Hive 1 November Block for Starla

 I was able to find a bunch of pink/purple/magentas--I had fun with the combination! Thanks for the great block choice. 

Hive 1 November Block for Starla

 I really enjoyed making this block. It was a little difficult to find enough of one colour since we have more pastel or muted colours, so once I found enough I just couldnt help myself and made them all.

I hope you like the blocks and they will be on their way to you tomorrow!

November Trees for Starla

 Here are a few more trees to add to your forest Starla!  One of them (the green one) got jammed in the sewing machine near the corner of the tree so the white fabric frayed a little bit which is why I made you a second one in red. Hoping you can still use both of them.

~ Diana @ Red Delicious Life

Sign up for StashBee 2023 is Live!

 

What is StashBee?

Stash Bee is an annual modern, international, online quilting bee.  It runs for 11 months (January-November) on multiple platforms including facebook, instagram and on this blog. 

StashBee is open to new and returning members. Stash Bee is international friendly. All hives can expect to have a mix of countries. In the past, the majority of participants have been American, with 1-3 hive members from other countries. Participants are responsible for the cost of mailing blocks to their Hive Mates.

Participants are divided into several hives, each containing 10-11 Hive Mates.  The total number of hives will depend on how many people sign up, so invite your friends! We need 10-11 people per hive, so there may be a wait list if there is an incomplete hive.

Each of the members acts as “Queen Bee” for one month. Before their month arrives, the Queen is responsible for testing out their choice of block and creating a tutorial post on the Stash Bee blog for their Hive Mates to follow. All of the hive members then create the requested block from their own fabric stash, and mails the block to the "Queen Bee".

As "Queen Bee" you specify the block, and the color scheme and type of fabric you would like your hive mates to use (ie. solids, prints, low volume, novelty, florals, tone on tone etc). Since this is a modern bee you  can ask for modern blocks, or a classic block but with modern fabrics. 

By signing up, everyone commits to making 10 blocks over the course of the year (January to November). In exchange, when its your turn as "Queen Bee" you will receive 10 blocks.

Reasons to Join

1) One block a month is an easy commitment!

2) Make new Quilty Friends around the world!

3) Try new blocks and new techniques!

4) Make a dent in your stash!

5) Make a quilt with a great story, and a wonderful diversity of fabric from other people's stash!

6) Have fun!

Rules & Expectations

Please review our Rules and Participant Roles & Expectations before signing up. If you have additional questions you can email me at the StashBee email:  Stashbee.blog@gmail.com

How to Sign Up

CLICK HERE to access the sign-up form. 

Registration will be open until December 15th 2022, and Hives will be announced mid December via email. 

Please share the link with your Quilty Friends and encourage them to sign up too!

During the sign-up process, you will be asked what platform you would like to use (facebook, instagram, or the blog). Hives will be assigned based firstly on platform preference, then skill and design/fabric style preferences will also be taken into account. Anyone not assigned to a hive will be placed on the waiting list in the order that they signed up.

One more thing

Follow our StashBee Instagram profile, and tag us in your StashBee makes!

@StashBee.blog

November forests

 Hi Starla, 

I hope you enjoy these. I did one in pinks using scraps from my month and one in blues because that's a little more me. 

I'll be able to ship them when I'm home Monday!

- Kelsey

Hive 1, November Block for Starla

Before the end of the month gets here before I know it, I was able to get these adorable trees done!

I might have said "You're just so cutes" out loud several times while sewing them 😆

These trees are my second attempt, turns out some the glow in the dark "white" made it into my white fabric bin.. I triple checked these to make sure there are no surprises!

I can't wait to see this quilt with all of these adorable trees!!

~Adrienne

 

2022 Finished Quilt from Hive 2

 I finished my Lozenges quilt. Thanks to all who contributed blocks! I did make a lot of extras myself to make it 58 by 72 inches. I quilted with a walking foot on my home machine. Looking forward to 2023!

 

2022 Bee Hive 2 - Finished Quilt

Hive 2 - 2022   Finished Quilt

This is my fifth year participating in Stash Bees.  They have been great fun, making so many blocks.  Many times using colors that aren't my norm, but always looked good. This fall I was the queen in our bee.  I asked for a simple Square in a Square.  Instead of each person making four blocks and sewing them into one block, I asked that they just send their four blocks, then I could mix them up.

Here they are laid out and ready to become a quilt.

 

It took no time at all to sew them together.

 

Some straight line quilting finished the top off.

Giving a nice simple quilt pattern on the back.

I don't know what is so different on this quilt, but it is the softest quilt I have made in a long time.

This measures at 45 x 45 and will make a great donation quilt.  Into the stash it goes until the right need comes along.

 

Hive 1 (late) block for Minnie

 

As I mentioned in my email, this block's send date was a little delayed--but I was so glad to see all the hive crashers, so hopefully you won't feel the effects of one missing block quite so strongly! It's on its way to you now. -Julia

November Block for Starla

Dear Starla, 

I found the perfect fabric to match the tree you had made for your tutorial.

The forest you have in mind will be enchanting!😁

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! 

Marie

 

Hive 1, November Block for Starla

 

Hi Starla,

I had lots of fun going through my scrap bins for your trees, I settled on Turquoise and Amber.

These are lovely little blocks to make, hope you get a great forest full of colourful trees!

Those two blocks are going into the post on Saturday.

Happy sewing,

Rita

Hive 5 November Tutorial - Star of the Show for Iris

 

 Give me your neons! Your children's patterns! Your licensed fabrics and your novelties!

For this November block, I was inspired by Judy Newman's book, "Quilts for Life Made with Love". I love her creative take on traditional star blocks, and designed my own with this inspiration!
My idea was to create a star that had a center focus with the added fun of more star points.

Make sure your stitch width is .25 (1/4 inch) otherwise the math will be wonky. 

Well let's get started!

At the end of this tutorial you will have a 16.5 inch by 16.5 inch unfinished inch block that looks like these:

Hive 4 November Tutorial - Double Sawtooth Block for Samantha

Hello Hello Everyone!

It’s been so much fun making everyone’s blocks. I cannot believe how quickly this year went by and that it’s already my turn! There were some pros and cons to going last, and both of them were the amount of time I had to decide which block I wanted to do. I thought about it several times a month, the whole year. I finally settled on something I think y'all will find pretty easy and it’s really beautiful. With the color combination it’s probably one of my favorite blocks (so far anyway!)

For my block I chose a double sawtooth block.

If you look them up you can see a bunch of examples of different color combinations that make the star stand out in different ways. I really like the double star look that comes together when you block the colors as shown. 

Fabric Pull

You will need three fabrics:

1) you’ll need awhite, or white on white patterned. If you don’t have a basic white or white on white the next best option would be a white with a small pattern. But my preference is a white solid or white on white pattern.

2) You’ll also need some navy, dark blue, or a navy/dark blue in either solid, or with a small pattern. For my example I choose a print that will give you an idea of what I’m looking for in terms of "small patterns" if  you don’t have solid navy or dark blue.

3) Lastly you’ll need a light blue. Again, if it has a small pattern that’s fine, or solid is a good choice. 

My big particular is that all the whites, all the navy, and all the light blues are of the same fabric so I can get that pretty double start effect I’m looking for (so please just choose one fabric for each of the three colours, rather than scrappy).

My idea for the quilt is along the winter-y blue scale and not so much vibrant rainbow blues. So think of winter wonderland while you’re digging through your stashes. 

Here are some examples of my fabrics I’m drawing inspiration from. 

(I am so sorry about the photo quality. I'm working off a phone that's pretty old and cracked. I thought they looked great until I went to upload them!)

Cutting

Alright let’s get to work! This will be pretty quick and easy for everyone I’d imagine. And I am by no means a perfectionist. I really don’t mind a point that isn’t perfect or what have you. So no stress, just enjoy the last block of the year. 

You’ll start by cutting the following:

Light blue

• 1 square 3 ½” x 3 ½”  
• 8 squares 2”x2” 

Navy

• 8 squares 3 ½” x 3 ½” 
• 4 rectangles 2” x 3 ½” 
• 4 squares 2” x 2”

White 

• 4 rectangles 3 ½” x 6 ½” 
• 4 squares 3 ½” x 3 ½” 

Piecing the Block

Step1:

The first thing I did was draw diagonals on the back of my (8) 2” light blue squares, and on the back of the (8) 3 ½” squares. I just used a pencil, no need to fuss. Please also note that you’ll be stitching on this line.

I did the inside and the outside of my star at the same time. But if you like to take it a step at a time I included a link to another tutorial at the end. 

Step 2:

Place your marked light blue squares on the corners of navy rectangle (2” x 3 ½”) so that the diagonal runs from bottom left to top right.

Then place your marked navy squares on the corners of the white rectangles (3 ½” x 6 ½”) in the same direction (bottom left to top right)

Just do one side at a time, but chain-piecing all 4 of each star (inside and out) at the same time seems super quick to me.

After you stitch on the line, trim off ¼ inch and press to the darker side (or open if that’s your preference) 

Step 3:

Then, you’ll repeat this step with the opposite side. Make sure your diagonals run in the opposite direction- Top left to bottom right this time. (Like I'm showing in the picture, that you can't see because the potato quality of my camera!) It's going to look like a flying geese situation when you are done.

Step 4:

From here it goes super quick! 

You’ll want to start with the small star, and you’ll attach two of the star points you just made to the top and bottom of the larger light blue square. (mine in the photo is flipped so I did the sides first instead of top and bottom, makes no difference)

Take your other two star points and you’ll use the 2” x 2” navy squares and sew those to both sides of the star points. Then just sew those suckers onto the other side of your larger block.

Step 5:

To add the outside of the star, you repeat the process.

Sew two of your navy/white star points to the top and the bottom of the smaller star. Sew the 4 white squares to the other two star point. Then sew those onto the block. 

Easy breezy. But, I understand my directions may not be super clear so here is a link to the tutorial I used. It’s from McCall’s patterns. https://s31968.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Double_Sawtooth_Star_Block_for_web.pdf

Thank you all so much for your time, and thank you all for picking such fun blocks. I really feel like it was a good practice to test some of my skills. I wish you all the very best and I hope to see you next year for the bee!

I took in a stray cat this year, who turned out to be pregnant! In her litter she had two polydactyl cats! This silly extra toed cat ended up finding a home with us. She is sitting her fat cat butt on the other double sawtooth star project I'm working on. 

Hive 2 - November Tutorial - Pineapple Blossom Block Amy

 It's November already!

For this month, we will be sewing a Pineapple Blossom block from Quiltville.

**please note that my address has changed since I filled out the form at the start of this swap. THE ADDRESS FORM HAS BEEN UPDATED

 Colors: I would love for this to be a bright and beautiful free for all. My only request is a solid or tone on tone navy blue for the center square and corner triangles and fun, bright prints for the strips (medium or small scale prints preferred and preferably not holiday).

The full instructions can be found here: https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/06/pineapple-blossom.html

I’ve got the basic instructions below:

First cut:

From Navy blue solid or tone on tone (for center and pineapple corners)

Five 4.5” squares

From Bright prints

Two 2.5" X 12.5" rectangles.

Four 2.5” X 8.5” rectangles

Two 2.5"X 4.5" rectangles

Start by attaching the 4.5” rectangles on opposite sides of the center 4.5” square.

Next attach the 8.5” strips 

Next, add a square on the upper right and lower left corners using the flip and sew method (optional step, add a second seam with about a 3/8” gap…closer to the corner so you end up with bonus half square triangle). 

Now, add the second set of 8.5” strips to the top and bottom followed by the 12.5” strips on the sides

Next, add the final two squares to the upper right and lower left corners, again with the sew and flip and optional second seam for another pair of bonus HSTs 

TA DA!! This ended up being a really fun block to assemble. I was able to just grab from a pile of scraps and extra jelly roll strips I had laying around. I hope you all have fun with this one as well. 

Hive 1 November Tutorial - Scrappy Trees

This is my first Stash Bee Swap and I am excited and nervous to share my tutorial! In the months leading up to my turn as queen, I have been going through older posts on the site for inspiration. Emily's post from 2017 about a Magical Forest got me wishing for my own  quilt of colorful trees. Her post is full of fun tree tutorials including one by Leah Day that was the jumping off point for this scrappy tree tutorial.

Tree Template

I found it helpful to use a tree template when creating this block. Cluck Cluck Sew has a free printable template that creates the perfect size tree. You can download it here. Remember to make sure the scale is at 100% when printing and check the 1" square for accuracy.

Colors:

The trunk of the tree should be a dark fabric: brown, black or gray.

You will also need a fabric that reads as solid white for the background.

You should also select one color for the body of the tree. The base of the tree should be made up of 3 to 7 fabrics all in the same color family. This pattern is perfect for scraps or small strips of fabric left over from previous projects.  I would like the trees to be rich, vibrant, and/or bright. So please select colors that are bright, saturated, or jewel tones. Patterns and variation in colors are great. Just try to avoid using too many muted or pastel colors.

Here are some groups of scraps I choose, but feel free to select any color for which you have a number of bright or jewel tone scraps.

Cutting:

2 white rectangles- 2.5" x 3.25" 

2 white triangles- use the template to cut the white triangles that will be the background of the tree. 

1 dark rectangle for the trunk - 2.5" x 2"

Body of the tree- Select between 3 and 7 fabrics to make up the body of the tree. The largest fabric should be at least 7.5" long, so that it fits the bottom of the template. This is a great opportunity to use some small strips or scraps. They do not need to be straight, since we are going to cut them wonky. The scraps will get cut to their final size as the block is assembled.   

Assembling the Body of the Tree:

Lay out the fabric strip that will be the bottom of the tree. It should be at least 7.5 inches long, but can be any height that you choose. You can use your tree template to verify that the the length is sufficient. Line the bottom of the template along the bottom edge of the fabric. The fabric should be long enough for the template to fit on top of.

Remove the template and cut the top of your first fabric at a wonky angle. You can chose to make the cut as steep or as shallow as you like.

Now select your next fabric and place it right side down on top of your first fabric. My second fabric is double sided. If yours is not be sure to place it so that the right sides of the two fabrics are together. The edge of the second fabric should be placed along the edge where you made your wonky cut on the first fabric.

Use your template to verify that the fabric is long enough. When you place the template along the bottom edge of your first fabric, there should be a little bit of the second fabric visible on either side of the template (see arrows in picture below).

Sew the two fabrics together using a scant quarter inch seam. Press to the dark side and open. Now make another wonky cut, this time in the opposite direction as you did for the first fabric.

Add the next fabric strip. As before you should place it face down on your fabrics so that the right sides are together. 

Use your template to verify that the size and positioning of the fabric is correct. As you can see in the image below, you should be able to see the edges of the fabric peaking out from both sides of the template.

Sew this fabric onto your base tree stack and press. Now make another wonky cut in the other direction.

Continue adding fabric and cutting until you reach the top of the template. For this tree, that meant adding one more piece of fabric. 

Once you have reached the top of the tree, use the template to cut of the excess fabric. Position your ruler along the edge of  the template to make your cuts.

This will reveal the final, scrappy triangle that will be the body of the tree!

Add White Background

Now you can attach the white triangles you cut out using your templates to the body of the tree. Match the large end of your white triangle with the small end of the tree and line up the edges. Sew together using a scant quarter inch seam.

Now do the same thing on the other side.

Assemble and Add Trunk:

Position the dark trunk fabric between the two white rectangles so that the sides that measure 2.5" match up. 

 Attach one white fabric and then the other to the edges of the trunk. Then sew the trunk section to the bottom of the tree to finish the block!

That is it! You finished scrappy tree block should be 7.5" x 10". 

Thank you for including me in such a fun year of swapping! 

-Starla