Sunday, June 1, 2025

Hive 3- June Tutorial - Space Block for Bonnie

 


Hi, Everyone! My name is Bonnie and this is my third year participating in Stash Bee. If this post looks familiar, that's because it is a re-post of my last year's post... with some minor tweaks. I have not yet assembled the beautiful blocks I have already received, so there is opportunity to add more!

The Plan:

With your help, I would like to create a space-themed sampler quilt. I have found that I absolutely love samplers, because I love making lots of different types of blocks, trying new patterns and techniques, and putting them all together like a puzzle. So for this quilt, I’d love it if you could make ANY block(s) you want that fits the theme. Think stars, constellations, planets, spaceships, black holes, eclipses, suns, meteors, comets, aliens (if you can figure out how to make me a xenomorph, we will be friends forever, haha), moons, galaxies, or anything else you can think of. Use whatever techniques you’d like. Straight piecing, curved piecing, big pieces, tiny pieces, FPP, EPP, applique, crumb piecing, string piecing, seriously whatever. Be as creative (or not) as you want to be. I’d like it to be more “adult” and a little less "juvenile." So please keep that in mind. Words/phrases could be okay, too, assuming they still fit the theme. The pattern itself does NOT have to be space-themed. If you hate stars, try a circle (for a planet) or a row of flying geese or something for filler. Stick to the color palette and I'm sure I'll still love it.

Colors & Prints:

I’m envisioning BOLD, BRIGHT colors against a BLACK background for maximum “poppage.” I made that word up, but you get it, yeah? Contrast is key! Try to avoid dark, muted colors for the accents. Take a look at my inspiration collage below. Notice that there is not any green, which is shocking because green is my favorite color. Please avoid green (😭).

 

While I also LOVE botanical prints, I don’t feel they are in keeping with the theme, so please avoid florals, leaves, trees, and the like (also😭). Blenders, geometric designs, stars, dots, etc. would all be appropriate prints for this. Novelty science prints COULD be okay, but please use your best judgement re: whether they read adult or juvenile. I got a block last year with a little space man and I LOVE it. If you think you have something really fitting, but worry about the appropriateness, feel free to ask!

Background: Please use white on black prints, black on black prints, bold colors on black prints, or solid black prints for the background. Please make sure they read black and not gray or navy.



Celestial Spacy Stuff: I’m super eloquent. Please use Maroon, Coral, Firey Orange, Yellow, Teal/Turquoise, Blue, Purple, Magenta, White, etc. Please NO green or red. If you’re doing something made of metal, like a spaceship, please stick to realistic-looking greys. As you can see below, I have too much fabric I like basically everything, including batiks, metallics, etc. So don’t worry yourselves overmuch-- Just avoid florals and other botanicals, red/green, and juvenile novelty prints.

Update on this section ^: I got a surplus of orange and yellow blocks last year, so I'd love to see more white, teal, blue, coral, pink & maroon. Some of the fabrics in the below picture turned out to be not so suitable (specifically the dark blues and purples- if you choose to use blue or purple, please make sure it's bright and will contrast well with black!)

Pressing

Please press to one side (if you can stomach it). It's just my preference. Thank you!

Go Forth and Create...

...If you feel inspired. If you're not sure what you want to do and could use some ideas, scroll to the bottom where I've listed tons of free theme-y patterns and tutorials. If you hate this open-ended stuff, keep reading and make one of the blocks from my two tutorials below.

Tutorials

Now for those of you who prefer to not be given free reign and would like to just be told exactly what to do I have written up a couple of simple star block tutorials. I envision lots of stars in this quilt, so stars of all sorts are welcome.

OPTION ONE – FRIENDSHIP STAR

This is just a nine-patch with a few Half Square Triangles (HSTs).

Cutting:

 

FINISHED SIZE

SQUARES

3” Block

4.5” Block

6” Block

7.5” Block

BLACK background

(4) 1.5”
(2) 1 7/8”

(4) 2”
(2) 2 3/8”

(4) 2.5”
(2) 2 7/8”

(4) 3”
(2) 3 3/8”

COLOR or WHITE

(1) 1.5”
(2) 1 7/8”

(1) 2”
(2) 2 3/8”

(1) 2.5”
(2) 2 7/8”

(1) 3”
(2) 3 3/8”

 These instructions use the traditional method of making HSTs, but many stars use multiples of four, so the 4-at-a-time technique where you sew all the way around the square and then cut on both diagonals or the 8-at-a-time method that I’ve personally never tried may be more your speed. You can also make the HST Squares 1/8” larger and just trim more if you don’t mind the waste. My favorite method is to use the essential triangle tool by Bonnie Hunter. Use whatever method you’re comfortable with!

Make the HSTs:

Put two squares right sides together. Draw a line from corner to corner. Or be super rebellious like me and just lop those babies in half and risk bias stretching when you sew them. I hate taking my seam guide off my machine if I don’t have to.

 
 
If you prefer to follow the “rules” go ahead and sew ¼” from the line on each side of the square and THEN cut on the line. Please press to the dark side. It is the only way you can save your friends. Apologies go out to all of the open-seam supporters and anyone who doesn’t like Star Wars.

Trim to the appropriate size, which is the same size as the plain square blocks.

Lay out the squares and HSTs and then sew into rows. Please press toward the squares (away from the HSTs).

Sew the rows together with nesting seams. Please press away from the center.

 

Voilà!

 

OPTION TWO – OHIO STAR

This is just like the friendship star, but with Quarter Square Triangles (QSTs) aka Hourglass units instead of HSTs.

Cutting:

 

FINISHED SIZE

SQUARES

4.5” Block

6” Block

7.5” Block

9” Block

BLACK background

(4) 2”
(1) 2 7/8”

(4) 2.5”
(1) 3 3/8”

(4) 3”
(1) 3 7/8”

(4) 3.5”
(1) 4 3/8”

COLOR A

(1) 2”

(1) 2.5”

(1) 2.5”

(1) 3.5”

COLOR B

(1) 2 7/8”

(1) 3 3/8”

(1) 3 7/8”

(1) 4 3/8”

COLOR C

(2) 2 7/8”

(2) 3 3/8”

(2) 3 7/8”

(2) 4 3/8”

See my spiel on HSTs (also relevant for QSTs) in the option 1 tutorial.

Make the HSTs:

Follow the method listed above in Option 1. You should be pairing a black background square with a C Square and a B square with a C square. 

Press toward COLOR C or away from Color C, just be consistent with all of them. In this case I pressed AWAY from Color C.


Put two HSTs right sides together. So that the seams nest and Color C triangles are opposite each other. 

Again draw a line from corner to corner, perpedicular to the seam. Sew ¼” from the line on each side of the square and then cut on the line. Or be rebellious 😉. Please press towards the side with the black background triangle or be fancy and spin the seam. Trim to the appropriate size, which is the same size as Color A squares.

Lay out the squares and QSTs and then sew into rows. Please press toward the squares (away from the QSTs).

Join the rows together by nesting the seams. Please press away from the center.

 

Fin!

Free Patterns/Tutorials

For those of you who are down with this challenge, but have NO idea where to start (I get it, I’m super indecisive myself), below are some FREE patterns for star blocks and theme-y stuff that might inspire you:

If you fancy STARS:

If you’re partial to PLANETS / MOONS:

If you’re fond of SHIPS and STATIONS:

If you’re a fan of other SPACE-Y THINGS:

Bonus Content

And finally, if you're still with me, while searching for all those tutorials above I found this cool article for about Karen Nyberg: http://quiltingdigest.com/one-of-these-blocks-was-made-on-the-space-station/

More about retired Astronaut / Artist Karen Nyburg: https://karennyberg.com/artist/


THANK YOU ALL, I AM SO EXCITED FOR ALL THE HAPPY MAIL!

💚 BONNIE aka @gingerbreaddscraps

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