Hive 1 September Crazy Cats for Nicole

 This little cat came together quickly. I hope the fabrics are to your liking!

Tiny Tiles Top Finished

 

This turned out so well, don’t you think?  Now to quilt it!

Hive 1 Crazy 🐈 for Nicole!

Another kitty for your quilt!! I hope he's not TOO crazy for you!! Rainbow + navy is my current jam. This was fun! Quick and satisfying. :)

It'll be in the mail ASAP!!

🌈🐈

2023 Finished Quilt - Hive 2

Here is my finished Love quilt. My hive mates did a great job doing either the paper pieced or improv letters, or a fun block of novelty fabrics. Very happy with how it turned out. Quilted with a walking foot of 2.5 inch grid on the diagonal. 

 Was fun to make - Gayle

September Block for Nicole - Hive 1

 Hi Nicole!

What a cute cat block! We just moved into a new place and it was so nice to be able to set up my workspace and start sewing again. Hope you like it! 

Nicole B. 

September block - Hive 1

 This has just been a whirlwind month so far. I actually made this block over a week ago, but am just now posting. Now let's hope I can get it mailed off before the end of the month! I have a cat problem (I have 3 of my own and foster more) but I've always had a soft spot for black kitties and orange tabbies. Since you wanted a dark background, I decided to make you an orange tabby. :)

~ Diana

Hive 1 - September Cat Block for Nicole

 Nicole, this was a fun little block that I will 100% save directions for my next bookcase quilt in the future. 

Placing in the mail tomorrow. 

Chris

Crashing hive 4 - mosaic tiles for Meg.

 I love a good disappearing block that looks more complex than it really is. I had just the fabrics for this and I hope you like it, Meg.

Happy quilting,

Nicole P from Hive 1

Crashing Hive 4 for Meg

Meg and I also met via r/quiltingblockswap on Reddit and are now friends now too!

 

Cat block is done for hive 1.

 It was fun. I am not sure when I can make it to the post office, but she is ready to mail.

Enjoy!

From Deana

Crashing Hive 5 - Polaroid block for Sara

 Made this Polaroid crumb block for Sara. I like making crumb blocks. Look forward to seeing the finished quilt.

- Gayle from Hive 2

Hive #2 September Block- FishClaw

 Happy September!! 2023- I am using this blog post from 2015 for this block 

My husband has not received a quilt from me. We have known each other sixteen (now 25 years!) years and I think it time for him to get one, what do you think? The blocks you are going to make for me will contribute to his quilt.
Question to answer: out of all the quilts you have made, which one holds the most meaning for you? 

Color pull/ inspiration: 

I love the colors in this scarf. Mint, navy, soft yellow and cream. These colors also remind me of tropical fish and my husband scuba dives.

Block: 

The Bear Paw Block! I saw this on instagram a couple of months ago and it stuck with me. I just really like this pattern. I saw Red Pepper Quilts tutorial as I was researching and think it would be a good one to use. 

We are going to make 9. 5 inch Finished Bear Claw block. 

You will need the following: 

1 square 6.5" x 6.5"

1 square background fabric 3.5" x 3.5"

For the Half Square Triangles: 

2 squares background  4 inches x 4 inches

2 squares contrast fabric 4 inches x 4 inches

Trim the HST's to measure 3.5 inches x 3.5 inches

Block measures 9.5 inches x 9.5 inches- including seam allowances. 

You are going to help make "fish" for my scuba diving husband!

Inspiration and fabric pull: I love the scarf colors in the second picture. This scarf is my inspiration for my fabric pull. The greens, teals, navy and light yellows. Love!

The tutorial on Red Peppers quilt is great!  Below are my blocks to construct the bear paw block: 1- 6.5 x 6.5 inch block. 1- 3.5 x 3.5 block. 2- 4 x 4 blocks in light fabric and 2- 4 x 4 blocks in dark fabric.

You will place the light block on the top of the dark block and using a pencil or pen make a line down the middle of the square from point to point. You will use that line as your reference for sewing your HST. Once you sew on either side of the line, you will cut down the middle of the line and press towards the dark side of the fabric. You will need to size them down to 3.5 x 3.5 blocks. 

This is what your block should look like once your triangles are made. If you want to do multicolored "fins" by all means, go for it. You are making fish! 

 Sew the top two fins to the 3.5 x 3.5 block and press. 

 Sew the two side fins together, press, then sew to the main 6.5 x 6.5 block. 

Sew the top to your bottom part of your block and you have made a bear paw or in this case a fish! Hope you enjoyed the fish! Best, Meghan

Hive Crashing, Hive 5, Sept

 

Hi Sara,

I've had some crumb fabric laying around since last year and couldn't pass up the opportunity to put some of it to use.

Hope they'll help.

I'll send them on they way, as soon as I have your address.

Happy sewing,

Rita

Hive 1, Sept, Cat Block for Nicole

 

Hi Nicole,

I settled on one ginger and one marmelade (well, rather, strawberry jam) cat.

Hope you like the fabrics.

They went on their merry way yesterday.

Happy sewing,

Rita

Hive 6 - September Tutorial - Cats and Hearts for Kat

 Hello! Im very excited it is finally my month!

I have two option for you to make, either a heart or a cat, of course you are welcome to make both! In the last few month I had some trouble with parts of the blocks so I wanted something easy, quick and fun. Ive been inspired by this quilt:

 

I love the look of the tik tak toe so I designed my own cat head block and found a matching sized free heart pattern and I will likely turn it into a twin sized quilr rather than wall hanging. Im not sure yet if Im making the wuilt for myself or my daughter but in all honesty we will probably end up sharing anyway, haha.

The colours for the hearts and cats are the same:

Heart or cat head:

- light grey (with patterns or tone in tone or solids, no novelty fabrics unless they are cat themed, heart patterns are fine)

OR

- mustard/ocher yellow (Not Orange!) (same kinda fabrics as above)

OR

-Yellow/grey mixed fabrics

I would like the cat/heart to be all made of the same fabric please

Here is a picture of the fabrics I used (they came as a set and Ive been waiting for ages for the right quilt to use them with:

For the background:

-If you choose yellow please use a very light brown/tan/linen colour

-If you use grey please use a very light mint/blue green/cyan colour

-If your fabrics is grey and yellow chose one of the above

Please use only on fabric and solids for the background please (tone in tone is also fine)

Here are the two I used:

I dont mind which direction you iron the seams, whatever works for you is fine.

Both blocks should meassure 9.5"x9.5" when finished

Tutorial Cat

You will need to cut:

Cat fabric:

1x rectangle 8"x 5.25"

2x squares 3.25"x 3.25"

Background fabric:

1x rectangle 8"x 3.25"

2x squares   1.5"x 1.5"

2x stripes 8"x 1.25"

2 stripes 9.5"x 1.25"

The you should have:

Step 1:

Mark the center line of all your sqares and arrange them as follows:

You will be sewing ON the line, then cut as follows with a 1/4" seam and iron:

Next attache the two parts together:

When you attach the outside border please start with the sides then the top and bottom:

Your finished block should look like this:

Heart Block tutorial

I used the tutorial from the 8" block here , just be aware I changed some of the sizes so make sure you use the sizes here.

You will need to cut:

Heart fabric:

2x rectangles 4.25" x 8"

Background fabric:

2x squares 4.25" x 4.25"

4x squares 1.5" x 1.5"

2x strips 8" x 1.25"

2 stripes 9.5" x 1.25"

The you should have:

Step 1:

Mark out the center diagonal of all sqares and sew ON the lines

Step 2:

Cut all the triangles with a 1/4" seam as follows and iron open

Step 3:

Attach the two sides of the heart

Step 4:

Just like with the cat it is time to attach the border. Again please attach the sides first then the top and bottom:

And here is the finished block, yours may look slightly different since I changed some meassurments after sewing this. Just keep to the meassurements I put above and itll be perfect.

Thanks so much for making a block for me. I cant wait to see them all and put together the quilt!

Hive 1 Crazy Cats for Nicole

Hive 5 - September Tutorial - Crumb Polaroid Blocks for Sara

A while back, I came across the image to the right while scrolling Pinterest for quilty inspiration. The pin linked to an article on Curbly and referenced a photo collage display that was originally on Urban Outfitters. While not a quilt, it captured my attention - I liked the play with colors, and gradiant display. Plus I've always liked Polaroids. I pinned it and forgot it.

When I started brainstorming what I wanted to do for September, I came back to this idea. Hopefully it'll be a fun way for everyone to get scrap busting in, especially for the smaller pieces that we may not usually get a chance to use! 

Block Details

I'm looking for one 7" wide x 8" tall Polaroid style block, with the "picture" improv pieced and surrounded by solid white or very low volumes. 

For the "picture" colors, I'm hoping to make a rainbow-ish display so choose whichever color family you have the most scraps of, except for white, brown, gray, etc. You'll want mostly medium values, however some light and dark valued fabrics are ok. 

There's a lot of creative flexibility in making these blocks so I'm excited to see what everyone makes!

Crumb/Improv Piecing

A crumb is just a small scrap of fabric. For these blocks, we'll be piecing together all these crumbs into strips or squares using improv piecing to make a bigger block. Please try to keep the largest size to no more than 3" so the piecing is the highlight.

There are no rules! All straight lines? Ok! Curves? Ok! 

If you find yourself overthinking the placement of fabrics, set yourself some rules (such as all fabrics must be placed next to unique fabrics) or randomly grab out of a basket. It can also be helpful to find something you can fussy cut or use as a highlight, from which you can start with.

I've included some information about how I approached this below, but other resources include: Scrap Fabric Love's Crumb Quilting Tutorial, Alanda Craft's Crumb Quilt Technique Tutorial, and a Youtube tutorial by Teresa Down Under.

Constructing the "Picture"

Start by sorting out your crumbs and scraps by color, so you can see what you have to work with. From the piles I have here, you can see that I pulled out a variety of sizes and shapes. 

I would've been tight using only these greens or yellows shown in the pile, but I had plenty of blues and pinks so I decided to start with my blues. 

From this overall color sort, I sorted each of my blue fabrics by fabric. I was originally aiming to not have repeat fabrics touch, but I did not have quite enough to do that. You could also sort by size or shape, or skip sorting at all, if it isn't useful.

I used two 2.5" squares to make a HST, which I then cut to use as my starting piece. A square or rectangle is easier if you aren't sure where to start (in the pink block below, I only used squares and rectangles). 

Pressing as you go helps keep your block neat, but a good finger press can work. Depending on the size of your scraps, seams can get bulky. Press seams open or to one side, depending on what works best for that seam. 

Once you find a straight edge, add a piece that fits, then trim off the overhand to square it up again. Keep adding as you go. Depending on the size of your scraps, you may need to piece some together to fit the straight edge. 

Blue fabrics sorted

My starting piece

First piece added

Continuing to add on:

Keep adding fabrics to your starting pieces, similar to how you'd construct a log cabin (just less precisely) or strip smaller blocks together that can be pieced together. Trim down angles to create a straight line or get really wonky. Keep going until your crumb can be trimmed down to 5.5" square.

In the picture below, you can see my block assembly on the left and the "picture" on the right, before it was trimmed down.

Framing the "Picture"

From your white or very low volume fabric, cut the following:

• 2x - 1.25" x 5.5" (sides)
• 1x - 1.25" x 7" (top)
• 1x - 2.25" x 7" (bottom)

Attach the sides first, then the top and bottom. Press. The finished block should be 7" wide x 8" tall.

I hope you have fun making this block! I really enjoyed it and am excited to see everyone's blocks! 

Thank you!

Sara 

IG @rippingoutstitches