Hive 1 May Tutorial: HST Block for Rochelle

💗 Hive 1 May HST Block for Rochelle 💗

I cannot believe May is here, even though getting through March and April have felt like YEARS!

When I signed up last year, I told myself that for 2020 I would to ask for the same block I did back in 2018 so I could finish that WIP. When I started to pull the instructions, I realized the pattern is no longer a free pattern so I had to find something else QUICK!

I just upgraded to a KING size bed and I definitely need a bigger quilt, so I guess this year will be all for me. I knew I wanted something black and white and simple and EASY.

Sometimes you can never quite find what you are looking for, and sometimes you hit the nail on the head.  I hit the nail when I came across Steph Jacboson Designs and her Modern HST BOM(s). After looking through all the wonderful designs, I decided that I was really feeling the January 2019 design which can be found here:

https://www.stephjacobsondesigns.com/2019/01/modern-hst-block-of-month-january-2019.html

Now let me tell you, HSTs are NOT my favorite thing, we don't have a good relationship.  I have a hard time getting them sized and lined up correctly, it's just a hot mess.  But maybe it's time to get my HST skills on point. Here is my first completed block (please don't judge - I'm going to unpick that middle seam to line it up better, but I wanted to make sure this post was done and ready to go):

I'm looking for black and white only.  You can use solids, tone on tone and/or small modern prints that still read white or black (please no large prints, no batiks, no cutesy novelty prints). If you use solids, use both a black and a white solid, if you use prints, use both a black and a white print - I'd like to alternate solid blocks with printed blocks in the final layout (if you have any doubts on your fabrics just go ahead an use solids, those solid blocks will be just as helpful since I have to make quite a few for a king).

Here are a few things I pulled from my stash:

You will need:

8 - 5" black squares

8 - 5" white squares

You'll make a total of 16 HSTs, trimming to 4 1/2" (unfinished).  I love my Quilters Magic Wand for marking HST lines 😊

Most HST cheat sheets say to use 4 7/8" for a 4 1/2" unfinished block but I like the warm and fuzzy feeling of using a larger size and then trimming down. Using the 5" square I did not have much trimming to do.

I don't think I need to go through the HST making process but if you do need help, Bloom Heart Quilts has a great tutorial and several HST methods. I chose to make my HSTs the old fashioned way (2 at a time),  if you like to make 4 or 8 at a time - feel free to use your preferred method.  Please iron all seams open throughout, this will make my life much easier when I am quilting 😉

Here is the layout for your HSTs, I had to keep going back to my photo to make sure the layout was correct.

 I sewed the first two and last two blocks of each row together.

Then completed each row.

With all the rows complete, I attached with the top two rows and bottom two rows (sorry no photo    here but I think you get it).

And finally sew the last center seam and you're done!

Your block should measure 16 1/2" (unfinished).  A nice big, simple block!