HIVE 2 November Improv Trees for Nicole

 It's been so great sewing for everyone this year. Stashbee is a highlight of my month every year and I love seeing everyone's interpretations. 

I'm leaping way out of my own comfort zone this month and we are doing IMPROV TREES. I have a bunch of crazy house blocks for my neighborhood quilt and we are going to fill it out with glorious and silly trees from your scrap bins. I'm open to large pattern, small pattern, brights, grunge. 

There's several different ways to go about this and I'll link you to a few great resources, but how you do it will be totally up to you.

You can do a simple triangle Christmas style tree like the one here at Diary of a Quilter. Your tree colors should not be Christmas flavored since they are going to be partnered with crazy houses. One of your squares should be green flavored (any patterns work here as long as there's a green in it). The contrast color should be anything that provides good contrast - I'm open to bright, whites, fall colors, spring colors. Whatever inspires you. The unfinished size works out to be 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" and that is just fine for me. You'll end up with 2 blocks of opposite tree colors using this method.

You can also take a crumb approach like these trees from The Sewing Channel. Method 2 has you cutting out a paper template so you can gauge size ahead of time. Your crumbs should be green-flavored. Your trunk should be brown flavored. Your background is up to you: sky blue, whites, brights, contrast. And your finished size should be 4-8" wide x 9 1/2" tall. It'll be however wide you make your crumb tree. That's the magic of improv.

If you want a pattern to cut out and follow because improv isn't really your jam, you can use this pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew. I promise it won't hurt my feelings. But get crazy with your color choices and really make that tree pop. Finished size works out 7 1/2" x 9 1/2".

Here's some examples of the houses in my neighborhood so you can see where your trees are going: 

All trees are welcome here! 🌲🌳🌴

Happy sewing! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your year and we'll see you next year for more Stashbee goodness.

Nicole

Hive 1 Plus Blocks for Trishia October 2026

I enjoyed making these plus sign blocks for Trishia.  The color palette is beautiful.  I'm looking forward to seeing the finished quilt alongside the artistic inspiration painting.

 

Hive 1: November Tutorial - Improv Log Cabin for Jane

Last month, Stash Buddies!

Create an improvisational log cabin block using solid white fabric as the primary background, accented with one or two pops of saturated color.  Strips can vary in width, angles can change, and the placement of color is entirely up to you. The blocks you see are 6 ½” and 12 1/2” - but any size is fine as I'll be constructing it on without a prescribed grid. I put my samples on a black background so you can see the seams.  You can make one or several - have fun and search those scrap bins for some fun accent colors.  Thanks!

 

Improvisational Log Cabin Quilt Block

Background: Solid white fabric. 

Color accents: One or two pieces of saturated fabric that read as a solid from a distance. Choose colors that stand out clearly against the white. Finished Block SizeI often found a print of two colors (white being one of them) and then matched the color in the print with a solid for my pops.

Blocks should measure between 3½″ and 12½″ unfinished. You may make any size within this range. Either rectangles or square blocks are fine. Blocks do not need to be a standard size as they will be incorporated into an alternate-grid quilt layout.

Instructions

1. Begin with a small piece of fabric.

Begin with a small piece of square fabric in your chosen accent color. (Solid or white/color print) Your starting piece can grow to be centered or placed off-center.

2. Creating the Improv Cabin

Cut a strip of white fabric and sew it to one side of your starting piece. The strip can be wider or narrower than the starting piece. It can be a rectangle or triangle.

Add another white strip to an adjoining side, then continue adding strips around the growing block. You may work clockwise, counterclockwise, or change directions as you go.  I squared up every once in awhile as I wanted the white to be sort of in a square. (See seam lines)

Experiment with:

Strips of different widths and lengths angled seams and strips that are not perfectly parallel, off-center shapes and unexpected turns, narrow strips alongside wider sections of white.

Trim excess fabric from individual pieces as needed to prepare for the next seam, but you do not need to trim the overall block to a standard size. 

4. Introduce a pop of color.

At any point, add a small piece of saturated color. It can be your first piece or it might be a square or rectangle nestled among the white strips, a narrow strip along one edge, or a triangular shape that peeks out from a seam.

The goal is to create an unexpected focal point against the white background. Let the color placement be spontaneous rather than symmetrical or predictable.

5. Continue improvising.

Return to the white fabric and keep building outward. Change strip widths, shift directions, and vary the placement of seams. You may add another pop of color if you wish.

Remember that the white fabric should remain the dominant visual element. The colored pieces are accents, not the main event.

There is no prescribed number of strips, no required center, and no particular arrangement to follow. Let the block develop as you work.

6. Stop when your block feels complete.

Continue piecing until your block measures somewhere between 3½″ and 12½″ unfinished. The shape does not need to be square, and the edges do not need to align with those of other blocks. I can trim them down or add to them, if I need to do so.

Hive 3 - November Tutorial - Boxes for Cathleen

 Happy November Hive 3!

Another wonderful year of Stash Bee is coming to an end. I've enjoyed creating for each of you in 2026. Now I hope that you will enjoy this super easy block as we head into the holidays. 

Ever since I took Tara Faughnan's Bars Quilt workshop, I've been exploring color and geometric shapes. I also like the uniformity of working with blocks that are the same "exact" size. While sorting scraps for our guild's annual fabric sale, I found a set of solid block sets that led to this design. 

I would appreciate you helping this design grow into a larger quilt.

Fabric

I love solid color fabrics and would like to limit this piece to solids. Please choose two solid color fabrics with good contrast. One should read darker than the other. Any colors that you like together are welcome with one exception. Please do not use any white. All other colors are acceptable. I have been tipping towards deeper, more saturated colors, but light colors are also helpful.

(Contact me if you don't have any solids in your stash and we'll determine a suitable substitution.)

Your light color needs

one 4" x 14.25" rectangle

two 2" x 8.25" rectangles

Your dark color needs

one 4" x 8.25" rectangle

two 2" x 14.25" rectangles

If you'd like to use smaller scraps, please see the alternate method below . . . 

Construction

Lay your rectangles in this configuration. The lengths will match to create two blocks.

Sew the 2" strips to both sides of each of the wider rectangles. A scant quarter inch seam or your favorite ironing technique should help you achieve a unit that is 7" wide. If your unit is 6 7/8" wide, I will also be able to use those. 

Please press to the dark fabric.

The long unit with dark narrow strips on the outside should measure 7" x 14.25"

The shorter unit with the lighter narrow strips on the outside should measure 7" x 8.25"

And, with that, you are DONE! I will subcut the units once I receive all the blocks so that I will have some flexibility in the final design.

For those who have smaller scraps, here's an alternate method that creates individual blocks. This system requires more accuracy. Create two or more of these. Solid colors do not need to be the same in each block. 

Your light color needs

one 3.5" x 4" rectangle

four 2" x 2" squares

Your dark color needs

two 2" x 4" rectangles

two 2" x 3.5" rectangles

Lay out these pieces to match the picture above. These are easy to chain piece. Press to the dark and then send in separate rows or sew the rows together to create a block that is 6.5" tall by 7" wide.

Thank you very much for contributing to my quilt. Message me if you have any questions.

With much gratitude,

Cathleen

@KitchKouture

Hive 1 - October - Plus Sign for Trisha

 

Hive 1 Plus Sign Block for Trishia October 2026

 I loved sewing this block! I am mailing you some extra little squares that I had leftover from cutting. Thanks this great tutorial!

Hive 1 October - Plus Sign Blocks for Trishia

 Trishia, these were really fun to do. Thank you for giving me an excuse to dig up my grandma's browns, that for reasons of style some decades back were very prominent in her fabric stash!

Hive1: Plus Sign Block for Trishia - October, 2026

Here you go, Trishia!  This was fast and fun.

 

Hive 1 Plus Sign Block for Trishia October 2026

 Hi Trishia, I made the improv version of the plus sign block (the lighter color is more light turquoise in person)😄 it’s on its way! 

Hive 1 - Plus sigh block for Trishia - October 2026

 Trishia:

Thanks for offering so many variations.  Made the layout much easier to work thru.   Dropped in the mail yesterday.

Cindy

Hive1 October Plus Sign Block for Trishia

 

Hi Trishia,

Love your Colour Combo!

This block will start it's journey to you in the next couple of days.

Happy Quilting,

Rita

Hive 2- October Tutorial- Wonky square/rectangle in a square block for Marie

Dear Hive Mates,

Happy October! I am reaching out this month for a quick and easy block. This block is so easy that this tutorial may not even be necessary for most of you, as the assembly will come intuitively. I am hoping to have a variety of blocks that are not identical in the center size/placement. So, no stress, have fun! 

With your help, I’ll be able to quickly prepare a lap size quilt for a friend.

Block: 10”x10” square block, with a square or rectangular center.

Fabric: The colors I have in mind are nothing inspired by the new Fall season! Instead, I am looking for a palette composed of lavender/dusty purple, raspberry/pink, aqua/turquoise, sage green and coral/red. 

Inspired by this Kaffe Fassett fabric:

 And this palette created by Google Gemini:

Please, *no* yellow, *no* bright orange.

Select two fabrics out of this palette, either solids, read solid or small flower prints (I love flowers). Batiks are fine. We will call one fabric “accent”, and one will be called “main”. 

Cutting:  I don’t have specific cutting instructions. You may even know intuitively how to prepare the block. If you want to use a larger center and make it fit in a 10”x10” block, go ahead! I am not looking for identical blocks, a little variety is nice, so you really cannot go wrong in making this block!

Should you need more precise directives, you may look at the Hive 1-April 2026 tutorial, available here

or you can follow along “a-b-c-d-e-f”:

a) One 3”-4” square or rectangular center using the accent fabric,

b) One 10.5” strip of the main fabric, as wide as what you selected in a),

c) Two 10.5” x 4” strips of the main fabric,

d) Cut the strip prepared in b) in two,

e) Sew each two sections prepared in d) on each side of the square/rectangular center prepared in a), and

f) Sew each strip prepared in c) along the strip assembled in e).

Press however you prefer.  The square/rectangular center does not need to be centered! No need to trim down to a perfect 10”x10”. 

Thank you all for your generous contribution to my project!

Hive 3 - October Tutorial - Haphazard block for Laurie

I’m so excited for another year with Stash Bee and I'm asking to add to my blocks from last year as I fell in love with each and every one!  

BUT this year You can choose any color you want for the strips.

The Haphazard block is bright, it's scrappy, it's creative, it's versatile!!

I'm using My Poppy Makes for inspiration. You can find the quilt  here:  MY POPPET MAKES

I changed up the dimensions so we will end up with a 15” block.

Fabric:  

Let’s keep this Bright!  

Center Square: Black and white, typeset, tone on tone, white on white

Strips: Pick one favorite color from your stash, then select four different fabrics to use.  If you like Pink, feel free to use that again! 

Instructions: 

Cut (1) 8.5” square from your center fabric.

Pick out your 4 different fabrics in your color line and cut strips.  

(1) 4" by 8.5"

(2) 4" by 12.5"

(1) 4" by 16.5"

Sew the strips around the center square using a 1/4” seam and trim each strip after you sew it.  The measurements I gave for the strips are oversized so you will need to trim down a bit after sewing. This is expected.

    

Your block should now measure around 15.5” but don't worry if it doesn't. This block isn't one that has to be exact and a little wonkiness is fine with me.  Press seams as you like.

 Now comes the fun part!  Cut the block in half twice 

(7 3/4” for those who want measurements)

Then turn each piece so that the center square is in each corner. It makes a plus sign pattern in the middle of the block.  (it's ok for one strip fabric to end up in a row/column but if you want to move blocks around go right ahead and play around with the layout)

 

Sew the 4 pieces together.  Your block should be around 15"

Press the seams as you like.  Don't worry about trimming as I can do that later when assembling the quilt.

    

Hope you have fun with this quick and easy block!

Thanks, Laurie

Hive 1 - October Tutorial - Plus Sign Blocks for Trishia

 I couldn’t decide which version I liked best, so it’s Choose Your Own Adventure time!

The blocks will go together to make our new living room throw for autumn. All of my living room throws coordinate with a painting my daughter made for me. It’s a copy of Modigliani’s Girl in a Red Party Dress, my favorite painting. So this one will be blues, browns, creams, and low volumes with splashes of warm colors to complement that fiery hair.

Blues: navy, turquoise, teal, dusty blue, cornflower. Please no neon, color crayon blue, or brights. 

Browns: pretty much any shade of brown, even going into dark mustard range. But no creams if they aren’t at least medium value compared to the next group.

Off white, light cream, and/or low volume: these should be mostly low volume and background fabrics. You’ll notice in my sample blocks and fabric pull below that I’m pretty liberal with this. I love florals and unique prints in pinks, bronze, yellow, blues, grays, browns so long as the print reads as background and doesn’t compete with your blue or browns. As much as I love black and white prints, please avoid those for this project. Gray designs are good here, just not black.

For all of these, Solids work. Prints are great! Think nature, autumn, geometric. Please no Christmas/winter, summer (I.e. beach balls or popsicles) or childish prints. I love butterflies, birds, and flowers so any of those you can squeeze in are greatly appreciated. 

Plus Squares Option 1

The base of each block is two nine patch sections. One will have a blue family plus sign. The other brown family plus sign. You can make both or just one.

For each plus sign 9 patch, you will need five (3*3in) squares of the main color family (blues or browns) and four (3*3in) squares of background fabrics plus fabric for the low volume square (more on that later).

For cutting, I like to stack about 5 fabrics aligned on an edge. I cut a clean line then cut another 3 inches away. Both are about 4 inches in length, parallel to one another. Then I fold back the excess fabric carefully leaving the 3in strip so I can cut the other direction to detach it from the main stack of fabric, then cut again 3 inches from that cut to finish the square. 

Basically, I cut 3in squares from 3-5 fabrics at once rather than cutting individual squares as that would take forever. Below, you can see the initial two cuts (3in apart from one another, I made these cuts longer to make it easier for you to see) and the excess fabric carefully folded back so I can make the other two cuts to remove my squares from the fat quarters/fabric scraps. I had one long strip, so I placed that on top of the pile to ensure I’m not cutting that one short. 

Once you have your squares, arrange in a plus sign pattern:

Sew together rows, press top and bottom row in towards the middle square. Press middle row out. Nest seams together and sew rows together. 

Press again. If you like, you can spin the seams where four corners meet. I just learned this technique and love it! 

Partner Squares, if you want

For the other square, you choose! It can be one cut of fabric, a four patch, a nine patch, or even a higher number of squares if you have a bunch of strips of light and low volume fabrics that you want to use up. These squares should end up being 8 inches. If you made both the brown and blue 9 patch, you’ll need two 8in partner squares. OR not, I can add those later. This is really open to what you want to make.

For partner squares, you choose one:

• Single fabric: 8 inches square OR

• Four patch: Four squares (4 ¼ inch each) OR

• Nine patch: nine squares (3 inch each) tip, use the cutting method from the plus squares to make this go faster OR

• More squares, strips even! If you have smaller squares in background fabrics or even if you want to do 3 strips of 3 inches x 8 inch, I’m okay with that! This throw is meant to be scrappy and a bit uneven so the partner squares don’t have to be 9 patches. 

If you made both the blue and brown 9 patch with partner squares, the final layout has the plus blocks in opposite corners. Sew a plus block to a partner low-volume block. Repeat with the other set. Press. Sew together with the plus blocks on opposite sides so they are kitty corner from one another. Please don’t trim!

(Finished Block Option 1: Both 9 Patch Plus Sign Block version)

Plus Squares Option Two

If you want to do something more modern and improv or if 9 patch blocks just aren’t your thing, you could make a variation of Pam’s Wonky Hashtag block, but you’d only need 2 colored strips and would cut down the middle(ish), sew in the first strip, press, then cut down the middle the other way for the second strip. The big difference besides the number of strips is that they should be straight instead of angled, they just don’t have to be right in the middle of the block if you don’t want. 

I made a version of that with process pics on my Instagram if anyone is interested in going that route. Just email the group and I'll send my link.

I started with 10 inch squares but you could do any size. For the gold my strips were 1.5in and for the blue they were 2in. I’m ok with any square 10 inches or smaller- I plan to use improv log cabin around smaller blocks to get everything to fit together. If one of you has more patience than me, you could even do a bunch of small 4 inch squares with 1 or 3/4 inch strips. Whatever makes you enjoy this month’s block works for me! The variety will make the finished quilt all that much better!

This is a lot of info, hopefully not too much. Please email if you have questions.