Hive 1, September block for Julia

 Hey Julia, it seemed like your quilt needed a pop of green for the rainbow. Hope you enjoy this block! 

hive 1 September block

 

Here is my September block for Julia! I actually mailed it back on the tenth! This is going to look so pretty put together! 

September Block for Julia

Hi Julia,

The white star in the middle of your pattern looks crisp and sharp. This will make a stunning quilt. I hope you get looks of different colors! Have fun putting this quilt together! 

Marie

Hive 1 September Block for Julia

Hi Julia,

This block is on its way to you.  Hope the color works well with the others you receive.  Karen

Hive 2 September Tutorial - Bird Block for Evann

 Hello from Washington, DC! This is my first ever quilting bee and first time modifying a block pattern. Thank you so much for trying my block!

** please read through directions before cutting **

This month’s block is an improvisational variation on the Bird Block & directions I found on Blocklotto.com. 

Final block is 13” square.  Don't worry about squaring the block as you go, wonky is fine!

My color inspiration is from this pretty navy fabric with peachy-fuchsia flowers! 

I just love a dark botanical look.  Feels like a Victorian still-life painting! 

My block is inspired by my sweet little cockatiel Gwenie,, who is both elegant and funny.  Check out those orange cheeks!

When I saw this bird block, I was excited to think of all the silly little bird personalities that would appear!  I would love for this quilt to have some variation in bird size, position, and even directions they face!  I like an off-center block too!   

Fabric:

Here's my pull of fabrics, Except for the really light floral second from top on the left. That ended up being too much light color mixed in, so use that as an example of what not to do! I also didn't end up liking the yellow on the right, so disregard that too!

SKY: fabrics that are predominantly dark navy.  Can have the colors of the color scheme in the background, as long as it is mostly dark navy.  I love a scrappy look, so if you have a few navys that work, you can use multiple, or just one!   If the bird has very busy pattern, then use a more simple background, such as a more low-volume style. 

Bird BODY and WING:  predominantly creamsicle pinkish orange/peach, light muted soft oranges.  No bright primary color-esque oranges.  Can have hints of fushia and muted pinkish purple, or black, or botanical colors as long as it mostly is peachy. If the background is busy, then please use a more simple fabric for the bird.  If the background is simpler, go for a more bold patterned bird! Use a different fabric for the wing than for the body.  Wing and body should be two different fabrics, with a change in tone or color to distinguish them in the block.

Bird LEGS and BEAK and CORNERS: predominantly white fabric, with an interesting pattern of some sort!  I even used some cool selvage for the legs in one bird! You can mix these up in the block.

For this block, please no creams/off whites, and no novelty prints! Batiks fine if mixed with other types of pattern :)

Cutting: (feel free to make adjustments to these measurements!  We will add several strips at the end to bring the bird block up to a 13” finished square) I have additional measurements at the end for a smaller bird if you want to try one small (but tall!) bird, or two in one block!

From SKY, cut:

One 4 ⅞ inch square cut in half diagonally

One 1 ½ inch square

One rectangle 1½ by 4½ inches (make 1 ½” section wider for a longer beak!)

One rectangle 3 by 6½ inches (cut last to make sure it’s long enough)

One rectangle 3* by 8 inches (cut last to make sure it’s long enough)

• * for a taller bird, make the block taller!  Up to 7”x8”.  The top sky portion (3x6.5) can be a little shorter to allow more room for the border if needed!

PLUS: Extra sky pieces to add to the block to result in a 13x 13 square, maybe need up to about 4” on top and side to square up the bird block, which comes out as a rectangle prior to adding extra sky strips.

From WING, cut

One 4 7/8 inch square, cut in half diagonally

From BODY,  cut:

One rectangle 1 ½ by 4 ½ inches

Two 1 ½ inch squares

From LEGS & BEAK & CORNERS, cut

Legs: Two 1 inch by 4 ½ inch rectangles (can be a bit thinner if you like!)

• * for a tall bird, make these longer!

• cool selvage fabric can be used!

Beak: One 1 ½ inch square (make a bigger square for a longer beak, that matches the width of the 4 ½ tall sky piece)

Four 3” squares (corner triangles)

You can also make a right facing bird with the same cuts, just flip the directions!

I generally press open unless it will be smoother to press one direction.

Directions:

1:Take the small body square and place on the wing triangle.  Check that when you flip up the body square, it will be able to replace that portion of the wing triangle.  Stich and press open.  

2: Sew on the triangle portion of sky.

.  

3: Add the second body square to the obtuse point of the wing triangle.  Stitch across at any angle, but be sure that the body piece will be able to flip down and complete the corner of the square.  Trim excess.

4:Take the rectangle body piece, and place a sky square piece on the bottom.  Sew across at a diagonal angle, ensure that the sky piece will still flip down and fill out the rectangle shape.  Trim excess.

 

5: Sew rectangle body/sky piece to body/wing piece, with sky triangle at the bottom facing away from the wing. 

6: Create the beak by placing a white square on the ~1 ½ x 4 ½ sky piece. (Make sure it’s as tall as the block you’ve created so far!) Stitch on the diagonal (the angle will be widest near the bird’s body, and come to a point). Trim excess.

7: Stitch sky/beak rectangle to bird body block.

8: Stich rectangle of sky (~3 ½ x 6) to top of bird block. 

9: Making legs block: decide how long your bird legs are, and decide if they will be straight legs, angled, or one straight one angled??

            9/a: Cut the sky block (~3x8 or more) and legs. If you are sewing angled legs, cut them an inch+ longer than you think you need.  

            9/b: Place the sky block under the bird to make sure the legs will be placed where you want, and then cut the sky block in thirds where each leg will go.  

                9/c: Stitch in the legs to the sky!  If you are making angled legs, then try to pay attention to the angle you lay the pieces for stitching so the sky block ends up mostly parallel.  You’ll be adding more to this block to size it up, so it’s ok to lose a little here and there to keep things straight!

                9/d: Line up the legs where you want them on the bird, and stitch together!

10: Add additional strips to bring the block up to 13” square.  Feel free to be creative in the way you add size- a few small strips, squares, a HST in one spot, etc. Bird doesn’t need to be centered!

11: Place the 4 white squares on the corners of the block, mark corner to corner on the square, stitch, and trim excess to create four white triangle corners! You're done!

I also made a smaller bird pattern if you want to make one tiny bird, or two birds in one block! (one upside down? Two in a row?) The small bird block was ~5” wide before adding sky strips. I think smaller birds look better with a more low-volume navy background to help their features stand out!

Sample small bird pattern size:

• Wing:  3 ½ square, cut diagonally

• Body: two 2 ½ squares

• Body: one rectangle, height of wing square, 1 1/2 “ wide ( or more based on beak length!

• Sky:

• 3 ½ “ square, cut in half diagonally, 1 ½” square

• One Piece wide enough for the top of the bird block, any height. 

• One piece wide enough for the bird block, and the height of the legs you want!

• Beak: 1 ½”

• Legs: any height, about 3/4” wide or a little less.

• Four 3” square white corners

• Sky: enough to bring the bird block up to 13” square!  

Here are my other birds! I think I might sew the other two together, one upside down, into one block!

Thank you so much!!  I am so excited to see your little birds :)

Hive 1 September block for Julia D.

 

Hive 1, Septetmber 2021 for Julia D.

Julia, I love white on white colorful quilts. Stars are another of my favorites and the secondary star is an added bonus. I can't wait to see the other blocks and the completed top. Keeping with my over doing I made you three. Enjoy. Jayne

Hive 1 September Block for Julia

 I was so excited to make this block that I finished in record time. I even surprised myself by choosing a directional print and managed to do it right. Can't wait to see this completed quilt.

I'll get this in the mail sometime next week after the holiday weekend.

~ Diana @ Red Delicious Life

Hive 1 September block for Julia D

Yesterday was a rainout with the remnants of Hurricane Ida passing through PA, which made it a perfect sewing day.  Here is my blue block for Julia D's rainbow quilt.

Kathie L

Hive 5 September Tutorial - Which Witch House!

Happy September!

I'm Laura, from Minnesota, and this is my first bee! It's been fun creating for all of you and I hope you feel the same this month.

For years I've thought about making a Halloween-themed quilt, but usually not until about October 15th! So I've decided to take advantage of a bee to finally get one underway.

I have designed a pattern for a happily haunted witch house that has seven variations -- one for each of the 7 witches of "Witchaven"! Choose which Witch you want to build a house for. There will be repeats and that is okay -- some of the witches will have "second homes"! 

Hive 1 September Tutorial - Rainbow Stars

Happy September from Pennsylvania! With fall right around the corner, I hope everyone is looking forward to sweater weather and autumn activities as much as I am! 

I've known all year that I wanted to ask for a colorful-background block with a white design, but it took me until this week to nail down the block. I'm sure it goes by another name, but the tutorial I found is just called the Star Pattern. I'm asking you to make this as a 12" x 12" block (12.5" x 12.5" unfinished) with the star(s) in a solid white or white-on-white fabric, and the background as a colorful (ROYGBIV) tone-on-tone or blender. 

The thing I like about this block is that the corner quarter stars will combine when I sew all of your blocks together, and integrate the whole design! It should look something like this: 

Fabric Selection

Any colorful fabric that reads as a single color will work for the background of the block! Here is the fabric pull from my stash:

For the white, I'd prefer a true white (rather than cream or off-white), either solid or white-on-white. Here's the pull from my stash:

Cutting Instructions

I've been making no-waste geese lately, but if you prefer to use another method, your cutting instructions will differ slightly. For that reason, I kept the geese to their own section.

Color:

• Four 2.5" x 2.5" squares
• Four 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles (if a directional print, cut two in each direction)
• Four 3" x 3" squares (cut diagonally for HSTs - hold on this for the moment if your print is directional)

White:

• One 4.5" x 4.5" square
• Four 2.5" x 2.5" square
• Four 3" x 3" square (cut diagonally for HSTs - hold on this for the moment if your print is directional)

Geese (these cutting instructions are for no-waste):

• Color - One 5.25" x 5.25" square
• White - Four 2 7/8" x 2 7/8"squares 

Sewing Instructions

HSTs: Start by cutting your 3" squares on the diagonal to make your 8 HSTs. If you're using a directional print, you'll want to cut two of the squares on one diagonal, and two of the squares on the other. 

Chain piece together and press. I've been pressing all seams open lately, but if you prefer to press to one side, press towards the color.

HSTs are trimmed to 2.5" x 2.5"

Geese: I used the no-waste technique, but feel free to do this another way. 

For the no-waste technique, start with the large square right side up and two small squares on the diagonal. Mark corner-to-corner and sew 1/4" on either side of the line. Then, cut along that line:

Press the white triangles open, then place the remaining two white squares in the empty corners. Mark corner-to-corner of the white square:

Sew 1/4" on either side of both lines, and cut along the line:

Press open, and trim to 2.5" x 4.5". While trimming, try and keep 1/4" between the top of the colorful triangle and the edge of the block:

Assembly Instructions

Now you have all the pieces you need - lay them out for assembly.

Start by assembling individual pieces to make a nine-patch. For the corners, combine two HSTs with two 2.5" squares. For the sides, combine the geese with the 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles. The middle is the 4.5" white square.

I assembled into three rows first, then combined. Whatever your preferred method is for assembling a nine-patch will work great!

 

Here's the view from the back. As I mentioned, I've been pressing seams open, but I'm not particular. Pressing towards the color will work as well!

Can't wait to see what you all come up with! Thank you SO MUCH for your time and talents! 

- Julia D.