Hive 1 Churn Dash blocks for Marie

 Two Churn Dash blocks for Marie. Being a quilt angel for Rose. Will be in the mail tomorrow.

Gayle from Hive 2

Hive 1 Intersections Variation Quilt Top

Thanks to my Hivemates and one crasher (thanks Robin), I have enough blocks to make a nice-size quilt, 64"x80."  I'm going to layer and straight-line quilt this in the next month or so.  I love how bright and scrappy this turned out.  Stashbee peeps are the best! 

Hive 1 Churn Dash

 

This was a wonderfully simple block Marie!  I got it in the mail a few days ago, so it should be arriving any time!

Amanda

Blocks I’ve received in Hive 1

 Hello all,

I made comments under each of your posts upon receiving your blocks but then realized you may not be looking there.  So far I’ve opened beautiful blocks from Kathie,  Joan,  Rochelle and Pam.  Thank you all for your lovely handiwork.

 Hi Marie!

I love churn dash blocks so much, that a made a few for you! I hope the colors are what you're looking for!

I dropped them at the post office on Saturday.

Liz Horgan

Hive 1 Churn Dash for Marie

 Hi Marie,

A nice simple block!  Hope you like this light blue. It kind of looks like Grunge but it’s not.  I’ll put it in the mail Monday.   

Bob’s your uncle!  I had to look it up... it’s not a common saying in California.  From Wikipedia, “The origins are uncertain, but a common theory is that the expression arose after Conservative Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury ("Bob") appointed his nephew Arthur Balfour as Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1887, an act of nepotism, which was apparently both surprising and unpopular. Whatever other qualifications Balfour might have had, "Bob's your uncle" was seen as the conclusive one.”^[1][2]

Karen 

Hive 1 Blue Churn Dash Blocks for Marie

 These were fun and easy to make.  I don't have any white-on-white fabrics in my stash, so I used a white solid for the background.  I'll mail them today.  Happy quilting!

Pam

Hive 1 August Block for Marie

Hi Marie,

This block was indeed nice to make, thanks! Hope you like it and can use it in your quilt.

The letter goes into the post tomorrow and should start it's journey over the waters to you on Monday.

 

Thank you for your lovely emails and the offer to send fabric over, but this would've really been too much upheaval.

Take care, all the Best,

Rita.

Hive 1 August Block for Marie

 Hive 1 August Block for Marie

 

Your block is on the way Marie! I love a churn dash block, but those HSTs are always getting the best of me. The fabric is a bit more blue than grey in real life, hopefully it will work for you.

 

 💗 Rochelle

Churn Dashes for Marie

 

I love the churn dash block.  I never tire of sewing them.  I hope these are the right blue.  I can mail them on Monday.    Paulette

Hive 1 August for Marie

Glad to make a favorite block.  So glad that I made two.

Here's a recent Churn Dash I made with scraps that was given as a baby gift last month.  I liked the offset in the setting.

Kathie L in Allentown

Hive 1 Churn Dash August Block

Quick and easy! Joan

Hive 1 August Tutorial- Blue and White Churn Dash

Hello all,

I’ve always wanted to do a blue and white quilt so this is the time.  It’s a simple Churn Dash block and nothing you haven’t done a million times.   My fabric pull is pictured below.  Light blues up through a Williamsburg blue.   Please don’t include navy, royal blue, novelty prints or batiks.  The background should be white on white.   (The picture may look more gray than it actually is, but you know the blues I’m talking about)

In blue you will need:

(2)  3 7/8” squares
(4)  2 x 3 1/2” rectangles

In white you will need:

(2)  3 7/8” squares
(4)  2 x 3 1/2” rectangles
(1)  3 1/2” square


Pair the white and blue 3 7/8” squares, right sides together, drawing a diagonal line on the back of the white on white square.  Sew 1/4” on either side of the diagonal line.  Cut on the line, making four half square triangles.   Trim to 3 1/2”.  Sew together the white and blue rectangles.  Press all to the blue.   (I probably could have just said “Make HST’s” but wanted to make sure it was easy).  Put together in rows like the picture below.  The block should measure 9 1/2”.

And, as the saying goes, Bob”s your uncle.  (Does anyone know where that expression came from?)

I hope this feels simple and easy for all of you.  There has been a pretty hot and humid stretch in Maine, with no signs of it changing any time soon, so it should get you in and out of your sewing room quickly.  Unless yours has AC, which mine doesn’t.  I’d be living there if it did.   And I hope this finds you healthy and safe.   The silver lining for me is that I can actually see my cutting table for the first time in quite a while.  Take care everyone!  Marie Doyle

Hive 2 - August 2020 Tutorial: Random Stripey Squares for Saraj Cory

HIVE 2 - AUGUST 2020 - Queen Bee: Saraj Cory

Hi Everyone, I get to bee the queen bee for August.  

I’m requesting a "Random Stripey Square" block using 2 colors.

Color & Fabric Choice:

I am requesting blocks in the triadic colors of #1 (yellow), #9 (turquoise) , or #17 (pink), or shades thereof from my color wheel shown below.  

• The block uses only two colors, you get to choose which two. 
•  These are pure colors, as bright and pure as you can.  

Here is a picture of the color wheel on my wall for your reference.   

• I would like one solid and one print, you will need 12" x 18” of each.
• NO GRUNGE please
• If you don’t have a solid you could try a fabric that can read as a solid such as an umber, marbleized, batik, or other blender. 
• Have fun, just make it a bright.  

Here’s a sample of a test block from a friend who had no solids. This batik blender worked well.  She chose a turquoise print and a pink batik.   

About color wheels and triadic choices:

From Wikipedia:  

This color wheel from wikipedia shows the colors I am using.  

My Fabric Pull:

Here are some of the fabric samples I pulled from.  Sadly, I've discovered I have almost no yellows in my stash.  Probably because I look jaundiced in yellow. Oranges are in abundance, but sticking to the color wheel, there are shades of yellow that easily qualify.  Work with what you have.  

Cutting and Block Assembly Instructions:

Step 1:

Cut a 12"x 18" rectangle from the 2 colors you choose. 

• again, one solid (ish) and one print

Step 2:

Set one fabric on top of the other, right sides up. 

• My turquoise solid is on the bottom, the pink print on top, both right side up.

Step 3:

With your ruler and rotary cutter, cut three 1” wide strips at slight diagonals top to bottom semi random. Straight strips, but cut at diagonal.  

• All my friends, except my son, got stumped by this: “what is 3 x 1” strips?  I confess, I’ve been reading knitting charts for the last four months.  As for sewing, from the stacked fabric, you want to cut out 1” wide strips, but only three of them, from anywhere top to bottom on the fabric.  Angles make it more interesting.  

• You’ll end up with seven pieces three of which will be 1 inch wide strips. 

Step 4:

Keeping pieces in order, separate solid from print.

Step 5:

Exchange every other piece of solid with the equivalent piece of the print fabric- You are creating two blocks with every other piece.  

• The blocks will each have an odd number of pieces, so the blocks will start and end in the same fabric (either solid or print). 
• Solid / print / solid / print / solid / print / solid (inverse for the other block)

Step 6:

Sew back together with exchanged pieces.  

• Try to sew seams in alternate up and down directions so the new block doesn’t bow.  The blocks will be a bit wonky, and that’s fine.  
• Iron:
• I like to iron each seam as I go.
• Don’t iron open.
• Do iron to one side or the other.

 

Step 7:

Stack again right sides up.  

Step 8:

Cut three 1" wide strips, like in step 3, this time going side to side, diagonally at an angle. 

• In this picture the blocks are turned sideways, easier for me to cut and photograph.  

Step 9:

Exchange pieces, like in Steps 4 & 5 above.   

Step 10:

Sew back together exchanged pieces.  

• Remember to alternate direction of sewing so as not to end up with a bendier block than you're already going to get (because of all the diagonal cuts)
• Don’t worry about matching up the cross sections precisely as you would for a pinwheel or half square triangle — this is scrappy — sometimes they’ll line up, sometimes they won’t.  
• This is more about color play than piecing alignment.  If your OCD goes off the hook, have a cup of tea, glass of wine or beer, and play again.

Step 11:

Trim each section, sew together.  

• If you can’t decide which way to sew them together, just leave them separate, I’ll collect all the blocks and see what works with what.  

• Here’s my final block.  The two halves are reflected (i.e., the top one is facing down.  Put yours together however you like it.   

Step 12:

Trim to 16 x 13-3/4” or thereabouts.

Have fun!  

Thank you.

Contact me with any questions.

Hive 4 August Tutorial: Red or Pink Strawberries

Hello Hive 4!!!! Hope you are all enjoying your summer, the best you can in these weird times. We are finally having some nice weather up here in North Eastern British Columbia. We have had lots of rain, flooding and washouts this summer so some of my garden has not been doing well. We have been enjoying hanging out in our backyard and baby Felix is enjoying our little baby blow up pool.

Since I am a new mom, with very limited time to sew, I am trying to focus on finishing up some projects before I start a new one. I haven't completed some of my previous years StashBee projects yet, so I am going to repeat my block from last year- a Juicy Strawberry! 🍓 Perfect for summertime!

OPTION B
If you were in my hive last year and already did a strawberry and prefer to try something new,  I could also use some additional flying geese blocks from my first year in StashBee. It was supposed to be a wedding quilt for my friend....... but now it will have to be an anniversary quilt. oops

See my original tutorial here:

http://stashbee.blogspot.com/2017/06/june-hive-1-flying-geese.html

(my instagram handle changed since this post, fyi)


STRAWBERRY TUTORIAL

I used the tutorial and pattern by Skyberries Handmade. You can find it here 

I recommend following the original tutorial, but I have photographed the steps below, and included some tricks I followed to make sewing a little faster (chain piecing!).

Fabric & Colours:

This block is great for using up scraps. For this block you will need a White, 3 Greens, and 5 Reds OR Pinks.
I like tone on tone and near solids, as well as polka dots, stripes, gingham and geometrics. I would prefer no prints that add other colours to the block.

White: Please use one fabric for all the white in the block. It can be a solid, or a white on white print. I prefer a bright white over off-white or cream, but whatever you have is fine.

Green: Any shade of green from deep forest green, to apple green and emerald, to lime, olive and chartreuse are okay. Just no teal please. When choosing the three greens, it would be great if there was some contrast between them.

Pink or Red: Please choose either red or pink, rather than mixing both. The block is scrappy, but you only need five different fabrics as the fabrics can repeat throughout the block. However, if you want to use up your scraps you can use more than 5 different reds or pinks, but I didn't factor in the extra cutting time that may require. Here is my own pink and red fabric pull.

Cutting:

PINK or RED	GREEN	WHITE
Print A: 4 x 2in squares Print B: 4 x 2in squares Print C: 3 x 2in squares 1 x 2.5in square Print D: 3 x 2in squares 1 x 2.5in square Print E: 3 x 2in squares 1 x 2.5in square total: 17 x 2in squares and 3 x 2.5in squares	2 x 2.5in squares from print A 2 x 2.5in squares from print B 2 x 2in squares from print C	4 x 2in squares 5 x 2.5in squares

Step 2: Mark diagonals
Take the 5 white 2.5 in squares and one of the Green Print A 2.5 in squares and draw a diagonal line across each square from one corner to the opposite one.

Step 3: Pair up the 2.5" Squares
Pair a marked white square with the three pink or red 2.5" squares and one of each of the green 2.5" squares. Pair the marked green 2.5" square with the other remaining 2.5" square (these should not be the same print).

Step 4: Sew the Half Square Triangles (HSTs)
Sew a SCANT 1/4 inch seam on either side of the marked line. I chain pieced all the units down one side, and then did the same for the other side.

Step 5: Cut and Press HST seams open (to reduce bulk)

Step 6: Trim the HSTs to 2" square 

Step 7: Layout 

Step 8: Assemble All the Pieces!
One trick to assemble the rows quickly is to chain piece the rows. Watch this tutorial from Suzy Quilts for how she assembles a quilt, by chain piecing the blocks. I did the same thing with the individual squares, in order to chain piece the block together. If you try this method let me know how it works for you, or if you have questions let me know. Maybe I could film an Instagram story if anyone is interested.

After each row is sewn, press the seams of each row in alternate directions so that when you sew the rows together the seams nest together and are less bulky.

Finished Strawberry!

Hive 3 August tutorial: Christmas Trees

Hive 3 August Tutorial:

Hello!

This month I have a pieced block (with a tiny appliqué) for you to work on. My son goes to a charter school where most of the funding is raised by the parents. Last year their theme was the Age of Sail and I made a compass rose quilt to auction off.

 

I have been planning on using my bee month as a big head start for this year’s quilt… however this virus has gotten in the way of knowing how our school will look in the future. Regardless, I thought I’d still make a quilt to auction for the school, but without a theme for the year, I’m making something that I think will appeal to the vast majority of the school. With this being said, my block is a Christmas tree block. I plan on making two vertical rows on a minimalist background of Christmas trees. There will be 5 large trees and 8 smaller ones running parallel. It is your choice on the size you’d like to make. If possible, I would prefer you to use Kona white for the background, but if you don’t have it, I understand, any white will do. For the trees, please use your happiest holiday fabric. The trunk will be brown; you can choose if it’s a solid or a print.  Thank you so much for helping me with my fundraising endeavors! Any extra blocks that don’t make it to the front, will be put on the back with the kids in the school being able to decorate around them. J

Sarah’s Christmas Tree Block

Option 1: 6" X 8" block CUT: White Fabric: a. 1- 2.5" x 6" b. 2- 3.25" x 1.5" c. 4- 2.75" x 1.5" d. 2- 2.25" x 1.5" e. 2- 1.75 x 1.5" f. 1- 1.5" x 6" Christmas Fabric: g. 1- 2.5" x 1.5" h. 1- 3.5" x 1.5" i. 1- 4.5" x 1.5"  j. 1- 5.5" x 1.5" Brown Fabric: k. 1- 1.5" x 1.5" Scrap of yellow for the star

Option 2: 11.5" X 14.5" block CUT: White Fabric: a. 1- 3" x 11.5" b. 2- 6" x 2.5" c. 4- 5" x 2.5" d. 2- 4" x 2.5" e. 2- 3 x 2.5" f. 1- 2.5" x 11.5" Christmas Fabric: g. 1- 4.5" x 2.5" h. 1- 6.5" x 2.5" i. 1- 8.5" x 2.5"  j. 1- 10.5" x 2.5" Brown Fabric: k. 1- 2.5" x 2.5" Scrap of yellow for the star

To begin:

Arrange your cut fabric like below:

Next, take fabric b and you will snowball the corner to fabric g, as shown:

Repeat with your other fabric b to g:    

This should give you a nice little tree top. Continue snowballing your white to the holiday fabric for the remainder of the tree;

  

Now that your tree is in strips, sew fabric c to k to c to make the trunk. You should now have 7 strips of fabric. Please sew all 7 strips together as you have them laid out.

From this to this:       

Lastly, your little tree needs a star. I drew a primitive star on a yellow scrap fabric and appliquéd it on top of my tree. I used the same size for both the little and big trees. Here’s an example of what I did, you may choose whatever primitive star looks best for you. 

Thank you so much for making me a tree block, I really appreciate you!

~ Sarah @ Snaphorse_quilts