Hive 1 for Black and White HST

Rochelle, this quilt is going to look amazing!!  I can't wait to see how all the blocks look together. ~Amanda

Hive 1, May Block for Rochelle

Hi Rochelle,

This block went into the post box last night, so it should be on it's way to you today.

Unfortunately, I did not have enough white on white print, so I had to go with plain black/white.

As it turns out, I am not the best at matching that many points. I do hope you can use this block. It was my second try!  I'm a bit on the late side this month, but I was prevented to start again on the block, by my sewing table (= kitchen table) being occupied by loads of plants for the garden - we had a cold spell and it was freezing over night.
As you might guess from this, apart from working full-time, my husband and me are keeping busy and making the most of having to spend most of our time at home. Our garden was never better organised than this year! :) I generally do get more sewing done nowadays, thank God for that! It keeps me sane and out of trouble...
Work is crazy busy for me at the moment as I am changing jobs in July. Between tying up loose ends and giving handover, there is not a minute to spare. This reminds me that I have to update the shipping address on the Address List, I will just use my home address this time.

I hope you and everyone else is enjoying the sunshine outdoors, when it comes out.

Take care.
Wishing you all the best from Ireland,
Rita.

Finished Quilt from 2018 - Hive 3

This is my fifth year in Stash Bee and love participating! I do get all my tops together quickly, but am slow at getting them quilted and bound. I had this one long arm quilted, and got it back last month. I think this is one of my favorite quilts. It makes me happy to look at it. Thanks for all who helped making blocks for it.  I do have my 2017 one basted and ready to be quilted by me, so hope to share that soon, too.  Gayle in Austin, TX.

Hive 1 Block for Rochelle

Spring is finally here in New Jersey. We are having warmer days, and the flowers are blooming.  Today is my granddaughter's third birthday. The pictures of her smiles makes everything feel good. 

So here is my block for Rochelle. It was a quick block, but keeping those points was a little tedious. In the end it came out pretty good. Enjoy! Rose

Block for Rochelle

You were right about the points! This will be a striking quilt. In the mail today. Joan

Finished circle quilt top hive 3 2019

Hi all. I thought I would share my circle quilt from stashbee 2019 hive 3. It’s just a top right now, I need to figure out a backing. I love all the blocks that I received. They really made the perfect quilt. Thanks to all my hive mates. 

Hive 1 Block for Paulette

Here is my block. April came so quickly and left so  slowly . The days seam to blend into each other. I made this block  early in April with the intent to make another. The second block never was made and this block was lost in the fabric clutter. It was mailed last week. I hope it has reached Paulette or will soon. Thanks for the  reminder Amanda. Hope everyone is well . Happy sewing! Rose

Hive 1 Block for Rochelle

Hi Rochelle,

This is indeed a big, bold block!  As with all the other blocks made this year, I'm looking forward to seeing them put together.  The quilt will be visually stunning.  I hope to drop it in the mail tomorrow.

Karen

HST Block for Rochelle Hive 1

Thanks for the HST practice! This was a fun and challenging block. Lots of unpicking the intersections to get the points lined up, but I’m satisfied with the result. I'll put it in the mail tomorrow.  These blocks are going to make a stunning quilt. 

Hive 1 May block for Rochelle

I love big bold blocks.  This fits the bill.  It's done, but when it gets in the mail depends on when I have a reason to leave the house.  I try to get all outside contacts done at one fell swoop.

Kathie

Hive One Block for Rochelle

It seems that I, too, have a thing with HST.  It’s very easy for squares to get shifted around.   I’m sure the end result is going to be gorgeous.

Hive One block for Rochelle

The possibilities for this block look very interesting.  It will be very dramatic.  I will try to get this mailed on my next shopping trip. Paulette

Hive 1 May Tutorial: HST Block for Rochelle

💗 Hive 1 May HST Block for Rochelle 💗

I cannot believe May is here, even though getting through March and April have felt like YEARS!

When I signed up last year, I told myself that for 2020 I would to ask for the same block I did back in 2018 so I could finish that WIP. When I started to pull the instructions, I realized the pattern is no longer a free pattern so I had to find something else QUICK!

I just upgraded to a KING size bed and I definitely need a bigger quilt, so I guess this year will be all for me. I knew I wanted something black and white and simple and EASY.

Sometimes you can never quite find what you are looking for, and sometimes you hit the nail on the head.  I hit the nail when I came across Steph Jacboson Designs and her Modern HST BOM(s). After looking through all the wonderful designs, I decided that I was really feeling the January 2019 design which can be found here:

https://www.stephjacobsondesigns.com/2019/01/modern-hst-block-of-month-january-2019.html

Now let me tell you, HSTs are NOT my favorite thing, we don't have a good relationship.  I have a hard time getting them sized and lined up correctly, it's just a hot mess.  But maybe it's time to get my HST skills on point. Here is my first completed block (please don't judge - I'm going to unpick that middle seam to line it up better, but I wanted to make sure this post was done and ready to go):

I'm looking for black and white only.  You can use solids, tone on tone and/or small modern prints that still read white or black (please no large prints, no batiks, no cutesy novelty prints). If you use solids, use both a black and a white solid, if you use prints, use both a black and a white print - I'd like to alternate solid blocks with printed blocks in the final layout (if you have any doubts on your fabrics just go ahead an use solids, those solid blocks will be just as helpful since I have to make quite a few for a king).

Here are a few things I pulled from my stash:

You will need:

8 - 5" black squares

8 - 5" white squares

You'll make a total of 16 HSTs, trimming to 4 1/2" (unfinished).  I love my Quilters Magic Wand for marking HST lines 😊

Most HST cheat sheets say to use 4 7/8" for a 4 1/2" unfinished block but I like the warm and fuzzy feeling of using a larger size and then trimming down. Using the 5" square I did not have much trimming to do.

I don't think I need to go through the HST making process but if you do need help, Bloom Heart Quilts has a great tutorial and several HST methods. I chose to make my HSTs the old fashioned way (2 at a time),  if you like to make 4 or 8 at a time - feel free to use your preferred method.  Please iron all seams open throughout, this will make my life much easier when I am quilting 😉

Here is the layout for your HSTs, I had to keep going back to my photo to make sure the layout was correct.

 I sewed the first two and last two blocks of each row together.

Then completed each row.

With all the rows complete, I attached with the top two rows and bottom two rows (sorry no photo    here but I think you get it).

And finally sew the last center seam and you're done!

Your block should measure 16 1/2" (unfinished).  A nice big, simple block!

Hive 2 May Tutorial: Black, White & Red Stripe Block

I'm excited to be Queen for this month.  It has been quite an experience over the past few months, and my company is downsizing and eliminated my position.  May 1st is my first day of not working, so it is a special month for me.  I've worked in clinical research for 30 years and I'm not ready to retire, but I am looking forward to taking May and June off before looking for another job.

This is my 6th year in Stashbee, and I really enjoy it.  Some months it is the only time I get behind the sewing machine and I always appreciate the blocks that you all come up with.  Just for fun, I will post the outcome of my past years projects at the bottom of this post.

My ask this month is for a black/red/white stripe block.  I've always loved quilts with only a few colors, but I never seem to make them because there are so many beautiful fabrics out there with lots of color.  So I'm going to change that.

My inspiration for this quilt is this one: 
https://aquilterstable.blogspot.com/2017/06/thinly-sliced.html
Isn't it gorgeous?  

I put together a tutorial, and the one or the inspiration quilt is here:

https://aquilterstable.blogspot.com/2017/07/improv-stripes-tutorial.html

Tutorial:

Fabric:

Choose two fabrics, a Solid red of any saturation and a black/white mix.   

Finish at 10 x 10 or 8 x 12 or 6 x 14 - your choice

Steps:

1. Cutting the strips:

This is meant to be improv pieced, so angle your strips when you cut starting with a width of 3/4 inch to 2 inches and the other end less.  The length should be either 10, 12 or 14 inch length, but add a bit so you have some room for adjusting when you put the stripes together.

Cut both the black/white piece and the sold red piece in this matter.

The stripes will look like this:

2. Design

When you have cut both pieces of fabric, alternate strips in a pleasing design that finishes in a fairly square or rectangle.  

3. Sew

Sew the black/white strip to the red strip.  Press to the red/dark side. Like this:

4. Keep sewing the pairs together, the amount of pairs will depend on the size of your final block.  Either 10 x 10 or 8 x 12 or 6 x 14:

5. Continue sewing in this manner until you have a bit larger than your desired width.  Do not trim:

Finish at 10 x 10   or   8 x 12   or   6 x 14.  

That's it!

Here are some of my past Stashbee projects:

2019 - Snowball Block:

https://stashbee.blogspot.com/2019/05/hive-5-may-tutorial-snowball-block-for.html

2018 - Modified String Quilt:

https://stashbee.blogspot.com/2018/04/hive-3-april-2018-tutorial.html

2017 - String Quilt:

https://stashbee.blogspot.com/2017/06/hive-8-june-tutorial-string-quilt.html

2016 - Happy Holidays:

https://stashbee.blogspot.com/2016/04/hive-9-april-2016-block-tutorial.html

2015 - Rainbow Postage I-Spy (double sided - 12 blocks each side)
http://stashbee.blogspot.com/2015/09/hive-2-september-block-tutorial.html

Hive 3 May Tutorial: Scrappy Irish Chain Block

Hello ladies

This is the second year I have taken part in the Stash Bee. I was queen last September in Hive 3. 

Gosh, hasn't the world changed so much since then. For me personally, since that time:
1. my boss at work resigned and I have a new boss who is taking a bit of getting used to; 
2. I have passed two further papers towards my accounting degree and I am currently working on one and in July I will commence my last one and then I will have my degree; 
3. I went to Quiltcon in Austin for a week and then San Francisco for a week in February; 
4. I went to my work conference in Australia at the start of March; 
5. We went into full stay at home lock down for 5 weeks with a move out to level 3 on Tuesday, which is actually level 4 lite - the mantra has been "stay home, save lives, be kind";
6. I have been working from home for 6 weeks now with no real end in sight of that arrangement;
7. and among all this, my dog became ill and passed away two weeks ago and due to Covid 19, I had to sit in my car outside the vet's instead of being with her while she passed to a better place for her. It was really sad.

But quilting, petting fabric, making Bee blocks, surfing IG and facebook and admiring what everyone has been making has kept me feeling positive.

I would like to continue to collect more blocks towards my Scrappy Irish Chain quilt as featured in my tutorial here http://stashbee.blogspot.com/2019/09/stash-bee-hive-3-block-for-helen.html

Please refer to the post from last year to help you make your block. 

And here is the link to the original quilt inspiration tutorial
http://www.happyquiltingmelissa.com/2015/06/super-scrappy-single-irish-chain-finish.html 

Here are the blocks and colours I have so far:

I have 25 blocks and I am working towards 49 blocks in total to make a 7 by 7 quilt. That's 7 blocks each of 7 colours - red (+ pink), orange (+ coral), yellow, green, blue (+ teal), indigo and violet.

I already have 7 greens so I don't need anymore of these. Listed next are the colours I need more of and how many:
Red (+ pink) 3
Orange ( + coral) 4
Yellow 3
Green NIL
Blue 2 (please no more teal)
Indigo and Violet 12 (this is a hard one so the whole range of purple would be fine - I can fill any gaps as needed for these 2 colours). 

This is the final look I am going for:

As you can see it is quite flexible in the colours within the colour family. This quilt has sashing which I will add myself later.

And as a result of level 3 lock down, I can't post mail but I can receive mail so don't feel you have to wait to send to me. It will come through to me fine.

Thanks and I am so excited to see what you make me.

Helen

Hive 4 May Tutorial: Polaroid blocks

I love fussy cutting and fell in love with these cute polaroid blocks the first time I saw one.  Look how fun this one is that I made!  This is the basic block but I'm wanting a solid sashing put on too.  I'm planning on making these into an I Spy quilt for a child.

The blocks aren't very big so I'd love two. 😊

With the solid added they look like this:

I'll show you how to make a block but you can always google polaroid blocks to find many good tutorials and examples of quilts made. I like this basic tutorial. 

You will need:

2.5 inch fussy cut squares from a cute novelty print for the center (any print a child would like)

1 inch strip of white solid (solid only, no white on white)

1.5 inch strip of same white solid

2.5 inch strip of solid color (again, only solids. Think kid colors)

Begin by sewing a 1 inch strip to both sides of the fussy cut center. You can wing it and then trim after or cut your strip to 2.5 inches first. I pressed away from the center.

It will now look like this:

Next add a 1 inch strip to the top.

Then the 1.5 inch strip to the bottom.

Again, you can eyeball this or cut to length - 3.5 inches.
I continued to press away from center.

Now you have the basic polaroid block that look like this:

Square it up to 3.5x4 inches if you were eyeballing:

Now add your 2.5 inch strips of color all around the block....pressing away from the center.  I would prefer these to be added log cabin style. Meaning, start with one side...say the top...then move around clockwise.  This will help me not have much seam bulk when joining blocks as many seams won't butt up against each other. You can see what I mean below:

There you go!  You are all done!  They should be 7.5 x 8 inches. Don't worry about trimming or anything. I'll be squaring these down to 6 inch blocks. The extra gives me room to square down wonky like this:

Thank you so much in advance. 

PS. These little blocks are so addictive and easy to chain piece. Look what happens...LOL!!!

Happy sewing.