January's Finished Block: Hive #4

Good Day! I am excited to be sharing my first post here on the Stash Bee Blog for 2015. I've been sewing for somewhere around 15 years, and quilting for the last 8 years or so - and yet, in all that time, I only just started paper piecing this past December. To be quite honest, it always appeared to be a very intimidating process and I never had the gumption to give it a go. But now, it's not so bad - I've pieced several pillow covers and quilt blocks in the last two months and am glad for the practice, especially since Hive 4's January block is a paper pieced one. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly Renae's block came together. Overall the pieces were fairly large and there were only 6 pieces per section, 24 pieces total. A perfect block for a still-new paper piecer.



I'm pretty sure the most time-consuming part was picking the fabric. Turns out, I have way less navy in my stash that I thought. It took a while to find something that would be suitable. 

I'll also admit that I was a bit skeptical about the color combination when I read the tutorial - but the finished block has won me over. I'm still not 100% sold on the tonal variation in my block, but I hope it fits with the other blocks Renae already has and will be receiving. 

Also, as a note to anyone in hive 4 still waiting to sew their blocks: I wish I had copied the pattern onto butcher paper and sewn from that instead of the regular copy paper. Having a base that the fabric can sort of "stick" to is way easier. I probably should have at least used a glue stick instead of nothing at all - the shifting fabric became more and more annoying as the sewing progressed. Even so, the block finished beautifully, and I cannot wait to see Renae's finished quilt. 

In her tutorial post, Renae asked if we had any bucket-list sewing projects. I must admit that I've had this Feather Bed Quilt on my bucket list for years - maybe I'll get to it one day. I did finally try out the pattern for the #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap - and was super pleased with how it turned out. I'm actually seriously considering using it as my tutorial for the bee ;) But I guess we'll have to wait until this fall to see if I go through with it or not. 

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Emily shares her love for sewing, gardening, and children’s ministry on her blog, With Elephant Grace. When she’s not picking numerous loose threads off her lap, Emily likes to post about encouraging Compassion International Sponsors, straw-bale gardening, and crafting. You can find out more about Emily by following her on Instagram.