Hive 3 March Block

Hi everyone!

Well,  I am the poster child for procrastination!  I really had a struggle picking out a block for my month.  I see so many different quilts that I want to make, but I am also very indecisive, not a great combination! 

I finally decided that I wanted to make a quilt for my hubby.  We often cover up in quilts to watch movies. He always complains that lap (or couch) quilts are not long enough (he is over 6 feet tall).

I did decide on a quick and easy block..... the Disappearing 4 Patch! There are many tutorials on line for this block.  This is the one that I used, and it uses the same measurements that I used.

http://chock-a-blockquiltblocks.blogspot.ca/2012/04/disappearing-4-patch.html

I would like the blocks to be white (solid or tone on tone)  with browns, blues, aqua......these are some of the fabrics that I pulled from my stash.  As this is for my husband, I don't want it too flowery/ feminine.

Each block uses: 2 - 7.5 inch white blocks; 2 - 7.5 inch coloured blocks (2 different colours).

 

 

This is the first step, and the block will now be 14.5 inches. Now we have to cut it.  The tutorial will explain that you cut in 5.5 inches on each side, and then rearrange the pieces, and then put it back together.  I don't want anyone to trim the blocks, I will do that once I have received them all.

 

 

This was such a quick block to make,  I made three from start to finish in just over an hour.

 

 





Thanks everyone! I am so enjoying this hive!  I have been extremely lucky that I have had such great experiences each year I have participated, this is my third year.  Such a great group of people organizing and overseeing the hives and whole group!

 

Bonnie 

 

 

Sew Sweet: A Cherry Orange Treat for Deana

I'm barely slipping this one in at the end of the month, and I'm sorry that you'll be getting it a bit late Deana. I really struggled with committing to a coral pink, so I hope that the selections I made will coordinate well with everyone's blocks. I enjoyed the block design and hope to use it in an upcoming charity quilt. Thanks so much for sharing!

Hive 9 Block for Kim

Here's my block for Kim. After making this block I understand why she does it as a bee block ;) cutting 45 2" scrap squares was a drag...lol

The block will be in the mail Wednesday, I hope she likes it!

February Block for Tisha (Hive 7)

My blog is bilingual (English and German), and so my posts here will be too.  The English text is always in black, the German in blue.

This last minute thing is really not my thing! It makes me stressed and and anxious and I don't like it.  Having said all that, this month was a last minute, barely got it done, kind of month.

Ich habe diesen Block in der letzten Minute fertig gemacht, und ich bin das wirklich nicht gewöhnt.  Es ist stressig und macht mir Sorgen und macht wenig Spaß. Aber der Januar war der Monat wo alles im letzten Augenblick (und fast gar nicht) fertig gemacht wurde.

 But, I really enjoyed it! I enjoyed everything about it...the size, the four-at-a-time flying geese technique and the color.  Yellow, according to statistics I have read (please, don't ask me where) is the least favorite, least used color of all, and I don't quite understand that because I like it.  And I do enjoy the combination of yellow and white but then I enjoy the combination of almost every color and white....:~

  Aber der Block hat Spaß gemacht - die Größe, die "flying Geese", die ich vier auf einmal genäht habe und die Farbe.  Gelb, habe ich in Statistiken gelesen, ist die am wenigsten beliebte Farbe (fragt mich bitte nicht in welchen Statistiken). Ich verstehen das nicht denn mir gefällt gelb.  Und mir gefällt die weiß-gelbe Kombination sehr (aber mir gefällt die weiß-jede Farbe Kombination sehr)...

 On Tuesday (Super Tuesday) we get another block....and I will attempt to get it done right away.

  Am Dienstag (Wahl Dienstag) bekommen wir die Anleitung für den nächsten Block .... Und ich werde versuchen den schneller zu nähen ......

Hive 1 Blocks for Heather

Wow am I pleased it's a leap year or what! I'm getting this one out the door by the skin of my teeth due to nothing going to plan over the last week lol

This block was a blast to make, I won't admit how many times I seam rippered the wrong seam though 0_o thankfully it was an easy fix.

Heather I hope you like the colours and it makes it to your door super quickly!

Hive 6 February Block for Rebecca

Finished up my blocks and they are on their way.  Once I started I couldn't stop and had fun making a few of them for you.  I think you made me love solid quilts!  Can't wait to see it together!

Hive 6 January Block for Sylvia

So apparently I totally forgot to post my January block for Sylvia, but it was sent out and got to her. 

1. Name:  Carolyn

2. Where you live: Lanoka Harbor,NJ

3. Tell us about your family: I have a great family of two sisters with two brothers in law and two nephews. Also great supportive parents.  

4. Tell us about your pets: I have my crazy Maggie puppy who we got from a rescue in Georgia.  She is such a loving and caring puppy that is afraid of everything, including the wind.  

5. How long have you been quilting? I made my first quilt 17 years ago, eek!

6. What crafts do you do other than quilting? Other than quilting I take some time knitting.  It is easier to take along with you.  And maybe some card making or scrapbooking here and there.  And I am not sure if you can count the "arts and craps" I do with my nephews.  :)   

7. Fabric line you want to buy next: I'm so up in the air when it comes to fabric lines.  I love to buy a little of everything so I can't choose just one!

8. Preferred quilting method (FMQ, long arm, hand, etc.): I am a huge fab of free motion quilting and have been practicing more designs with it other than just meanders.  I do love to add accents of hand quilting with some pearl cotton.  

9. Where we can find you on social media: Blog: http://sweetboaterchick.blogspot.com/, Instagram: @sweet_boater_chick Pinterest: Carolyn

10. Favorite book: Another thing that I am all over the place on.  I love all kinds of books and listen to a lot when I am quilting.  I have recently read almost the whole Bitten series.  ANd I totally loved the Divergent series.  

11. Favorite show to binge watch:The Big Bang Theory!  Also, NCIS when I'm in the mood.  But normally any syfy show for me :) 

Here are my Union Jack blocks that I sent to Sylvia.  I have to say these blocks were challenging for me.  I had to do some seam ripping while working on the,  The seam allowance was very precise.  I did enjoy making these blocks, though.  My new brother in law is from England, so maybe a pillow with this block will be in his future.  

Hive 7 February block for Tisha

I'm down to the wire again and just got my block completed on the second to the last day of the month. I hope to do better in March because it stresses me out to be so close to a deadline. Part of the reason I didn't finish it until today is because I went to QuiltCon, and an unexpected surprise was actually meeting Tisha there. It was extra fun making this block for Tisha having met her a little over a week ago.

I'll be getting this block in the mail tomorrow.

Mary

Hive 7 -February Block for Tisha

Here's my block for Tisha.

February block for Kim

Here is my block for this month's Hive 9. It sure took me way longer than an hour and a half to make! I'm sure I'm a lot slower than people who are used to doing lots of small piecing, but I spent about five hours on this. And I only had a rip out one seam! Phew. I think it turned out pretty well and I hope Kim likes it.

Have a great month everyone, looking forward to March's block.

February Block- Hive 7

Phew!!! It's finally done. Sorry Tisha, but this block stressed me out! I had to rip out many seems and it still doesn't fit just right. I hope it's still usable! Going in the mail tomorrow.

Hive 4: February 2016 block for Ruth

I really love how this block is pieced. It's a great way to use more fabrics.  I had a bit of an adventure with this one because I just moved & I can't find most of my fabric. Fortunately I found my scrap bag & had big enough pieces to make it work. I'm super proud of managing to cut a low volume piece from a piece of pinup fabric. Who knew I could make that tasteful?!

(the creases in this picture are from me folding it up to see if it would fit into an envelope I had. I should have taken a picture first.)

Feb block, Hive 1

Here is my block for Heather, for Hive 1 in Feb. Just in time! I was not happy to see this block at first...but once I learned how you do it, it was so easy and everything lined up perfectly. I am glad I had to try something I normally would not have because now I could even envision a quilt like this! I hope you love it, Heather! Since it is Sunday this won't be picked til tomorrow but it is in the mail!

Tanyia

Hive 1 for February...

I had a lot of fun making this block for Heather. I'm just sorry it took until the end of February as I was dealing with the flu. Finally today, I was feeling well enough to do some sewing. I can't wait to see how Heather's quilt turns out.

February Block for Renae

I knew February was going to a tad busy with taking a week to go to QuiltCon and visit family in California so I pieced this block together in the beginning of the month and then didn't get to do this posting or send it before my trip.  And then of course life happens and I got a terrible sinus infection and have been in bed for several days.  I'm so glad I finished this block early in the month!   While I had done this technique before, I had to refresh my memory and just go for it and it came together nicely.  I didn't take progress pics but here it is finished. 

I'll get it in the mail on Monday. Hope this works out with all your other blocks Renae!

Lisa M.

Little late but..........

.....still on time!

Maybe not in Deana's mailbox before march 1, sorry.

It looks more difficult to make then it is.

Cutting all the parts.

Sewing it the wrong way together.

This is good. I love it when all goes well and all the seams are "perfect".

It is on its way now.

Hope you like it Deane?

Warm regards from Holland, Marga

Have a nice day ♥

Hive 6 tutorial for March

Hello everyone,  my name is Katie and i'm an avid quilter for nearly 20 years that blogs over at karma willow designs and can be found on instagram @karmawillow. I was new to making bee blocks last year and since things went pretty well so I decided that this year I would join up with 2 hives again. 

Coincidentally, When we got our monthly assignments I was near the beginning of the year in both hives so I am having both groups make blocks for the same quilt. My first month as queen bee was last month, and as a part of the Bee Hive we had to choose blocks from the collection hosted by Alyce last year, so this at least narrowed down the blocks to choose from. 

I decided that this year's bee blocks will be making up a quilt will be for my husband (since the one that he has claimed was one of my first ones and it is looking a bit shabby in spots). I'm going with the Wanta Fanta block with modifications to make it more man friendly. The pattern over there is great and when used in conjunction with my modifications this block is pretty quick to make, just remember when accessing the paper pieced part of the pattern you will need to print 2 copies of page 5 for each block you want to make. 

There is a lot of white in most of the examples I have seen and I knew that this would not work long term. 

He loves Purples, grey and white. So the first step to make this block more man friendly is to reverse the fabric placement -- in your blocks the background white pieces will be replaced with purples and the colored areas will be assorted low volume fabrics -- white on white and whites with grays or light grays. 

I pulled some fabrics out of my stash and scraps -- pretty much any purple will work for this quilt and I don't mind Batik fabrics but please limit other colors on the fabrics. 

For this block I also tried to think of a way to make it scrappy and I wanted more interest. I came across this quilt online that uses similar shapes and I really liked the nine patch effect in the centers.. 

This result can be achieved in the WF block by creating a 6.5 inch nine patch of 2.5 inch squares instead of using a solid 6.5 inch square that the pattern calls for. 

If you are not a fan of sewing the white corners on after making the 9 patch to create the snowball effect, this can be remedied by replacing the corners of your 9 patch with Half square triangle units. It's easy -- take a 3 inch square of purple and one of Low volume to create 2.5 inch HST units by drawing a line in the center and sewing 1/4 inch on either side. I like to use 3.25 inch squares and trim them down to ensure that my units are crisp. 

Careful fabric placement on the x units will result in the complete triangle effect on the points. I found using 4 different fabrics and labeling my paper templates helped keep me keep track of which pieces were going to meet up together on the final block. 

It'll be your choice as to whether to leave or remove paper before shipping. I don't feel that these blocks will shift as much as others I have made in the past. Here is my completed test block and I am very eager to see the blocks that you all come up with. 

I'm glad that I am making it something slightly different than the tutorial initially called for but I know that my husband is going to greatly enjoy this quilt when it's all put together. So far I have received a few of the blocks made in February and they are really looking great together -- I wanted a bigger group picture but I know several more of the blocks are hung up in transit right now. 

Since this will be for my hubby it's probably going to end up as a 7x7 layout, which means I'm going to have many of these to make myself so if you feel inclined to make an extra (or throw in leftover fabric) it will be greatly appreciated. 

Happy Quilting everyone. 

Hive 7 - February block

So... This was a bit of a challenge for me I must admit.  Precision is not my forté ... Hence my love of wonky quilting!  I am sending along two blocks as I felt neither was perfect so maybe two wrongs could make a right in this case!  

Thanks for pushing me to try something new Tisha! And the bright yellow perked up our wintry gray skies :)

Party Crashing Deana's Block

Deana and I were hive mates last year, and she used my colors from 2015 for her block this year. To acknowledge this I made her a block. Ta-Da!! 

Hive 7 Feb block for Tisha

Bright and sunny on a cold February day. Hopefully these blocks will usher in some warm weather. Enjoy!

Finished 2015 Quilt

Finally...I can show you my finished 2015 Stash Bee quilt :)

I always wanted to have a string quilt and the bee provided the perfect mix for it!

As always, a few lessons were learned - #1, the next time I make a string quilt, I will use muslin as a foundation and not paper. It will provide stability and minimize frustration about paper choice, stitch length, etc. This will also make it easier for the long arm quilter as the top will not bubble as much!.

I named it "The Blood Ruby" - once I laid out all the blocks I realized that the quilt could use a focal point to calm it down some. So I pieced a ruby :)

It was quilted by the lovely Joanne Lendaro from Splitting Stitches with bubbles.

The back has one of my hand dyed pieces as a focal point but I also used different Konas and some left over blocks from the front.

I bound it in a black/white striped fabric to frame the 82" x 82" craziness.

Thank you 2015 Hive 3 for your blocks!!!

Hive 6, February Block for Rebecca

This month in hive 6 we had a improv month, great I love these. They are so stress free, no right or wrong way to do anything - just be creative.

Rebecca B, or @oneweebird as I know her on instagram, asked that we make her an improv block based on log cabin. Three colours, working round the cabin from left to right. Either 12 1/2" or 6 1/2" blocks. 

These were so fun to do, I made several. Two big blocks and a cluster of little ones. 

I hope all the blocks this year are as stressfree, but I doubt it. Two months until my go!

Helen x

February block for Kim

Here is my block for you Kim.  It was a fun block to make and nice to dig into my scrap bin. 

Have a great day. It will be in the mail tomorrow. 
Kristi R