Hive 6- January Tutorial- Tulip Block

Hello Hive 6!

Since there is snow on the ground, and January is kind of dreary after the holidays, I hope this Tulip blocks brings some cheer as we dream about Spring.

This is the same block I had my Hive mates make for me last year. I was going to make a baby quilt for my little girl who was born in April 2022, but I haven't finished it so my plan is to make a bigger quilt for her instead.

In principle, I don't believe in gendered colours or imagery (my son can wear clothes that are pink and have flowers too), but the reality is I have been really excited by all the "girlie" stuff since she was born, especially all things floral!

So for this month's block, I am requesting a Pink or Yellow Tulip block!

Pattern Credits:

I have written up the tutorial for 1 tulip block, based on a combination of two very similar free patterns:

1. Missouri star quilt co’s “Totally Tulip” quilt pattern. 

• Here is their video tutorial - she makes 1 block but the cutting information is based on making the whole quilt so I adjusted the cutting instructions for 1 block.

https://www.missouriquiltco.com/pages/totally-tulips-quilt-tutorial?epik=dj0yJnU9QlpUOFIzQmZIQXE4V2VaZjdXWDJtSkZOcWVGbFJ2Rk8mcD0wJm49UUE0VHJlOWJKSzVNSzRRY19wbGVsZyZ0PUFBQUFBR0pyQUdj

2) Cloud 9’s “Amsterdam” quilt pattern.

https://cloud9fabrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/AmsterdamQuilt.pdf

Fabric:

For this block you will need 6 different fabrics- 3 for the tulip "petals"; 2 for the stem and leaves; and a background. See the table for the colours needed.

Please choose modern, bright fabrics. No muted tones

Background  Please use the same fabric for the whole block	1 White fabric Solid; or white on white print; or low volume grey or black print on white Please no creams or prints with other colours
Tulip Petals (3 different fabrics)	3 different fabrics in light to medium Pink or Yellow, or a combination  For yellow, think more sunshine than mustard For pink, avoid dark/magenta pink, or pinks that lean purplish Solids, tone on tone prints, or other prints as long as the predominant colour reads as pink or yellow Whimsical or novelty prints are okay as long as it is not licensed characters (ie pink dinosaurs are okay, but Minnie Mouse is not)
Leaves Please use the same fabric for both leaves	1 Light to medium Green fabric Solids, tone on tone prints, or other prints as long as the predominant colour reads as green
Stem	Gray solids, tone on tone prints

Here are some photos of my fabric pull from my own stash:

Cutting:

Note, I have provided cutting instructions for the leaves based on the 2 at a time HST method.  You will have to adjust the cutting dimensions if you want to do the 4 at a time method (if you make two blocks, you could also do the 8 at a time method).

Tulip Petal portion	3 Petal fabrics (Pinks or Yellows or Combination)	(2) 5” squares (each is a different fabric) (1) 5” x 9.5” rectangle (a different fabric)
	Background Fabric (White)	(4) 2.5” squares
Stem & Leaf portion	Background Fabric (White) Please use same background as tulip portion	(2) 5” squares
	Leaf Fabric (Green) Please use same fabric for both leaves	(2) 5” squares (same fabric for both squares)
	Stem (Gray)	1.5” x 8.5” strip

Sewing:

Tulip petal portion:

1. Sew a “snowball” corner to each of the two 5” pink/yellow squares:

• Finger press your 2.5” background squares on the diagonal.

• Place the 2.5” background square right sides together in the corner of the pink/yellow square

• Sew along the finger-pressed diagonal line going

• Trim ¼” from the sewn line

• Press towards the pink/yellow

Note: If you are using directional fabric, pay attention to which corner you are “snow-balling”, based on the arrangement in which you intend to sew two yellow/pink squares together

2. Sew two “snowball” corners to the bottom of the pink/yellow rectangle

• Finger press your 2.5” background squares on the diagonal.

• Place the 2.5” background square right sides together on each of the bottom corners of the pink/yellow rectangle

• Sew along the finger-pressed diagonal line going

• Trim ¼” from the sewn line

• Press towards the pink/yellow

3. Assemble the tulip, and sew together

• Sew together the top two squares so the snowball corners touch together on the inside; press open

• Sew the top unit to the bottom rectangle

• Press the last seam open, or towards the rectangle

Once sewn together, this unit should measure 9.5" x 9.5"

Lead & Stem portion:

4. Make 4 HSTs using the Traditional (2 HSTs at a time) method:

• Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of each of the 5” background squares

• Place one 5” background square on top of one 5” green square, right sides together

• Sew ¼” away from either side of the diagonal line

• Cut along the drawn diagonal line

• Open up the HST units and press towards the green

• Trim the HSTs to 4.5” square

• Repeat with the other set to make four green/white HSTs total

5. Assemble and sew the leaves together

• Sew two HSTs together so the leaf points to the left, and sew two HSTs together so the leaf points to the right

• Press open

• Each unit should measure 4.5" x 8.5"

6. Add the stem between the leaves

• Sew the gray stem in between the two leaf units

• Press towards the stem

• The combined unit should measure 9.5" wide x 8.5" tall

Combine tulip petals with stem and leaves

7. Line up the center of the gray stem with the center of the tulip unit, and sew together

8. Press open

The finished block will be rectangular, and measure 17.5” tall x 9.5” wide

Thank you!

~Alanna