CRASHING HIVE 6 - Halloween no point star for Susie

 You had me at Halloween! I have a pretty extensive stash of Halloween fabrics and I live for spooky quilts. Happy to send off this no point star (and corresponding triangle off cuts) for your project. 

Spookily yours, 

Nicole P

Hive 1

Hive 6- October Tutorial- Mugs for Evann

 

I am planning a snuggly winter mug quilt in reds, greens, and off white.  I don’t usually do a seasonal decoration in my house as I live with just me and my lovely pup Roxie, so I would like something I can swap into my home easily to give a winter wonderland feel. 

 My block is from the “In From the Cold” quilt pattern by Kate Spain (free from Moda Fabrics). It's Block #3.  

I loved the look of these Andy Warhol- inspired quilts,  and would like blocks with a variety of color combos with the mug floating in the middle—so I added a strip of fabric to each side of the pattern to create that look. 

 Fabrics

 

I am looking for fabrics that read as warm orangey reds, natural greens that lean away from blue tones, and off-white. Novelty or holiday is fine, but no licensed characters or anything that reads young.  The colors can be any combination for the background/mug/saucer/handle, but I am looking for either off-white for the steam (or light grey for the steam if the background is off-white).  I would like the background to be all the same fabric. Low volume is fine too!  Prefer limited batik.  

**** For the background/cup handle:  if you chose a directional print for either of these, please make sure to cut & sew your pieces so all the pieces have the pattern in the same direction.  I noted in the cuts below if the piece will be horizontal (hor.)  or vertical (ver.) in the block.  For square pieces, you may have to just fold the fabric back at the seam line before sewing & peek to check if the square is laying the right way to end up the right direction!  

Here is my pull.  (My camera always seems to photograph colors darker than they really are)

 Please avoid:  true reds and greens (ie, read as a primary red/secondary green).   For the off-white, please look for a light off-white, not too far into darker cream.  Example of what I would want to stay away from:

 

Cuts 

Cup Pieces

-          A (top of cup) 6.5x2.5 (hor.)

-          B (middle of cup) 6.5x4.5 (hor.)

-          C (bottom of cup) 6.5x2.5 (hor.)

-          D (saucer) 8.5x1.5 (hor.)

-          E (handle)

o   E1:  1.5x2.5 (2x) (hor.)

o   E2: 1.5x3.5 (ver.)

Background

-          Handle background

o   F1: 1.5x2.5 (hor.)

o   F2: 1.5x3.5 (ver.)

o   F3: 1.5 square (2x)

o   F4: 2.5 square

-          Above cup

o   F5: 5x5.5 (ver.)

o   F6: 5.5x7 (hor.)

-          Right of cup- F7: 9.5x2.5 (ver.)

-          Left of cup- F8: 2.4x8.5 (ver.)

-          Saucer - F9: 1.5 square (4x)

-          Bottom edge of cup - F10: 1.5 square (2x)

-          Below cup - F11: 2.5x13 (hor.)

-          Steam background *see note

o   2” square (3x)

Steam (off-white or light grey if background is off-white)

-          G: 2” square (3x)

 

 Making the Block

1.       Make the handle

a.       Middle of handle:  Join E2: 1.5x3.5 (ver.) and F2: 1.5x3.5 (ver.)

b.       Top and bottom of handle:

                                                               i.      Layer the F3 pieces on the E1: 1.5x2.5 pieces to the right of the rectangle

                                                             ii.      Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the wrong side of both F3: 1.5 squares, as shown, angling up in one, and down in the other (mindful of directional fabrics)

c.      

d.       Join the remaining pieces (F1: 1.5x2.5 (hor.) & F4: 2.5 square as shown:

e.      

 2.       Make the cup

a.       Join A (top of cup) 6.5x2.5 (hor.) to B (middle of cup) 6.5x4.5 (hor.)

b.       Bottom of cup:  draw diagonal lines on both  F10: 1.5 squares (mindful of directional fabrics) place them on the bottom two corners of C (bottom of cup) 6.5x4.5 (hor.).  Sew on the diagonal lines and trim & press as shown below:

3.       Make the saucer

a.       Draw diagonal lines on two of the F9: 1.5 squares (mindful of directional fabrics) place on two ends of D (saucer) 8.5x1.5 (hor.) and sew, trim and press as shown:

b.      

4.       Assemble cup pieces, including Left of cup F8: 2.4x8.5 (ver.), the other two F9: 1.5 squares, and F7, right of cup 9.5x2.5 (ver.) (not pictured in image below)

  

5.       Make the steam

a.       Make 6 half square triangle units**

       ** Note:  if background fabric is directional, then place F piece face up, (pattern all correctly oriented up/down) place steam face down on top, and draw diagonal lines on two of them bottom-left to top-right, and on one of them top-left to bottom right. This should result in the right number of squares that can be arranged all directionally correctly to form the steam pattern. 

d.       Square off the blocks with a 45 degree ruler to 1.5” squares. 

e.       Combine 5 units to make the steam.  (One is extra).  Then combine the steam with F5: 5x5.5 (ver.) and  F6: 5.5x7 (hor.)  as shown to make the Steam block.

     NOTE:  total size of block listed in image below will not be correct as ours is bigger!!

6.      

7.       Join blocks.  

a.       Join steam block, cup block, and saucer block.  Add F11: 2.5x13 (hor.). to base of block (not pictured, and previously added F7 not pictured still!)

 

8.      

Should be 12.5 x 16.5!

 

Hive 6 September Tutorial: Poet’s Star Sampler

Hello all! This is my first year participating in the Stash Bee and so this is my first time writing a guide. I’ve had so much fun making all of Hive 6’s blocks (and a few hive crashes for good measure!) so hopefully you’ll enjoy this month’s quilt and hopefully my guidance makes sense. 

I called this post the “poet’s star sampler” because this quilt is going to be a gift for a good friend of mine who makes his living as a poet. He does a lot of work in the community bringing people together in creative workshops and so I thought he would get such a kick out of being given a quilt made by our community! 

The idea behind this is that I’m setting a colour palette, but you can make whatever star shape your heart desires ✨⭐️🌟💫

Fabrics: 

Here’s my fabric pull: 

As you can see I’ve got lots of patterns. Geometrics, batiks, florals, solids, blenders. Ultimately anything goes so long as it reads the right sort of colour. 

• If you have any fabrics with text or words on them that fit the colour scheme, I’d love it if you would include those! That includes fun selveges. 

Background	Warm, darker purples
Main star colour	Warm-toned yellows
Accent colours	Pink, orange, red

• I think my purples skew a little lighter than I’d like, so if you have some darker purples that would be great to see. 
• Scrappy backgrounds and stars are more than welcome. 
• I won’t be too prescriptive about colours though! So long as it all reads warm-toned that’s the important thing. 

Star patterns: 

I’ve collated a collection of free star shape patterns. Feel free to pick one of these or find your own!

A range of sizes would be great: smaller blocks will help fill in the spaces between bigger blocks (and I struggle a bit with sewing little blocks). But any and all blocks will be gratefully received. 

• Moda Blockheads 5 is a collection of star shapes in 6” and 12”: https://modafabrics.com/blockheads5
• This website has 45 different star shapes: https://www.favequilts.com/Miscellaneous-Quilt-Projects/Star-Quilt-Patterns-Free-Block-Designs-and-Quilt-Ideas/amp 
• This website has lots of good patterns with tutorials: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/30-of-the-best-star-quilt-block-patterns 
• This blog post has cutting instructions for a range of sawtooth star sizes: http://www.gigisthimble.com/2022/06/sawtooth-star-cutting-chart-tutorial.html?m=1 

General notes before you get started: 

• Press seams open or to the side, whichever you prefer. 
• Don’t worry about squaring blocks up, I’ll be happy to do that when I start putting things together. 

And with that, I think that’s the important bits! 

If you don’t want to make a decision yourself about what block to make (I hear you!), I’ve attached a tutorial below for how to make sawtooth stars using the 4 at a time flying geese method. They’re quick and easy and low-waste. They’ve included directions on how to make different sizes. So, if you want to put something together quickly, a couple of sawtooth stars would be great. 

https://www.diaryofaquilter.com/fast-flying-geese-sawtooth-star/ 

Conclusion 

Thanks so much for sticking with me all the way to the bottom. I’m super excited to see what you come up with and put this quilt together! Feel free to message me on Instagram @lighthouse.crafts if you have any questions. 

Thanks, Kieren ✨

Hive 6 - August Tutorial- Barbie's Favorite for Josie

 Hi Barbies!  First time StashBee participant, and I have had SO much fun so far! For August, I'm requesting a straight up explosion of pink. It's my favorite color and I love dynamic, pointy blocks, so I'm asking you all to put on your best Elle Woods glasses and Barbie shades and send some pink my way. We're doing the Mother's Favorite block, and I relied on this tutorial from All People Quilt, which is printable if you'd prefer to do it that way.

For your fabrics - you probably figured this out already - we're going all pink-to-coral.  I lean towards stronger pinks but if you're more of a pastel Barbie, don't let me hold you back.  Corals and light oranges are also a lovely add.  If you're really feeling spicy, you can also add in some touches of green or blue in the prints, but please try to keep pink the dominant color.  For your background color, I'd prefer smaller scale print or solids. If you're second guessing yourself, feel free to send me a pic! Here's what I pulled out of my stash:

Okay, if everyone has gotten their fabrics organized, let's get started!  I usually draft out my quilt plans, and I did so here:

I have done my sample block with four pinks but if you want to add a fifth (maybe you have a fun thing you could frame or fussy cut) in the center, absolutely go nuts. Your cut list is as follows:

• Pink #1:
• Cut two 2 7/8" squares, then cut them diagonally into triangles
• Cut one 4 1/2" square (this is the center and can be changed to an additional fabric)
• Pink #2: 
• Cut two 4 7/8" squares, then cut diagonally into triangles
• Pink #3 (background frame):
• Cut four 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles
• Cut eight 2 1/2" squares
• Pink #4 (background):
• Cut four 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles
• Cut six 2 7/8" squares, then cut them diagonally into triangles
• Cut eight 2 1/2" squares

Let's get BLOCKIN'! Grab your Pink #1 triangles and your Pink #4 triangles and sew them together along the diagonal to make four squares.  Press as you like, and trim 'em up.  

Next, add your remaining Pink #4 triangles and sew them on either side of the Pink #1 triangles to make one big triangle.  Press as you like.:

Now that you have your pink Voltron triangle, grab your Pink #2 triangles and sew them together to make a square.  Press as you like.: 

Set those bad boys aside and we're gonna make some flying geese.  One set is Pink #4 rectangles and Pink #3 squares and the second set is Pink #3 rectangles and Pink #4 squares.  I like to mark my diagonals on the back of my squares, and I did all of them in one batch, but if you're confident in your corner to corner sewing, you can skip this step.:

Then you'll start by aligning your squares on one side of your rectangles with the marked line going from the extreme lower left corner of the rectangle to the center.  Sew along your marked line, then trim the excess corner 1/4" from the sewn line.  Press as you like, then do the same process on the right hand side.  Here's my Pink #3 rectangles/Pink #4 squares set:

Once you've done your first set, go ahead and do the same process with the other set.  Here's my Pink #4 rectangles/Pink #3 squares set:

Now that you have your flying geese done and have not been bitten or chased by an actual Canada Goose, you can put these blocks together.  The geese with the Pink #3 rectangles will be on top, and the geese with the Pink #4 rectangles will be on the bottom. It should look kind of like elevator indicator arrows!:

Great news, we've now arrived at the "everything is a square, no more diagonals!" phase! Take all those jawns and line them up into three strips:

Finally, we're going to sew those strips together and VOILA!:

Your finished block should be about 12"x12".  Don't worry about trimming them, I can do that.  Thank you so much for enabling my pinkstravaganza!  

Hive 6 - July tutorial - Old Missouri block

 For my July block, I wanted to remake an antique block called Old Missouri. I originally found this pattern in my box of saved patterns from the Kansas City Star.  I grew up in Missouri, and I still live here. I have a great love for my state. I want to make a red white and blue quilt. 

The Fabrics: You can use solids, patterns, or blenders for any of these fabrics as long as they read red, white, or blue. Kitschy or patriotic fabrics are welcomed.

Finished practice block


This is the 1932 newspaper template that inspired this block

• 3 blues: Line them up from darkest to lightest. The darkest for the corner triangles, second darkest for the bars, and lightest for the center piece. 
• Red: Any red for the two quarter circles.
• Background: white, white-on-white, or off-white

Here is a picture of the fabrics I am considering.  I love a scrappy quilt, so you will notice that my sample block uses cats and flowers. If it's red, white, and blue, it works!

Cutting:

1. Print out the templates I've created and cut them out. I have modified the original pattern to include seam allowances. Once it is printed, check to make sure the templates match the measurements. I realized that I had to download the pdf document to get the right sizes instead of printing from the web. (Note: the measurements I've written of the template reflect the original pattern, without seam allowances)
2. Use template piece 1 to cut a 4 1/2 x 4 3/4 a rectangle in the lightest blue for the center piece. You could also just cut this without the template.
3. Use template piece 2 to cut a 2 3/4 x 4/14 TWO medium blue bars.  You could also just cut this without the template.
4. Use template 3 to cut two tringles in the darkest blue, or cut a 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 inch square and cut it on the diagonal.
5. Fold your background fabric in half and use template # 4 twice to cut four background arches, two facing each direction.
6. Use template piece 5 to cut two red quarter circles. 

Sewing: 

1. Sew two opposite facing background arches together on the short straight seam, right sides together. Then, sew the other two opposite pieces together, right sides together. You will end up with two of these.
   
   
   
2. Fold the quarter circles in half and finger press them to find the center. Line up the center of the quarter circle with the center seam of the arch. Using a quarter-inch seam, carefully stitch the arch to the quarter circle. Here is a video you can watch about how to sew this drunkard's path. Repeat for the second drunkard's path. This was my first time sewing curves on a quilt block. Mine practice block is not perfect, so I am not expecting perfect blocks from you guys either.
3. Next sew the two medium blues (pieces # 2) on to both sides of the center piece (piece #1). Press toward the darker blues. Press toward the red. 
4. Find the center of both dark blue triangles by folding them in half. Align this crease with the center of the medium blue bar stitch a triangle onto both medium blue bars. Your path now has light center (piece 1), bookended by two medium blue bars (pieces 2). These are bookended by two dark blue triangles (pieces three) that form the corners of the block. Press toward the darker blues.
5. Sew one drunkards path on to both sides of the path. I pressed to the white to reduce bulk. You can press toward the blues.