Hive 1 - Stained Glass for Molli

Whenever there's improv sewing involved I stress a bit, but these were within my comfort zone. I can't wait to see your finished project. With the rainbow colors, it's going to look amazing! Here is mine, plus the angel block that I made for Jennifer. One is a tad big but I figure you can trim it however you like.

~ Diana

Registration for StashBee 2024 is Live!

 

Registration for StashBee 2024 is Live!

CLICK HERE to access the sign-up form. 

Registration will be open until December 15th 2023, and Hives will be announced mid December via email. 

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

New to Stashbee? Read on, to find out more!

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

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

Hive 1 - Stained Glass for Molli

 Finishing up this pretty block today, popping it in the mail in the morning!

~Adrienne

Hive 1 - November Stained Glass for Molli

 Molli-

Thanks for a nice block method!  Gets my wheels turning for a scrap project in my future. 

Will drop in the mail tomorrow. 

Chris

Hive 1 - Stained glass for Molli

 It's been sew great sewing with everyone this year and I just love this block that Molli picked for us. I was working from my scrap bins so got a little creative. 

As always, I can't wait to see the finished project!

Happy sewing!

Nicole P 

Hive 1- Dala Horse for Nicole

I forgot to post my finished block! A bright and colorful horse!

 

Adrienne

Stained Glass Block for Molli

 Hi Molli,

These blocks are already on the way to you. Unfortunately, I don't have any rainbow prints in my stash, so I hope these are okay for your quilt. 

It was fun to just go for it and put blocks together mostly from my scraps and see where that took me!

Enjoy stitching the top together,

Rita 

Hive 1 - Stained Glass Block for Holly

Can't wait to see this finished quilt. Such fun colors!

Hive 1 - Dala Horses for Nicole

Finally finished. Here's my paisley pony.  

Crashing in-Fabric for Diane

Hello from Hive 6!

Here is "fabric" for my friend and fellow South Florida Modern Quilt Guild quilter, Diane! I was sure hoping this block would make a dent in my stash, well...it did not😂 But it was sure fun to piece together! It's leaving in the mail this week!  Marie (crashing from Hive 6)

Hive 1 Stained Glass Block for Molli

 Hi Molli, 

Hope you like my contribution to your rainbow quilt! I can’t wait to see how it turns out :)

Happy Sewing,

Nicole B. 

Hive 4 - November Tutorial - Fabric for Diane

Hello my Bee Friends, 

It's already November, which means this is our last month together. It was delightful for me to make blocks, to share in IG and on Zoom with all of you. This month we are going to do something different. Instead of making a traditional block, you are going to create fabric…not to worry, this is easy, almost no rules and very fun! 

Rule # 1 use solids only 

Rule #2  my background fabric is a very dark navy, so avoid the dark blues, the black/charcoal. 

Please create a 12.5" square of fabric that I will slash into “bolts”. These bolts will be used in a pattern by Libs Elliott called “Static Age Quilt”. 

Instructions: assemble together your left overs of solid fabrics in all colours in any manner you wish. The pieces should not exceed 3” in width to create the effect I am looking for. Some people call doing this “crumb quilting.” There are many sites on YouTube where you can find additional instructions. I find working in small sections is easier. Here are photos of me making one block.

If you have trouble assembling sections together, just send me parts that are not assembled. I will make it work.

Place a 12 1/2" square ruler under the pieced fabrics and when it covers the ruler, stop and leave the block as is.  Do not clean edges. Please leave it just as it is.

Voila...you are done!

This is how your fabric making will end up. Thank you for helping me. Having a wide variety of colours will be awesome and without knowing exactly which of the fabrics you created, I will remember that you all participated in making this fun and colourful quilt for me.

All the best and much thanks to you all! Diane

Hive 2 - November Tutorial- Not a Christmas Tree for Andrea

This month we'll be making a tree.  Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom has an excellent tutorial, so I'm just going to direct you over there.  The only change is the background color.  Instead of having all red backgrounds, I'd like any background of a rainbow color.  The final block is 12.5x12.5" square.

Greens for the tree: 8- 2.5x2.5" squares and 4- 3x3" squares.  Please make sure the fabric reads green.  If possible please use at least four different greens for the tree.  Please no batiks, but solids are fine.  

Brown for the trunk: 1- 3x3" square.  Please no batiks, but solids are fine.

Background - any happy rainbow color: 19- 2.5x2.5" squares and 5- 3x3" squares.  I'm doing a medium blue, but I also added a few other color examples.  You are welcome to use any rainbow color, not just the colors that I give examples of below.  If possible, please use at least 5 different fabrics (again no batiks) that read their given color.  Also if possible, try to stick with a specific color - i.e., light blues vs medium blue.  This last request isn't too important, but it will help make the trees stand out more. Again, please no batiks, but solids are fine.

The tutorial is here by Scattered thoughts of a Craft Mom.

And here's another block!  Again, this finishes 12.5x12.5"

Please note that the address has recently changed, so if you write the addresses out in advance you'll need to recheck the address document.

Hive 5 - November Tutorial- "Plaid for Me" for Emily

Have you ever seen a fabric and thought… WOW!  That would really make an awesome quilt!  Well I have…. and it all started with this fabric:

It is just so interesting to me.  It has deep and light greens, royal and light blues, and brown (with a lot of light background)

So I welcome you to help me turn this fabric into a flimsy!  Let’s call it Plaid With Me 🙂

Your Finished block will look like this and will be 11” :

For this block you will need:

Royal Blues (This is what I had in my Stash)

Light Blue 

Dark Green

 Light Green

Chocolate Brown

Whites or Low Volumes

Cutting

Each completed block will consist of:

White/ Low Volume:                   

5 squares - 3” x 3”

Dark Blue

                2 squares - 3” x 3”

Dark Green

2 squares - 3” x 3”

Light Blue

2 rectangles - 2” x 3”

2 rectangles - 2” x 4 ½”

Light Green

2 rectangles - 2” x 3”

2 rectangles - 2” x 4 ½”

Brown

4 rectangles - 2” x 3”

Start with a Dark Blue 3” squares and a Light Blue 2”x 3” strips. Add one strip to the side of the square. 

Then take a Dark Green 3” squares and a Light Green 2”x 3” strips. Add one strip to the side of the square.

Next add the 2” x 4 ½” Light Green rectangles to the green and the 2” x 4 ½” Light blue rectangles to the blue 

                                                You should end up with 2 Blue and 2 Green Squares 

Sew a Low Volume/White 3” squares and a Brown 2”x 3” strips.

Add one strip to the side of the square.

Do this to 4 of the Low Volume/White 3” squares

Layout your pieces.  A Low Volume/White 3” square for the center. The Low Volume/White/Brown pieces forming a plus sign with the browns facing outward. 

The blue and Green squares in the corners with darker color towards the center alternating colors in the corners.

Sew together into rows

 

Then sew those rows together

And now my humble thank you for joining me on this block journey! 

Hive 6 - November Tutorial - Blazing Arrows

This is the November, 2023 tutorial for Hive 6. 

It is based on a block called Blazing Arrows from Generations Quilt Patterns. 

While my favorite color is red and the block on the tutorial site is in reds and whites, I want my block to be in darks blues and whites. Here is the color inspiration for my quilt. 

The unfinished size of the block will be a 12 1/2 inch square. You can use tone on tone or patterned fabrics, but the background should really read as white and the blues to read as darkish blues. By darkish blue I mean navy, royal, cadet, medium, cobalt or midnight to name a few. (Check those blue names on Simplicable to see what I mean.)  I would prefer not to have grey blues or green blues.

I used just 2 fabrics to make my block, but feel free to be scrappy.

Their are 2 sets of directions posted on the Generations Quilt Patterns site. I have just gotten to the point of understanding how to put together flying geese block in the most basic way. What I will show here is that method, not the no-waste method. If you are comfortable with the no-waste method, please feel free to use. 

Terminology:

• HST: Half square triangle
• QST: Quarter square triangle
• FG: Flying geese
• RST: Right sides together

Cutting:

The block should contain 2 colors of fabrics; the white background and the darkish blue foreground. Again, feel free to be scrappy. The cutting chart below is a modified version of the Option #2 from the Generations Quilt Patterns site for the Blazing Arrows block.

			Cutting Chart for a Blazing Arrows Quilt Block Traditional Piecing with Folded or Connector Corners
Patch	Fabric	Qty	Finished Block Size
						12''
HST-1	White	2				4¼'' x 4¼''
HST-2	Blue	2				4¼'' x 4¼''
QST-1	White	1				7½'' x 7½''
QST-2	Blue	1				7½'' x 7½''
FG-1	White	2				3½'' x 6½''
Sky-1	Blue	4				3½'' x 3½''
FG-2	Blue	2				3½'' x 6½''
Sky-2	White	4				3½'' x 3½''
Unfinished Block Size						12½''
Grid Size						3''

Piecing:

HST: Place 1 white and blue 4 1/4 inch square, right sides together. Draw a diagonal line on the back of the white fabric. Sew a 1/4 inch seam on both sides of the line. Press to set seam. Cut on the diagonal line, open and press to the dark side. Do the same for the second set of 4 1/4 blocks. This results in 4 HSTs. Trim the HSTs to 3 1/2 inch square.

QST: place 1 white and 1 blue 7 1/2 inch square, right sides together. Draw a diagonal line on the back of the white fabric. Sew a 1/4 inch seam on both sides of the line. Press to set seam. Cut on the diagonal line, open and press to the dark side. 

Place the 2 resulting HSTs right sides together, white on blue and blue on white. Mark a diagonal line on the back of one of the fabrics and sew a quarter inch seam on each side. Press, then cut on the diagonal line. 

Press open the resulting QSTs (this results in 2 but you only need 1 - unless you want to make an extra block). I pressed this seam open, but do what works for you. Trim to a 6 1/2 inch square.

FG: Place 3 1/2 inch white square on the left of the of the 3 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch blue rectangle, RST. Sew a diagonal line from the center top to the lower left corner. Press to set seam. Flip the white lower middle corner up to the upper left corner and press again. 

Trim the back 2 fabrics to a quarter inch seam above the diagonal seam. 

Place another 3 1/2 inch white square on the right half of the 3 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch blue rectangle, RST. Sew a diagonal line from the center top to the lower right corner. Press to set seam. Flip the lower white middle corner up to the upper right corner and press again. 

Trim the back 2 fabrics to quarter inch seam above the diagonal seam. Repeat with the other 2 white squares and blue rectangle. Then do the same with the blue 3 1/2 inch squares and white 3 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch rectangles. You will end up with 4 FG in 2 different color orientations. Trim, if needed, to 3 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch rectangles.

Putting it all together:

Layout per pic below

HST, FG (horizontally) and HST

FG (vertically), QST, and FG (vertically)

HST, FG (horizontally) and HST

Sew pieces together across the rows. Then sew 3 rows together and voila! You have just created a Blazing Arrows block.

Thank you for your effort. I have really enjoyed being with the group this year and seeing all the creative patterns. The more I am exposed to quilters, the more artists I see.

If you want to make more than 1 block, I would be thrilled!

Pennie (NeedsTheBeach)