stash Bee last year and really enjoyed the variety of blocks we made and I hope we have another great year this year and that you have fun making the block I've chosen.

Last year Karen @The Stylish Home chose Bookshelf blocks as her block for October Hive 11.  I love the look of these blocks and got to make some for the Modern Quilters of Ireland Bee for Tomomi @ Slaney Handcraft at the same time.  As soon as I saw these I knew they were going to be my blocks of choice for this year's Stash Bee!

I'm hoping to combine ideas from both Karen and Tomomi and ask you to make for me one 16.5" square block using black or a dark print as the background colour.  For the books themselves please use fabric from your stash to depict a genre e.g. flowers for a Gardening or a Romance section.  novelty prints or childish prints are ok for a juvenile section.  Anything goes!  If you want you can add text to the spine of the books instead, to indicate the genre as in these tutorials from Don't Call me Betsy and Craftsy.

I used some of my camera fabrics that I collect to make a photography section last year.  Try to stagger the book heights and not have them all line up too neatly!  I used strips 1.5" to 2.5" wide and 6.5" to 12.5" tall.  

 For this years block please also include a fussy cut  piece as a decoration for the bookshelf.  It can be a photo, flower, plant or something you would find on a bookshelf. 

For my block I chose a camera to compliment the books and backed it with fusible web to hold it in place until I zig-zag stitch it to the block.

I hope you have fun with this strip piecing and applique block.  If you have any questions or need anything clarified please drop me a line or head over to the Flickr discussion page.  I look forward to seeing your blocks in the Flickr group or on Instagram #Stashbee and #stashbeehive3!

Finally, to get to know each other a little better Alison asked us to pose a question for the group to answer.  

My first quilt was just some charm squares sewn together but my Aunt made the binding for it.  This was my first quilt I made all by myself!  My question to you all is do you still have your first quilt?  If so, what did you make and want to share a photo?