Hive 4 June Tutorial: 2020 Shelter at Home

Hello and Happy Monday. I'm Velda from the Freckled Fox Quiltery and I'm your Queen Bee for June.

Lets get this started with a question....
Have you found Spring 2020 to be a season of chaos and confusion?  I don't think I'm the only one who has a minor meltdown every time I turn on the TV or  read about the calamity that the corona virus is unloading on the planet.

Being a "glass half full" person, I am always searching for something to think about, or do, to help me to remember that where we find ourselves now is not PERMANENT; I tell myself everyday that someday soon we will be looking at this out of the rear-view window.  When that day comes I want to have something that is PERMANENT  to remind me that while this storm was blowing around the world, I was part of a community of "Makers" who weathered it.

That brings me to the June block for Hive 4.   I am piecing a quilt I'm calling "Sheltering at Home".  Its a simple row by row setting.   Although its still in the planning stages I imagine it with 4 rows of big houses or neighbourhourhoods.  The rows will end up approximately 84" wide.  Depending on the block sizes I receive,  I am looking forward to having a quilt that measures between 84"  and 100" square when its finished.

Your mission for June is to make a quilt block about your family's home/neighbourhood.  It can be your home, or the home of someone you love, or care about. I am looking for house/village blocks that measure between 15.5" and 16.5" unfinished.  You CAN make it any size you want--up to and including the maximum that Stash Bee guidelines allow... (max. 16" square blocks that can be pieced in 1.5 hours or less).  It doesn't have to be square, but please aim for blocks to be15.5" wide.  (I will be adding sashing if needed to bring all the blocks up to 18" square later).  The important thing is that your house represents you.

Here is an example of what I mean as rows of houses. As you can see, there are three separate blocks showcased in this row.  I've added sashing to the first two blocks so that each is approximately 18 x 18 (including sashing).

Here is a closer picture of one of the blocks. As you can see, I added a tree, grass, sidewalks and street  bring it up to to bring it up to18" x 18".

I don't expect yours to be the same as mine, and I certainly don't expect you to add appliqué trees (but if you leave a little blank space somewhere in your block, I will add some quirky touches, as a means to bring the whole quilt together).

As you can see the houses are very simple.  The ones I've made so far represent my family.  The one above is my sister Gwen's townhouse in  the Pas, Manitoba.  Without the appliqué and added sashing, it took me a bit less than an hour to piece the houses.  Yours can be as simple or detailed as you like.  

The rules are very simple.

• Build a block that measures approximately 15.5" x 15.5" unfinished.  It can be bigger (16.5" square is largest block by Stash Bee rules).  I will add borders to bring blocks to 18" size.
• Build a house, an apartment building, a high-rise condominium, a farmhouse, a streetscape, or a neighbourhood.  Its up to you.  
• Please use modern bold LV backgrounds to make your houses pop.  
• Scrappy backgrounds are wonderful and they help to keep things interesting and unique.  
• Houses should be bright and colourful. (ex. if your house is blue, consider using a bright peacock blue!)
• If Improv is your friend, then feel free to build your block that way.  
• If you send me a rectangle of green fabric approx. 4" x 8", I will use it to add an appliqué tree somewhere in the quilt.

Below are some links you can use as a roadmap to help you design your block.  Please don't feel constrained by these tutorials if you don't feel like they represent your home. The goal is to make something that represents your family.

Easy Moda House Block - This is one of my favourite house blocks in the "Be My Neighbour" series.  If you use this block, don't feel like you must make the tree unless you want to.  I can add a tree here.  (The goal is to stay within the 1.5 hrs limit)

A Little Village.  Another really adorable, straight-forward block from the "Be My Neighbour" series for people who want to make a village.

Moda - Be My Neighbour.This link will take you to a blog post by Bear Creek Quilting Company for ALL the Be My Neighbours blocks.  You cannot go wrong, any one of these would be a great addition to my quilt (without the birds, please).

Simple House Block Tutorial.  This one is about as basic as you can make.  I bet this won't take more than 1/2 hour to put together.

Improv? Try this liberated house from Sophie Junction.  It's fun and you get to learn something new at the same time.

Scandinavian Stroll.  Don't forget to check the archives here at Stash Bee.  Here is a tutorial I found by searching "Houses" on this blog.

Cottage Life during the Pandemic?  This is another little tutorial I made when I was making houses for my Summer at the Cottage Sampler quilt.   Two or three of them in a row would make a great neighbourhood.

Cityscape Quilt Block - I love love love this one. Its actually a quilt, but I'm confident it would be easy to use it as a jumping off point for a quilt block. (See my row of quilts above...I made my version of this block in less than 1.5 hours).   If you are inspired by this layout, let me know so I can credit the designer in my blog posts.  BTW, this quilt is a free download by LB Krueger.  Wouldn't it be a fabulous quilt to gift someone who lives in the city.

FreckledFoxQuiltery. If you want to see how I design and piece simple quilt blocks using graph paper, come visit me at my personal blog. Below is a block I made to test my tutorial.

I hope these examples and tutorials will get you started on your house building.  Remember the sky's the limit -- within the limitations set by Stash Bee and your imagination.

One last thing....

I am serious about wanting and needing to keep a record of  life during the Corona Virus crisis.  Spring 2020 will be written in history as the time one of the worst pandemics ever was unleashed on the world.  I know its devastating, overwhelming and awful  as we are living through it, but I want part of the corona virus story to be about friendship, sisterhood, hope and community.  So, when you send me your blocks, I would really really like it if you attached a note with a short paragraph about you and what is going on with you during 2020.  (If you know someone, or lost someone to the virus, then you might want to dedicate your block/story to that person or family).  If you are not comfortable with giving me personal details, let me know and I'll respect your privacy.  

I'll share our community story  on my own personal blog so there will always be a record of how we came together to outlast the bad times and be part of lesson the world learned in 2020.

Stay safe.  I'm excited to hear your story and see your blocks.