Hive 1 July 2026 Beggar's Blocks for Cindy

 

It was fun making these easy blocks for Cindy.  Her quilt is going to be so cute and scrappy!

Finished Quilt - Hive 1 2026 Feb block

 

Hi All,

Meet: 'It's Complicated...'; 60" x 70".

Thank you so much everyone from 2026 Hive 1 for helping me getting this done!

It was real fun to play with the layout of the blocks I received - as you can see, I settled on a classic rainbow, top to bottom, setting. I kept the quilting simple, as this is to be a 'use-quilt' for my BIL (60th next month), just stich-in-the-ditch around the bands and then a rainbow radiating out from the bottom left, each 'ring' in a different gradating rainbow colour.

Really hope it turned out 'butch' enough and will appeal to my BIL!

Happy quilting,

Rita

Hive 1 July: Begger's Block for Cindy

Hi Cindy!

On the second attempt I made it - yay! Hope these colours are what you are looking for. The blocks are already on the way to you.

Happy quilting,

Rita

Hive 1 June Block - Log Cabin for Caitlin

 

Hi Caitlin,

A Log Cabin quilt is still on my 'quilty bucket list'. I might have the patience for it someday! 😉

Two blocks were the limit of my meagre purple stash (not my favourite colour...). Hope they'll do.

Happy quilting,

Rita

Hive 1 May - Flying Geese for Kelli

 This was a fun one to make! 

Hive 1 Neon Stroked Flying Geese Blocks for Kelli

 

Hi Kelli,

These were fun to make! Hope they are neon enough for you :).
These Geese will be starting their journey to you flying via Post this afternoon.

Looking forward to seeing your new Quilt Coat!.

Happy sewing,

Rita

Hive 1 May 2026 Neon Stroked Geese for Kelli

 

This block is a fun variation on the traditional Flying Geese, and Kelli's color choices make them modern.  Thanks Kelli for sharing a fun and easy to follow tutorial.

Pam 

Hive 1 April 2026 - Colorful Squares for Julia

 

These blocks were easy and fun to make.  Julia's idea for Klimt-inspired colorwash-style quilt is great, and I can't wait to see the finished version.

Pam 

Hive 1 March Blocks- Evil Eye Block for Leah

I am really falling behind this month! I've had this one done but keep forgetting to post and mail it. I've got it in a bubble mailer ready to go out with my postman tomorrow morning. 

Super fun and easy make, thanks! 

Hive 1 April Blocks - Yellow Squares for Julia

 

Hi Julia,

These were fun making! Thank you for these 'quickies'!

They will go into the postbox this evening.

Happy sewing,

Rita

Hive 1 March Evil Eye Block for Leah

 

Hi Leah,

I do love Improv! Thank you for such a fun block!
That's why I couldn't stop at one 😁.

Hope they are 'round' enough and go with what you have in mind.

I'll pop them in to the post today.

Happy sewing,
Rita

Hive 1- March Tutorial: Evil Eye Block for Leah

I've been wanting to make an Evil Eye quilt for a while, but with the world being the way it is lately, it feels like it's much more urgent now. We could all use protection and luck, and I would love to get the group's help. Maybe you'll all be able to help me imbue it with some magic!

This design is very improvised. If you see the picture and go "ohh, I have an idea for how to make it!" then please just go for it. But if you could use specific instructions, read on. And if it drives you totally nuts, 1) please let me know and ask about anything that's unclear, and 2) feel free to quit after the first round or two if you need to. I'll be so happy to receive any eyes you're able to make for me, even if they don't make it out to the fourth round.

Colors:

I'd like colors to be in the general realm of naturally-occuring eye colors. Blue, green, purple, gray, brown, gold, etc., mostly. You'll need a dark and a light version of the eye colors, as well as a black and a white. Here are a bunch of fabrics I pulled to show you my thoughts. You should know that I'm not totally happy with everything in the above photo of eye blocks; I think the top right came out a little too zombie! (Too much red in the black center, too gray in the white.) But as long as you avoid my mistakes, there's a lot of flexibility in the colors. I'm happy with solids or prints. Your light color and dark color do not need to be the same color as long as each ring in the eye is the same fabric all the way around.

Cutting instructions:

Please note this will not have precise assembly instructions, and amounts of each fabric will vary depending on how you assemble and trim your block, and how large a square you start with. Strips need not be all one piece and I've given how much fabric I used in assembling mine; you may need a little more or less.

Black: one square of between 2.5 and 3.5"

White: strip of between 2 and 3" wide, about 36" long 

Light color: strip of between 2 and 3" wide, about 18" long

Dark color: strip of between 2 and 3" wide, about 36" long

Assembly:

Sew the light color strip to one side of the black square

Press and trim the strip off, taking off a corner of the square too. We're going for a non-square polygon in the center by the time we're done. I'll be happy with a pentagon, hexagon, really any shape as long as it's a little closer to a circle than a square. You'll be able to rotate the edge you cut to add it to the next side of the black piece. 

Continue pressing, trimming so you have straight (but not square) edges, rotating, and sewing the strip to remaining sides of the black piece. Lots more photos to come:

It'll be ok to trim the black too, if you think it needs it!

Or just sew the strip where you think it belongs, and trim behind your seam after. Continuing to cut corners to make the square a little more hexagonal...

Continue until you've completed your light colored border around the black!

Trim the edges so they're all straight and you're happy with the overall shape, but don't square it up: keep the hexagonal or octagonal or whatever shape you've gotten. 

Then follow all the same steps with the white, completely bordering the light color.

Trim the edges.

And repeat the bordering process one more time with the dark color.

And you're done! Trim your edges but don't square up; I'll be putting all of them together with one background color to keep the roundish effect of each eye. Thank you so much for sticking with me through this. I'm really looking forward to putting it together!

Hive 1 February Block for Rita

 

Hi Rita

Your block was fun to make and very quick. I only realised afterwards that the orange and black look like Halloween. But I hope I will work with all the other blocks you’ll be receiving.

This one will go in the mail today 😊

Ruth 

Hive 1 - February Tutorial - Knee-Bend Block for Rita

Hi my lovely Bees!

This month I'm asking for a 'Knee-Bend' Block. I'm sure this has been done before, and I didn't really invent it, but below my take on a traditional tutorial for this.

However, if you prefer to use FPP for this, let me know, and I'll send you a PDF with the FPP pattern for this.

Block Size:

The Block should end up 10" square finished,
which means, it'll be 10 ½” square including Seam Allowance.

Fabric Choice:

My colour inspiration for this is the whole of the colour wheel!
                 Plus either Black or White.

• Colour A) either Black or White, preferably solid, black-on-black or white-on-white is okay

• Colour B) Background:  Choose one Colour from the Colour Wheel

        Any medium colour, all the same, solid or small blender – to read as one colour

Cut:

Colour A) = Black or White:

• One 3 ½” x 4 ½” Rectangle

• One 4 ½” x 7 ½” Rectangle

Colour B) (Background = Colour of your choosing):

• Two 3 ½” x 3 ½” Squares

• One 3 ½” x 7 ½” Rectangle

• One 3 ½” x 10 ½” Rectangle

Piecing:

Use a 1/4" Seam Allowance throughout.

1)    Take the Black/or/White 4 ½” x 7 ½” Rectangle and one of the 3 ½” Background Squares.

Mark a diagonal line on the back of the Background square. Place it (right sides facing) on the Rectangle as shown in the photo below and sew along the marked line. Trim the corner off, to keep a 1/4" seam allowance, then press the seam open or to the side (as you please).

2)    Sew the remaining 3 ½” Background Square right sides together to one of the short sides of the 3 ½” x 4 ½” Black/or/White Rectangle. Press.

3)     Lay the sewn pieces and the remaining Background rectangles out like shown in the below picture and sew the Black/or/White Rectangle with the Background corner to the 3 ½” x 7 ½” Background Rectangle on the long side. Press.

4)    Then sew the resulting piece from step 3) to the piece from step 2) as shown in the picture below. Press.

5)    Finally sew the remaining 3 ½” x 10 ½” Background Rectangle to the side with the 'Corner' as shown in the picture below. Press.

And there you have it! The finished 'Knee-Bend' Block.

Hive 1 January Christmas Tree Block for Alanna

 

Hi Alanna,

Hope these go, with what you have in mind.

They are in the Post Box and will start their way to you tomorrow.

Happy quilting,

Rita

P.S.:  The only Christmas Quilt I made (kept this one!) is the first of my StashBee quilts 'Wonky Winter'! Got the blocks End of 2020 & finished it in 2022. The Christmas poem on the back 'Knecht Ruprecht' by Theodor Storm is one my mum used to recite to us, when my sisters & me were small.

Ironically, it turned out to be the perfect summer quilt for my bed 🤣.

Happy November!

Julia has a plan in mind for a future Hive project so I did a little block exploration on her behalf. I hope these blocks work out and lead to a successful collection of blocks in 2026!

Marie

Hive1 November Block for Marie

 Hi Marie,

I just realised, I forgot to take pictures! I was so sure I did :(.

Well, you asked for more Tree-Blocks, so I made three 🌳🌲🌳. Hope the colours go with what you are aiming for with the quilt. 

Some of the scraps come from left-over fabric I had from taking a workshop with Lorena Uriarte this September, so those came all the way from Australia! 🐨

I put the blocks in the post on Monday, so they are already on the way to you. 📮

Happy sewing,

Rita

Hive 1 October Bat Block for Jai

 

Hi Jai,

No Halloween Fabric to be found in my stash. Hope these have the vibe, though. they were fun to make and are already on their way to you.

Have a lovely, colourful autumn time.

Happy quilting,

Rita

Bat Block for Jai

Hello Jai,

I went as "Halloween" as I could, without any Halloween fabric!

I appreciate the challenge of getting the wings to mirror each other😉

Thanks for this fun tutorial and the lovely cat pictures!

Marie

Hive 1 September Friendship Star Block for Caitlin

 

Hi Caitlin,

HSTs and myself are not on friendly terms, nonetheless, I managed to get some Friendship Stars out of them. 😁

These blocks go on their way to you today.

Happy sewing,

Rita