Hive 5 - Diamond in a Square Quilt Block for Nina

 Hello!

I'm working on a round robin quilt challenge for my guild and am stuck on the last round, diamond in a square blocks!

Here's the quilt so far -- it all started with an orphan block :) We've had stripes and HSTs and text and now it's time for the diamond in a square blocks.

I would love you to make me one or two blocks either 8.5" unfinished or 6.5" unfinished. 

COLOURS AND PATTERNS:

I'd like solids, blenders, geometrics, stripes, modern prints in colours drawn from the work in progress::

White, red, blues, yellow, gold, greens, teal. A little bit of another colour is no problem in a print! Text is fine, as long as it's not religious or political. My orphan block was made with Japanese fabric so if you have a bit of that kind of cotton it would be lovely.

You'll generally want one fabric for the central diamond and another contrasting fabric for the triangles around it, but if you want to make it more scrappy go ahead and mix up those triangles!

CONSTRUCTION OPTIONS

FOUNDATION PAPER PIECING a 6" finished (6.5" unfinished) block

There's a great tutorial at Generatiions Quilt Patterns which goes through all the ways of making a square (or diamond) in a square blocks in different sizes, with free printable Foundation Paper Piecing patterns for all sizes up 7" finished, so if you prefer FPP you could use the 6" finished (6.5" unfinished) pattern!

TRADITIONAL PIECING (both sizes)

I'm going to go through the steps of making an 8.5" unfinished block with piecing and with very generous margins so we have lots of room to trim it down to size :) I'll also give the cut list for making a 6.5" unfinished block the same way. 

If you are a very precise piecer you could follow the formula given in this link from Farm and Folk, but I really like having wiggle room and I prefer my diamond in a square blocks to have a tiny margin around the diamond after they're sewn into the quilt. But I am so relaxed about this I can barely sit up straight so all will be good :)

CUTTING

For 8.5" unfinished block: 

A: cut 1  6" square

B: cut 2 6" squares to contrast with A

    cut these two 6" squares on the diagonal giving you four triangles 

For 6.5" unfinished block

A: cut 1  4.5" square

B: cut 2  4.5" squares to contrast with A

    cut these two 4.5" squares on the diagonal giving you four triangles 

ASSEMBLING:

fold square A in half horizontally and crease to establish centre of opposite sides.

pin 2 triangle Bs on opposite sides of the square, right sides together, lining up the points of the triangles to meet the creases.

 Sew quarter inch seam. Press away from centre. 

Trim off doglegs.

fold A in half to crease centre of remaining sides.. Pin last two triangles to A, right sides together matching triangle points to crease and sew a quarter inch seam. Press away from centre. (yes, it's a different set of fabrics heh heh heh)

I was having huge problems trying to photograph stuff because of this little monster, Vittoria, the Adventure Cat, my sewing companion. Her thread-eating ways are why I will not be renovating my kitchen this year, but she's all better now, thankfully!

Trim unit to 8.5" (or 6.5") making sure you have fairly equal amounts (at least one quarter inch) away from each point of the central diamond. I'm fine if it isn't perfect, honestly. This whole thing is pretty improv! Thank you so very much, and I'm thrilled to be part of Stashbee again!

Hive 1 September Economy Block for Ruth

 Thank you for getting me to finally take the plunge and figure out foundation paper piecing! This went much better than my first attempt a couple years ago, but I still feel like I have a lot to learn.

Hive 4 October 2026 Bee Block: Dutchman's Puzzle

Dutchman’s Puzzle Block - 12.5” unfinished

I’ve wanted to make a quilt with this block for years…the thought of making so many geese is daunting though!  This block is made from 8 flying geese.  I think the 4-at-a-time method for the geese is easiest and quickest method but feel free to use whatever method works for you.

I love all colors and the brighter, more saturated, the better. I think a dark background makes colors really pop so this block uses black or very dark charcoal gray as the background/sky - no low volume or white to be found in this bee block!

You’ll make 2 sets of 4 geese and individual geese blocks should measure 3.5” x 6.5” unfinished.

Fabric requirements for 4-at-a-time geese:

• Two (2) contrasting 7.25” squares in any colors (except white or black) and any prints or blenders. Please NO holiday themed fabrics.

Please use any two prints with high contrast such as:

-purple💜 & yellow💛

-blue💙 & green💚 (Go Seahawks!)

-neon pink💗 & orange🧡

or any color combination that use bright, saturated colors




• Eight (8) 4” squares in black/charcoal/very dark gray. Monochromatic prints (i.e., black on black) and solids are great for the background

This is a link to a tutorial I based my block on: https://www.ladybugthreads.com/may-dutchmans-puzzle-bom/

Below are pictures of the block I made.

Cut fabrics:

Draw diagonal lines on the back of the 4” squares and place 2 RST in opposite corners of each of the 7.25” squares so the lines match up. You’ll sew 1/4” on either side of the line:

Cut on the line and press the resulting black triangles away from the color triangle:

Lay a 4” square on the color corner as shown and sew 1/4” on both sides:

Cut on the line:

Press the black triangle away from the color to create your geese:

Trim all geese to 3.5” x 6.5” making sure to keep a 1/4” seam allowance at the top point of the geese:

I use a Creative Grids 3.5” x 12.5” ruler that has markings to make trimming at the top goose point easy.  Trim top and bottom at 3.5” width and then trim the sides making sure the bottom of the geese measure 6.5” where the color and the background meet.

8 trimmed geese 🤩:

Layout geese in 4 identical sets of 2:

Sew the top goose to the bottom goose with a SCANT, 1/4”.  I find it helpful to sew with the bottom goose on top so I can see the intersection of the stitching and aim to stitch through the intersection:

Press open and arrange the 4 geese blocks with points going in a clockwise direction as follows so a pinwheel forms as shown:

Sew as a four-patch:

Pin the centers and edge points of the final seam where they meet so the points don’t get lost in the seam allowance:

Ta-da! 👏👏👏  you've made a Dutchman’s Puzzle:

EXTRA CREDIT: The center of this block is very thick so I spin the center by clipping a couple of the stitches and pressing each half of the last joining seam to the left. If you don’t want to mess with cutting stitches to spin the centers, don’t worry about it. 😊

Thank you for helping me make this Dutchman’s Puzzle quilt 😊

Colorful Economy Blocks for Ruth - Hive 1 September 2026

 

Sorry for the crummy photography. The blocks are much brighter and look better in real life, I promise.  I had fun choosing fabrics for Ruth's bright version of the classic economy block. Her scrappy quilt is going to be a knockout! 💙💚💛💜

Pam 

Hive 1 Economy Block for Ruth

 

My printer did not want to cooperate with the FPP, so I also went the traditional piecing route. Hope this works well; going to the post office tomorrow!

--Caitlin 

Economy Block for Ruth - September 2026

 I struggled a bit with the A3 paper issue as well.  I followed 2 different charts to create the 9 1/2 in block.  Amazing the different sizes stated for cutting to get the same end result!!  Although I did encounter the same issue when I was making 6" economy blocks for my local bee.  Ruth, your blocks are in the mail, hope you enjoy.  

Cindy

Hive 1 Economy Block for Ruth

 Hi Ruth,

I had a good time choosing colors for the economy block.  Thanks to those of you who provided traditional piecing tutorials.

Jane

Hive 1 Economy block for Ruth

 I used the tutorial for a regular economy block. I am generally not a bright color person but I love how these turned out! Might be a bright quilt in my future :) 

Will mail out Tuesday. 

Hive 1 Wonky Hashtag for Pam

 I just moved a few weeks ago, and I have not had a chance to get my sewing machine out. Pam, thank you for the excuse to break my baby out of the box. 

I made this block on Saturday, and I got it in the mail today. I hope you enjoy it! 

So sorry for the wrinkles! I took it to the post office in my purse XD.

Hive 2 September 2026 Tutorial Disappearing Four Patch for Nancy

Hi!  I’m Nancy, the September QB.  I’ve been wanting to make a throw for my father-in-law who is perpetually cold, and another for my husband’s cousin who will earn her PhD next year in pediatric cardiology nursing.  This scrappy block will be just the thing for them.  This website was my inspiration.  https://agilejack1.com/2023/10/03/those-aboriginal-scraps-kept-calling-my-name/ 

Colors:  Think organic colors more than glow-in-the-dark bright—plum, purple, blue, gold, teal, rose, rust, olive, russet, brown, burgundy, red, tan, blue, taupe, green, grey, black.  Prints of any scale are great, including florals.  Stripes and plaids will work; don’t obsess over getting the seams lined up with the print fabric.  Please, no seasonal, religious, or juvenile prints.  Batiks are good.  A bit of metallic is okay.  Mix it up, and be creative, but don’t waste too much time agonizing over your choices.

Pick four fabrics that work together without being matchy-matchy, with two darker and two lighter, cutting one 6.5" square from each.  The two darks barely interact, as do the two lights, so NONE of them have to "relate" colorwise .  Having at least one big-scale print works well, and makes the block more interesting.  At the end of this tutorial I have included a photograph of some of the other blocks I’ve made so you can get a better idea of where these projects are going.  

Note:  All seam allowances are .25" wide.

If you’re unsure of how the values relate to each other, take a photo of the choices and display the photo in black and white on your phone.

Sew into a four patch with light and dark squares alternated as shown, matching pressed seams.  (Matching the seams precisely makes the next cuts a lot easier.)  Press with a dry iron.  Check for any folds when pressing since getting the seams pressed without folds can help accuracy.  (Ask me how I know.  🫤)  I pressed toward the dark pieces so I could nest my seams, then spun the seam allowances at the center a bit so the block was less bumpy during the next step.

Next, cut 2” away from the center seams on either side in both directions without moving any of the pieces—four cuts in all.  If you’re careful, you can simply rotate your mat 90 degrees at a time to cut, being careful not to move the pieces out of place.  (I screwed this up the first time by accidentally cutting 2.5” from the center seam, instead of the correct side of my ruler.  I then used a sticky note to make sure I got the correct side of my ruler, since it was too easy for me to get this wrong.)

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You then end up with this.

Next, spin the four side pieces 180 degrees.  Everything stays as is.

Reassemble the nine segments like a nine-patch, matching seams, and sew together.  Be aware the middle segments will appear 1/4” too small in one direction—both for the very center unit--because of seam allowances.  Don’t let that throw you off.

Press.  You’re done!  The finished block should measure 11.5” including seam allowances.  No need to trim!

 Thanks for playing!  I’m looking forward to seeing your amazing blocks and incorporating them into these two gifts.  Sam and Genna are looking forward to staying warm this winter.

And as promised, the blocks I’ve made so far.