Hive 4 October Tutorial - Blue/Teal Twirling at the Disco for Amy

Happy October! Fall is making it's way here to Minnesota. The leaves are starting to turn into a beautiful, colorful show, and will soon be flying off the trees. Just a little about me. My name is Amy. I am a lifelong Minnesotan. I am a dog mom to a beautiful and sweet 12 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Charity. We live in the country near Duluth, MN. I learned to quilt from my Nana when I was really young. As soon as I was able to tie a good knot, I was helping at the kitchen table and church basement tying quilts with yarn. I made my first quilt in college from my Toys R Us employee vests and am now at a count of 70 plus completed quilts to date. I often laugh to myself at how my Nana would not recognize quilting today from my learning with cardboard squares for templates, scissors, safety pins, needles, and a sewing machine to my current quilting tool supply.

This is my 4th year doing Stash Bee. It's been a hard decision each year to pick a block. I really love the idea of using up our scraps and using as many different fabrics as possible. Scrappy makes me happy! This year, I've actually picked the same block as last year, but last year I asked for a rainbow of colors and this year I want to try a more monochromatic look. I had Twirling at the Disco on my Pinterest board for several years and last year someone from another hive chose this block, so I decided to go for it too. I really love how it came out (well the top...I've not finished it yet...ooops!!).

I decided not to reinvent the wheel since there was already a stellar tutorial available, so I've linked it here along with some other great resources including the original pattern. I hope you have a great time!

Here are links to the 2024 Hive 2 tutorial with excellent instructions: http://stashbee.blogspot.com/2024/04/hive-2-april-tutorial-for-kim.html

Here’s a link to the original pattern: https://www.sameliasmum.com/2020/02/twirling-at-disco-quilt-free-pattern.html?m=1

This is a super easy block to assemble. There are a lot of pieces, but it goes together quickly and is a great use of those small scraps you’ve got laying around.

I used this advanced chain piecing also known as web piecing (and probably other things as well) for the 16 patches. Assemble them however you prefer, but I thought I would share for anyone who is interested and hasn’t tried this method. https://youtu.be/qE7KKaS5p-8?si=ADB0Qz5b-0JStY7n

You will need the following fabric:

Forty (40) 2-1/2” squares in a nice mix of blue and teal (more blue than green, preferably) prints. Just about anything goes. Batiks are cool. Licensed fabric are fine. Holiday is acceptable (preferably not majority holiday). I can only ask for 10 different fabrics, but if you want to use a bigger variety and have it in your stash, go wild! Have fun!

Two (2) 4-1/2”  squares from solid white or white or white on white prints.

Two (2) 4-1/2 “ by 8-1/2” rectangles  from solid white or white or white on white prints.

Here’s my pull of prints:

I played and moved things around and tried out a bunch of layouts and even did a few (unnecessary, but really fun) fussy cuts to show of some of my favorite scraps

I sewed each of the 4 patches to a white square and then assembled the block in two rows and the two rows into a block:

Have so much fun! I can't wait to see what everyone makes!