Resources & Tips

Writing Tutorials

When it is your turn as Queen Bee, ensure you post a thorough tutorial on the 1st of the month.

Follow these guidelines:

• TITLE: Use the word TUTORIAL in your blog title.
• For example: "Hive 1 Tutorial for January- Friendship Block"

• LABELS: Tag your post with the following labels:
• Tutorial
• Hive #
• Year
• Month

• FABRIC PARAMETERS: Include notes on what colors/fabric style you would like to see/ not see in the blocks.
• The tutorial post should have a color inspiration mosaic, a design seeds type color palette, or a picture of a fabric pull in the colors you are requesting for your block.

• LINKS/REFERENCES: If you use someone else’s tutorials, provide a link to their tutorial.

• STEP BY STEP PHOTOS: The tutorial should have pictures of the steps necessary to complete the block and address any parts of the directions that may need clarification.
• If a tutorial for a block that is published elsewhere is picked, you should still have pictures of the block being constructed and explain any steps that may be unclear in the original tutorial.

• DOUBLE CHECK: If you write your own tutorial, please double check for thoroughness, especially in cutting!

•  PHOTO OF COMPLETED BLOCK: Include a photo of your finished block

First time creating a post on the Stash Bee Blog? Read this:

How to Create a Post on the Stash Bee blog

Hive Crashing

Hive Crashing

Common Fabric Styles

The following is a brief list of some common styles of fabric in the quilting world that people sometimes have strong feelings for or against but in no way is a complete list. The purpose of this list is to educate anyone who is new to the quilting world and may be unfamiliar with all of these terms. Your queen bee will tell you what types of fabric to use and what types to avoid. Use your best judgement when picking fabrics from your stash for the blocks that you will make and err on the side of caution when necessary.

• Batik: Batik fabric is made from a repeated process of dying and using wax as a resist on fabric. Batik fabrics often have patterns that look mottled, may incorporate floral or botanical motifs, as well as what I would call "tribal" type prints.

• Civil War: Civil War fabrics are fabrics that reproduce patterns and prints that would have been popular during the 1850s-1870s in the USA. Often times these are somewhat darker fabrics, often using paisley and other florish type motifs. White backgrounds are not often found with civil war fabrics. A modern designer that produces Civil War style fabrics is Barbara Brackman.

• 1930s: This type of fabric is often bright and use white much more significantly than Civil War style fabrics. Many 1930s prints are small scale florals or geometric prints-- 1930s fabrics don't often incorporate very large scale prints, unlike many modern designers.

• Holiday: This is rather self explanatory -- holiday fabrics have motifs that recognize a particular holiday. Unless your queen bee specifically permits or requests holiday fabrics for her blocks, you should not be using holiday fabrics.

• Novelty: Novelty and holiday fabrics often go hand in hand. Novelty fabrics are not usually subtle. They often have characters, animals, people, fruits, vegetables, specific careers, sports teams, etc. etc. etc. These should be avoided as well unless your Queen Bee requests them.

• Florals: have flowers and botanical motifs -- pretty self explanatory.

• Text Prints: have words/letters on them -- again, self explanatory.

• Tone on tone prints: patterned prints that often look like a solid at a distance or if you would squint. Often referred to as "blender" fabrics.

Block Resources  

The Bee Hive - this is a great series by Alyse from Blossom Heart Quilts.

Piece N Quilt - blog by Natalia Bonner & Kathleen Whiting that has some great block tutorials

Fresh Lemons - blog owner Faith has some great tutorials on techniques and blocks.

Shipping & Mailing Resources

Blog post on how to prepare your block for shipping.

US Postal Information on Letter Sizes.

US Postal Price Calculator