Hive 1 January blocks for Diana

One mauve, one dark blue, and two minty green cats headed your way!

Julia

Hive 1 - January - Cats for Diana

I had fun making these kitties.

Will be mailing them on Monday January 30th.

Hive 1 January Cats for Diana

 

Adorable cat blocks! As someone who loves colorful quilts, I cannot wait to see everyone's cat blocks sewn together. Mailing these little guys out today 😸😺🐈

Nicole Buendia

Hive1 - January Cats for Diana

 Hi Diana,

It's a new year of swapping and this was a great beginning.  These cats are adorable and I can't wait to see them all together!

I am popping them in the mail today!

~Adrienne

Hive 1 😸😻😼🙀 for Diana!

 

These kitties were fun! Although now that I look at them all laid out together, I can see that I unintentionally leaned heavily into those with horizontally oriented designs... Hopefully they'll blend in well with everyone else's blocks 😺

Hive 1 Cats for Diana

Done and headed out tomorrow!  

January Block for Alanna

I love this block so much...I crashed your hive last year, and happily prepared one more for you this year.💕 This tulip is leaving Florida this week, and will reach you before spring comes to your part of the world😜. Happy Quilting! Marie

 

Hive 1 Cats for Diana

 

I had such fun making these cuties! It seems like you're going to receive an amazing variety of colors and designs. What a fun project!

Hive 1, Cats for Diana

 

Hi Diana,

Your Cat blocks are such fun! Couldn't stop at just 4, as I had to see them in as many colours as I dared!

I took the note at the End of your tutorial to heart and improvised them - which was even more fun 😸.

The blocks are already in the post on the way to you.

Thank you for this treat!

Happy quilting,

Rita

Hive 1 January cats for Diana

I was super excited for this block because I've been pouring over all the different cat blocks I could choose for my month. Diana beat me to it! I let my kiddo help me pick out the fabric for my trial block. He loves getting involved in my sewing and crafting projects.

This was my first go at piecing and sticking to the 1/4" seam so my trial block was all wonky and I had to go back to the drawing board. I got my seams figured out and away I went. I may have snuck in some kitties themed with my favorite holidays.

Can't wait to see the finished quilt!

Hive Crashing Hive 4 January Chicken Block For Emily

I'm still sorting out some sizing issues for the block for my own Hive but when I saw the chicken block Emily posted for Hive 4, I could not wait to get started. I still have a day left on vacation so I decided to jump right in before life got away from me. Without further ado:

Hive 1 cats

 Yay! My first block is done and it was so fun I made a second one. 

Eight little cat blocks will be headed to Diana this week.

Deana

Hive 6- January Tutorial- Tulip Block

Hello Hive 6!

Since there is snow on the ground, and January is kind of dreary after the holidays, I hope this Tulip blocks brings some cheer as we dream about Spring.

This is the same block I had my Hive mates make for me last year. I was going to make a baby quilt for my little girl who was born in April 2022, but I haven't finished it so my plan is to make a bigger quilt for her instead.

In principle, I don't believe in gendered colours or imagery (my son can wear clothes that are pink and have flowers too), but the reality is I have been really excited by all the "girlie" stuff since she was born, especially all things floral!

So for this month's block, I am requesting a Pink or Yellow Tulip block!

Pattern Credits:

I have written up the tutorial for 1 tulip block, based on a combination of two very similar free patterns:

1. Missouri star quilt co’s “Totally Tulip” quilt pattern. 

• Here is their video tutorial - she makes 1 block but the cutting information is based on making the whole quilt so I adjusted the cutting instructions for 1 block.

https://www.missouriquiltco.com/pages/totally-tulips-quilt-tutorial?epik=dj0yJnU9QlpUOFIzQmZIQXE4V2VaZjdXWDJtSkZOcWVGbFJ2Rk8mcD0wJm49UUE0VHJlOWJKSzVNSzRRY19wbGVsZyZ0PUFBQUFBR0pyQUdj

2) Cloud 9’s “Amsterdam” quilt pattern.

https://cloud9fabrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/AmsterdamQuilt.pdf

Fabric:

For this block you will need 6 different fabrics- 3 for the tulip "petals"; 2 for the stem and leaves; and a background. See the table for the colours needed.

Please choose modern, bright fabrics. No muted tones

Background  Please use the same fabric for the whole block	1 White fabric Solid; or white on white print; or low volume grey or black print on white Please no creams or prints with other colours
Tulip Petals (3 different fabrics)	3 different fabrics in light to medium Pink or Yellow, or a combination  For yellow, think more sunshine than mustard For pink, avoid dark/magenta pink, or pinks that lean purplish Solids, tone on tone prints, or other prints as long as the predominant colour reads as pink or yellow Whimsical or novelty prints are okay as long as it is not licensed characters (ie pink dinosaurs are okay, but Minnie Mouse is not)
Leaves Please use the same fabric for both leaves	1 Light to medium Green fabric Solids, tone on tone prints, or other prints as long as the predominant colour reads as green
Stem	Gray solids, tone on tone prints

Here are some photos of my fabric pull from my own stash:

Cutting:

Note, I have provided cutting instructions for the leaves based on the 2 at a time HST method.  You will have to adjust the cutting dimensions if you want to do the 4 at a time method (if you make two blocks, you could also do the 8 at a time method).

Tulip Petal portion	3 Petal fabrics (Pinks or Yellows or Combination)	(2) 5” squares (each is a different fabric) (1) 5” x 9.5” rectangle (a different fabric)
	Background Fabric (White)	(4) 2.5” squares
Stem & Leaf portion	Background Fabric (White) Please use same background as tulip portion	(2) 5” squares
	Leaf Fabric (Green) Please use same fabric for both leaves	(2) 5” squares (same fabric for both squares)
	Stem (Gray)	1.5” x 8.5” strip

Sewing:

Tulip petal portion:

1. Sew a “snowball” corner to each of the two 5” pink/yellow squares:

• Finger press your 2.5” background squares on the diagonal.

• Place the 2.5” background square right sides together in the corner of the pink/yellow square

• Sew along the finger-pressed diagonal line going

• Trim ¼” from the sewn line

• Press towards the pink/yellow

Note: If you are using directional fabric, pay attention to which corner you are “snow-balling”, based on the arrangement in which you intend to sew two yellow/pink squares together

2. Sew two “snowball” corners to the bottom of the pink/yellow rectangle

• Finger press your 2.5” background squares on the diagonal.

• Place the 2.5” background square right sides together on each of the bottom corners of the pink/yellow rectangle

• Sew along the finger-pressed diagonal line going

• Trim ¼” from the sewn line

• Press towards the pink/yellow

3. Assemble the tulip, and sew together

• Sew together the top two squares so the snowball corners touch together on the inside; press open

• Sew the top unit to the bottom rectangle

• Press the last seam open, or towards the rectangle

Once sewn together, this unit should measure 9.5" x 9.5"

Lead & Stem portion:

4. Make 4 HSTs using the Traditional (2 HSTs at a time) method:

• Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of each of the 5” background squares

• Place one 5” background square on top of one 5” green square, right sides together

• Sew ¼” away from either side of the diagonal line

• Cut along the drawn diagonal line

• Open up the HST units and press towards the green

• Trim the HSTs to 4.5” square

• Repeat with the other set to make four green/white HSTs total

5. Assemble and sew the leaves together

• Sew two HSTs together so the leaf points to the left, and sew two HSTs together so the leaf points to the right

• Press open

• Each unit should measure 4.5" x 8.5"

6. Add the stem between the leaves

• Sew the gray stem in between the two leaf units

• Press towards the stem

• The combined unit should measure 9.5" wide x 8.5" tall

Combine tulip petals with stem and leaves

7. Line up the center of the gray stem with the center of the tulip unit, and sew together

8. Press open

The finished block will be rectangular, and measure 17.5” tall x 9.5” wide

Thank you!

~Alanna

Hive 5 - January Tutorial- Oh Susannah Block

 Happy New Year to All!

I am happy to be back with Stash Bee once again.  Every year is a struggle for me to decide which block I would like to see my hive mates.  Being the first of the hive, I have decided to go with an easy block and keep things stress free.  I made a variety of test blocks before deciding.  Finally, I found a version that could be controlled scrappy.

I saw this block on Pinterest in several varieties. Scrappy, super scrappy &  2 colors.  It is the Oh, Susannah block, although, according to several sources, it is Mr. Roosevelt's Necktie.

Here are some links that provided inspiration:

  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/160581542948161162/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/422845852524827525/

https://sweetgrassdesigns.wordpress.com/2014/07/13/298/

For my tutorial, I have made 2 blocks; pink and blue.  Bright, saturated colors are what I'm looking for.  The colors below are samples.  Don't worry about exact matches.  The colors that are off-limits are browns, blacks, and grays. 

My apologies for the photo quality -  gray and rainy day, inside lighting and shadows.  I know I flipped back and forth between color schemes.  You are making one block,  I made multiples to show examples.

Things to remember

Seams: Scant 1/4" seam,  Sew with a small stitch - no larger than 2.  

Pressing:  I press seams open.  If you press to the side, we can still be friends.

Now on to the tutorial!

Choose a color and then select 4 different fabrics.  

From each fabric, cut (1) 3.5"sq. and (1) 3.5" x 6.5" rectangle

From low volume (or white) fabric, cut (8) 3.5"sq.  

Draw a diagonal line on the back of (4) low volume squares

Place marked low volume square on 3.5" x 6.5" fabric.  

I placed them all with the diagonal starting at the top right corner.  

Sew on the line.

Cut 1/4" from sewn line.

Next, sew (1) low volume square with (1) colored square.

After sewing these pieces, each set will measure 3.5" x 6.5"

Organize sewn pieces

Sew 4 units

Each unit should measure 6.5" sq.

Lay out the 4 units and sew.  

Block should measure 12.5" sq.  

I'm looking forward to seeing your blocks!

If you have any questions, please let me know through IG @byrobinsue

Hive 2 - January Tutorial -LOVE block for Gayle

 LOVE Block

 

I would like you to make a L O V E block inside a frame of random borders. 

For colors,  you can be real scrappy. Just a few guidelines for choices of fabrics. Please go through your bag of scraps!

Letter backgrounds (BG) need to be same fabric within each letter. Choose a fabric that is either a small scale print, texture, solid or fabric that is not too wild.

For the letters themselves, pick a contrasting color. Then use any scrappy choices. I guess the big thing to think about is contrast.  Here is an example of how I picked some fabrics and laid them out. I think my E was not as good in contrast as the others. You can view your fabrics in a grey scale to double check to see if you want to change anything. You can vary each part of the letters, but keep them in the same color family. I am not a fan  of browns, and avoid solid whites and black.

 There will be two ways to make the LOVE block. Either by foundation paper piecing method or cut and assembled with simple pieces. A FPP sheet will be mailed to you, if you would like. And I am offering an alternate block if you feel that the letters will be too difficult or time consuming. I don't want anybody to stress about it. See below for the alternative block. Finishing the blocks with strips to make it full size will be the same.

 Each letter will measure 4 inches (3 1/2 inches finished). The four letters after sewn together will be a square of 7 1/2 inches. And strips will be added as a frame to make the block measure at 10 1/2 inches (10 inches finished).

 Hints for FPP:

There are many online tutorials and videos you can watch if you are unfamiliar with the method.

Either tape or pin the first piece of fabric. Start with pieces 1 and 2 and sew seam on printed side of block. You can fold back the the paper on the sewn seam and trim the seams at 1/4 inch - just make sure you are only cutting the seams and not the fabric for the block. Remember to shorten your stitch length for easier paper removal. 

For the center part of the E, I think it is easier to pre-piece the background (BG) and letter part and place those in center with the seam in somewhat the same place as the line between 1 and 2. Then proceed as usual. Remove paper and sew the L and O together side by side and then the V and E. Then sew the pairs together. I ironed toward the O and then with the lower pair towards the V. Then they could be nested. Block at this point should measure 7 1/2 inches square.

This paper is shown in the wrong side, the printed side is the sewing side.

 Second choice for letter blocks:

 Note these sizes will work, but if yours vary a bit, that is totally fine. Do not worry! If each block can be read as the letter, I am happy with it!

 For L, cut a BG square/rectangles around 3 by 3 1/2. Cut the bottom L part at least 1 3/4 strip and a little wider than the BG square. This can be sewn at a slight angle, if so just cut the strip a little longer. Trim edge on left and put the left hand L part on, at least a 2 inch strip. Trim block to 4 inches square.

For O, cut a BG square/rectangle around up to 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 - 2 3/4. Cut the upper and lower strips, 1 3/4 inch wide and slightly longer than BG square. Trim sides and add side strips at least 1 3/4. Trim block to 4 inches.

For V, cut a BG tall triangle with a base of 1 3/4" and a height of 3". Cut two letter strips around 1 inch (or a little wider, one side could be slightly wider) by 5 inches. Sew one on one side of the triangle with excess going past the tip (bottom of the V) of the triangle. Iron toward the triangle and trim the excess off in line with the triangle. Note: 2nd photo below should have the ruler to the edge of the yellow fabric before trimming.

Ruler should be lined up with outer edge of background yellow piece before trimming.

Sew the other V letter strip to the other side. For the outer edges I laid the V part on top of the BG fabric and slid it over to make an echo cut but bit wider and taller than needed. This allows for trimming down, so the BG won't be too small. Do this for both sides and then trim to 4 inch square.

For the E block, start with a BG and a letter piece cut at 1 by 1 1/2 inches. Sew together on the 1 inch sides. Next cut 2 BG pieces of 1 inch or slightly less by 2 1/2 inches. Sew one each to top and bottom of center E piece lining them up with the left side, don't worry about the right side, it will get trimmed later. Then add the top and bottom E parts of cut at about 1 1/4 by 2 1/2 inches. Add the left side E of about 1 3/4 by 4 1/2. Then trim the right side, add about an inch strip of BG on the right side. then trim to 4 inches.

Here are the 4 sewn together.

Next cut some strips 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 wide and add to the 4 sides. You can add 1 or 2 strips to a side. Then can be cut slightly angled if you want. You can add top and bottom first and then sides or go around like adding for a log cabin. Anything goes, just needs to end up at least 10 1/2 square in the end. I made them larger and then trimmed down to the final square. Here are 2 finished blocks. The left one was FPP and the right one was regular pieced.

Now for the easy alternate block. Feel free to make this if you have any qualms the letters are not for you. Go through your novelty fabrics and fussy cut 4 - 4 inch squares you like. They can be animals, flowers or what ever you find interesting. Just avoid anything too juvenile or babyish. Finish the border in the same way.

Sorry if this seems like a lot, please just have fun!

Thank you, Gayle