Hive 3 February tutorial: Sawtooth Star Block for Nina

Hello, Hive 3! I'm working on a queen sized quilt for my granddaughter and she has requested pink and purple. I'm going to throw a little aqua and white in there, too :)

I've chosen 16" finished Sawtooth Star Blocks, which I will alternate with 8" blocks. Here's my concept mockup:

And here's my original inspiration - a quilt largely based on Ruby Star Society fabric and aesthetic (although that's not required at all!)

COLOURS: Clear pretty pinks (including some warmer ones), purples, aquas/teals (I count it as aqua if there's even a little green in there) and whites (including creams)

Compose each block with three contrasting fabrics:

FABRIC A: 8.5" centre square -- can be patterned, possibly fussy cut, but doesn't have to be. This 11 year old girl loves cute things, especially cute animals, so if you have a cute fabric that works generally with the colour scheme, have at it!

FABRIC B: Background -- solid or something that reads like solid. All the same fabric. Can be a colour, doesn't have to be white or off white.

FABRIC C: Star points -- solid or something that reads mostly like solid. All the same fabric. 

You can make the points of the star in two ways: 4 at a time flying geese, or 2 at a time HSTs. 

CUTTING AND CONSTRUCTION INFORMATION TWO WAYS

16" Sawtooth Block with Flying Geese

Cut one  8.5" square from Fabric A for centre.

Cut four 4.5" squares from Fabric B for corners.

Cut one 9.5" square from Fabric B for flying geese 

Cut four 5.5" squares from Fabric C for background of geese (which become the star points) 

Making four at a time flying geese: https://www.modernlymorgan.com/four-at-a-time-flying-geese-tutorial/?srsltid=AfmBOoo2xY61raNsBot5t9Wdpn9JT6HLO9uVovfIIwtqV688y0RElQ2X-- these units will measure 4.5" x 8.5" trimmed, before they're sewn into the quilt. 

16" Sawtooth Block with HSTs

Cut one 8.5" square  from Fabric A for centre.

Cut four 4.5" squares from Fabric B (background) for corners.

Cut four 5.5" squares from Fabric B (HSTs)

Cut four 5.5" squares fro Fabric C for star points (HSTs)

Make two at a time HSTs with the 5.5" blocks, pairing fabrics B and C. Trim each unit to 4.5"

Sawtooth Block made with HSTs

After you've put the block together you can trim them to 16.5" or, if you don't have a large enough ruler, don't worry about it, and I'll trim it!

Thank you so much for contributing to this quilt! 

Hive 1, February Tutorial: X Stripe Block for Rita

Hello Fellow-Bees!

I hope you’ll have as much fun sewing this block, as I had designing it.

I call this block ‘X Stripe Block’ and it's finished size is 11” x 14” –
with seam allowances: 11 ½” x 14 ½”.

Now, you are probably wondering, why this odd shape? 
Well, I intend to make another quilt for ‘Quilts for Care Leavers (Northern Ireland)’ out of these. Their requested ideal finished quilt size is 70” x 44” – so, you can do the math! 😉

Fabric Selection:

You’ll need 6 fabrics, light to dark,
from one of the colour families from the colour wheel.

Please use solid fabrics or fabrics that read as solid, e.g. blenders.

(Left over Jelly Roll strips come in handy for this, if you have any ...)

See several example fabric pulls, below.

Cutting:

From each of the 6 fabrics cut one strip: 2 ½” x 16 ½”

Block Assembly:

Arrange the strips from light to dark.

Sew the lightest strip to the second-lightest strip, right sides together, with a ¼” seam allowance. Press the seam open.

Sew the darkest strip to the second-darkest strip, right sides together, with a ¼” seam allowance. Press the seam open.

Take the lightest strip set:

Trim the second-lightest strip to be 2” wide, measured from the seam.

Take the darkest strip set:
Trim the second-darkest strip to be 2” wide, measured from the seam.

Take the lightest strip set:
Sew the 3rd-lightest fabric strip to the just cut edge (to the second-lightest strip), right sides facing, with a ¼” seam allowance. Press the seam open.

Take the darkest strip set:
Sew the 3rd-darkest fabric strip to the just cut edge (to the second-darkest strip), right sides facing, with a ¼” seam allowance. Press the seam open.

The strip sets should now be 6 ¼” wide each.

Press both Strip Sets in half width-wise, with the right sides facing. Match up the seams, so they lay on top of each other.

On the Light Strip Set:

Mark a point:
1” from the folded edge
and ¼” from the edge of the darkest strip.

On the Dark Strip Set:
Mark a point:
1” from the folded edge
and ¼” from the edge of the lightest strip.

On both Strip Sets:
Make a 45-degree cut:
aligning the 45-degree line of your ruler with the folded edge 
and so, that the cut is going through the marked point,
from here angling away from the folded edge.

Open up your strip sets and arrange them as in the picture below.

(You are swapping the middle parts.)

The easiest way to align the angled pieces for sewing them together, is to mark the ¼” seam allowance where the strip seams are, then pinning the angled edges right sides together, matching up those marked points on the strip seams.

 

On Both Strip Sets: 

Sew the side-Strip set pieces to the middle Strip set pieces, right sides together, with a ¼” seam allowance. Press seams open.

Nearly there!

Sew the resulting strip sets together, so that the narrow sides of the middle pieces meet.
Matching up the angled seams, sew the two strip sets together, right sides facing, with a ¼” seam allowance.
Trim the ‘dog ears’. Press the seam open.

Trim the resulting Block to 11 ½” x 14 ½”, with the middle seam running horizontal and the points where the angled seams meet, centered.
It might help to crease the middle between those two points for this purpose.

And the block is finished! Yay!

Thank you so much for sewing for me!

If you have any questions, give me a shout.

Happy Sewing,

Rita

Hive 1: Piano Keys for Leah

 

I don't think I will ever run out of green scraps! In the mail now :) - Julia

Crashing Hive 3 - Halloween Bear Paw/Hand of Friendship block for Helen

 I love Halloween fabrics and couldn't resist making a block for Helen! 

Susan R (Hive 6)

Hive 1 January Block for Leah

 Leah, I struggle with colorways and hope this will fit your quilt!  Thanks for the challenge. Mailing tomorrow.

Chris

Hive 1 January Piano Keys for Leah

 

    Here's my block for Leah; I went with a yellow/green vibe. Popped it in the mailbox this morning! 

--Caitlin

Hive 1 - January - Piano Keys for Leah

 Here is my block for Leah. Will drop in the mail this week.

Jai E.

Piano Keys for Leah

Hi Leah,

Here is my contribution to your quilt. I decided on greens and blues. This block is a little larger than requested but I'm sure you'll make it work!

Marie

Hive 1 - piano keys for Leah

 What a great way to start off the new year with a simple sew. Leah asked for adjacent colors of the rainbow so I picked yellow and orange (with a little red sprinkled in). I love a bright quilt so I can't wait to see how these keys factor in. 

Happy quilting, 

Nicole

Hive 1, January, Piano Keys Block for Leah

 

Quick block, great for scrap strips. 

Photo colors are off.

Will drop in the mail next week!

-Tasha

Hive 1, January, Piano Keys Block for Leah

Hi Leah,

These Blocks came together very quickly and are a great scrap booster!

Thank you for the lovely start to the Bee.

They went into the post yesterday.

Take care and happy quilting,

Rita

 

Hive 6 January Tutorial: Spinning Stars for Josie

 Happy new year!  I am starting off the year right with a block I made for our Hivemate Kieran's month last year. Kieran gave us the option to make any star in a certain color palette, and this is one of the stars I chose and ADORED.  It is the Spinning Star block designed by Lissa Alexander and featured in Moda's Blockheads 5.  For color, you have free rein, just keep it tone-on-tone.  Here are a few examples from my pull, and I'll be working mine in purples:

Start with cutting the following:

• Color A: two strips 1 3/4" x 22"
• Color B: two strips 1 3/4" x 22"
• Color C: four 3 3/8" squares, cut in half diagonally, and four 4 3/8" squares, also cut in half diagonally

Take your strips and sew them together along the long edges.  Press to your preference.  

Trim the left edge of your strip at a 45 degree angle.  This will set the angle for the rest of your cuts. 

Once you have that edge set, put the three inch line of your ruler on that edge and cut a diamond shaped section.  

Repeat for the rest of this strip and do the same thing on your other strip.  You should wind up with eight total diamond shaped pieces.

Next, we are going to make FOUR left side units.  Take four diamonds and four of your smaller triangle units, and with your diamonds' stripe running horizontally, sew the triangle to the left hand side.  (You can check your alignment by making sure the dog ear extends by 1/4" beyond the diamond's edge.)  Press to your preference.

Then we will add the larger triangle to the top of this to complete the triangle.  Align the triangle at the top, sew, and press to your preference.

Next we will make our right side sections! Take your remaining four diamonds and four smaller diamonds, and this time, we're going to attach the smaller triangle to top of whichever color was on top in the left side units. These units will spiral together, so the color direction matters!

Finally, we will triangle up these units and add the larger triangle to the seamed edge.

Now we're going to start seeing stars! Take a right and a left unit and sew them together along the long edge to make a square.

Next, keep joining your blocks: 

Finally, join your two halves, and you have a spinning star block! 

This test block was a little wonky, but I used this example so you could see how forgiving the block can be.  The alignment can be a little janky but the overall effect is going to be all about color, so don't let it stress you.  Thank you all for kicking off the new year right with a quilting project!

 

Hive 5 January Tutorial: Haphazard blocks for Laura

 Happy New Year!  I’m so excited for another Stash Bee year!

My word for 2025 (yes, I’m one of those) is FINISH.  I think I have an addiction to starting projects….I’m just not very good at finishing them!  LOL. After suffering a BIG move in 2024, I realized I have way too much stuff and way too many WIPS.  So, I decided to have my Stash Bee mates help to finish one of the quilts I started.

This month we will be completing a HAPHAZARD BLOCK inspired by MY POPPY.  You can view her version and tutorial HERE . I altered the dimensions of her block to create a 12” block.

This is super easy and super fun!  Enjoy the process &

I can’t wait to see your blocks!

Fabric:  Let’s keep this light & bright! Any color is fine with the exception of super dark colors, red, brown, grey and black.  Here’s some color inspiration (but no brown).

So let’s go:

Cut (1) 7.5” square from low volume/white fabric.

Pick a juicy color and cut (4) 3” strips from 4 different fabrics in that color line.  I cut all my strips at about 13” to make it easier, but you can get away with making three of the strips a little shorter.

Sew the strips around the center square using a 1/4” seam.

I squared my block off after each strip was added.

The block should measure around 12.5”.  Press.

Now comes the fun part!  Cut the block in half twice (6 1/4”)

Now turn each piece so that the center square is in the corner.

Sew the 4 pieces together.

The block should measure 12”.

Please don’t worry if it’s a little wonky - I’m okay with that!

I love the scrappy cross that this creates!

Please let me know if you have any questions and

 just have fun with this!

Peace, Laura