April Block for Hive 2

Hello fellow Hivemates! I’m Lanakila Alexander and I’m delighted to be the Queen Bee for April for Hive 2. This is my first year with the Stash Bee and I’m very much enjoying it. I confess that I lurk on all of the Hives because I think that quilting blogs are the ultimate in eye candy! My RSS feed is chock full of making blogs and my Pinterest boards are bursting with visual bookmarks for things that inspire me. 

Inspiration: The block I am selecting was inspired by this Pin.

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I’m pretty chicken when it comes to ‘scrappy’ because I feel like it can be more loosey-goosey than I am comfortable with. I think that this block is a happy compromise because the squares give a lot of structure to keep that scrappiness from being chaotic. Baby steps!

Most of the actual quilts I make are for donation projects. I’m hoping to use the blocks from this month to create a quilt for a hospitalized teen. I learned that the demand for gender neutral quilts for teens are in high demand and so I make a conscious effort to create quilts to meet those needs. I also make a lot of patriotic donation quilts, so my stash of reds and blues is astounding. I’d venture to guess that you have a dominant color (or two) in your stash too! This block will definitely benefit from that variety.

Fabrics: 

Choose a color that you have a lot of variety of as your Base Color. In my sample block, I chose to use Blue as my Base Color. I’d like everyone to create the star from the color that is the COMPLEMENT to your Base Color. In my case, blue and orange are complementary colors. Complementary stars will create color tension in the quilt and will keep the eye moving. A consistent border will be used to give the eye somewhere to rest.

This is my initial fabric pull:

Cutting: 

15 - 4” squares of Base Color, assorted fabrics

1 - 4” square of Star Color

8 - 2.5” squares of Star Color, same fabric as the 4" square

I laid out a bunch of the blue squares and weeded out those that just didn't fit well. One print was jarring against the mix, one was more grey than I wanted, and others read solid instead of as a pattern. I also took a picture of these fabrics in greyscale to weed out those values that just didn't mesh either.

I moved things around until I was happy with the distribution of values and prints. 

Sewing: 

The first task will be to create the points for the star. This is what we are aiming for, so grab those four Base Color blocks that surround the Star center and all 8 of those 2.5" squares.

Do these steps for EACH of the four Base Color blocks:

1. Mark all of the 2.5" squares on one diagonal. 

2. Place one 2.5" square on each 4" square as shown, and stitch along the marked diagonal.

3. Trim the seam allowance to 1/4" and press towards the larger block.

4. Place a 2.5" square on each 4" square as shown, an stitch along the marked diagonal.

5. Trim the seam allowance to 1/4" and press towards the corner.

Lay out the block and assemble. The block should measure 14.5" square.

Question: Tell me why you chose the base color that you did. Is it because it is your favorite color and you cannot pass it up, are they leftovers from a project, or maybe they came as a precut?

Question: What is the blog that you Pin from the most? Share the link for blog and your Pinterest account so that we can all join in on the eye candy!