I'm going to request the same block as I did last year. It's actually one I copied from another member, Cathleen, with only a change to the color scheme. Her excellent tutorial can be found here. I'm happy with either completed blocks, or just pieces as she originally requested!
My color inspiration is deep jewel tones like plum, deep green, and tangerine with cream or tan as possible contrast colors. I'd prefer to avoid black, white, and bright red. If you have them, all solids are great! However, tone-on-tone, blenders or even pops of patterns might add interest. 2-, 3-, or 4-color blocks are all welcome as well. Whatever you have within the color palette works for me! Thanks!
My original post from last year is here. Thanks again!
My grandmother is a badass lady. She raised four daughters
as a single mom. Like most women in my family, was a prolific sewist. For many
years, she made her living working at a furniture upholstery factory. She later
went on to work for a country western wear designer. She made curtains for all
her kids and many of her grandkids. She also used to crochet—she made everyone
in our family a crocheted blanket in their favorite colors. Many of these
skills were passed down in the family. As she got older and didn’t want to “put
as much stress on her body” she started working as a corrections officer at a
prison. She retired from the prison at age 75, but she continued to raise her
granddaughter in her home until she graduated from high school. Now that she’s
in her 80s and retired, she spends her time renovating houses. She also travels
regularly to Yuma, Arizona—where she recently renovated a garage into a
1-bedroom apartment--to spend time with her older sister who lives there in a
nursing home.
Grandma and me at my recent graduation
Grandma lives in a small 1-bedroom house that she has been
renovating for the last year and a half. She has several homemade quilts on her
beds—antiques that are wearing out. Despite her skills for sewing, she has
never been a quilter, only an avid fan of quilts. I want to make her a new bed quilt.
At one point, some 15 years ago, she bought these fat
quarters. I think she said they are from Walmart. She wanted to learn how to
quilt and make herself a nice bedspread. However, she gave them to me when I
started quilting. She told me that she doesn’t sew anymore and did not want the
fabrics to go to waste. I have had them for 4 years. This bundle is the inspiration
for the fabrics!
The Pattern:
My mom inherited a collection of quilt square patterns that
were cut out of the Kansas City Star newspaper in the 20s and 30s (even a few
in the 10s). These squares are now out of copyright, so they are in the public
domain! Yay! Last summer, we spent hours looking through this box of hundreds
of antique quilt square patterns and admiring them—quilters used to trace
templates onto tracing paper, cut out the individual shapes, and then stitch
these diamond shapes together by hand! Ain’t nobody got time for that these
days.
Swallows in the windows is one of my favorite squares from
the collection. It was originally designed by Eveline
Foland, and it was published in the Kansas City Star in 1930. Luckily, I
found a video by Sunrise Quilt Studio that shows you how to make the square
with modern sewing techniques. If you prefer a video tutorial over my written
one, please see the link below. I used the video to make the tutorial. The
measurements are the same.
Sunrise Quilt Studio Video:
Fabrics
We are using a blue monochrome color scheme. If you have
questions about “is this good?,” it’s probably great! I am not picky about
fabrics.
One Feature Fabric: This is a large square in the
center of the block. This great for showcasing fabric—pick a pretty pattern to
show off. It can be any color as long as it contains blue somewhere in the
pattern. Blue can be a dominant or an accent color. I do want this one to be a
print, not a solid or blender.
One White: (background): This can be solid white,
white-on-white, grey on white, or blue on white. After making two test blocks, I might suggest selecting a white that is low-contrast/not busy.
Three Different Blues: Pick three blues. They can be
dark, medium, or light blue. They can be solids blenders, or patterns. They can
also contain other colors, as long as they read as blue.
Feature Fabrics
Whites
Blues
Cutting
Feature Fabric (the window): cut one 8½ inch square (piece A).
Blue 1 (the window frame): Cut two 6 5/8 square, then
cute them in half on the diagonal. My cutting mat and ruler does not have 1/8th makers, so I rounded up to 7inches You should have four triangle pieces (pieces
B)
Blue 2 (the swallows): Cut four 3 inch squares. Cut 2
on the diagonal. Now, you have two 3” squares and four small triangle (pieces
C)
Blue 2 (the swallows): Cut eight 2½ squares in the
same color (pieces D)
Blue 3 (the swallows): Cut four 3 inch squares. Cut 2
on the diagonal. Now, you have two 3” squares and four small triangle (pieces
E)
Blue 3 (the swallows): Cut eight 2½ squares in the
same color (pieces F).
White (background): cut four 3 inch squares, then sub cut them on the diagonal. You now have eight triangles (pieces I).
White (background): Cut eight 2 ½ x 4 ½ strips for
flying geese (pieces G).
White (background): Cut four 2 ½ inch squares (pieces
H)
Piecing the Block
1.Make the Economy Block:
a.find the center of pieces A and B. Fold piece A
in half and in half again. Finger press or lightly use your iron to leave a
crease in the center of all four sides.
b.Then fold piece B in half and crease to mark the
center. Be careful not to stretch the fabric on the bias.
c.Line up the center of piece B and the center of
piece A. Sew right sides together. Start by sewing piece B to opposite sides of
piece A. Then add remaining pieces B to the other two sides of A. Press toward
pieces B.
d.Square up the economy block by lining up the
seam with your 45 degree angle on your ruler and cutting so that piece B is 1/4
inch wide at the centers of the sides. (This is hard to explain see the picture
below) This ecomemy square is now 11 3/4 inches square.
finding the centers
first sides sewn
four sides sewn
squaring up on the 45 degree mark
2.Make Flying Geese Units:
a.Pull out pieces G, F, and D.
b.On the wrong sides of D and F, draw a line
horizontally.
c.Sew piece D onto the left corner of piece G
along the line you drew with right sides together.
d.Trim off the excess and press toward the dark
side.
e.Repeat for Piece F. Each Flying Geese block will
be made with two colors and have the same orientation, D on the left and F on
the right making a point at the top of the flying geese.
g.Square these units to the original 2 ½ x 4 ½
size.
First line of the flying geese
second line of the flying geese
completed flying geese
3.Make Half Square Triangles:
a.Pull out the C and E squares.
c.Matching right sides together, carefully line up
piece C and E. Sew them together 1/4 from both sides of the drawn line.
d.Cut them down the line you drew and press to the
darker Fabric.
e.Square these to 2 ½ inches
HSTs sewn and cut apart
HSTs squared
4.Assemble the swallows unit
a.Pull out C and E triangles. In this step, pay attention to the orientation of colors--this is where I messed up and had to rip seams.
b.Sew triangle E to the each HST with right sides
together. Sew the straight side (not bias) onto the side HST with the opposite
color. Press toward the triangle pieces.
c.Sew triangle C to the each HST with right sides
together. Sew the straight side (not bias) onto the side HST with the opposite
color. Press toward the triangle pieces. Each Swallow should be shaped like a
bigger triangle with an HST in the middle. All of the swallows should be the
same.
5.Assemble the four corners of the block
a.Lay out each of corners of your block. You will
need one H square, two H triangles, two flying geese, and a swallows unit for
each corner. You will place the H in the position that forms the right
triangle. You will use the H triangles to flank each corner and form the two 45
degree angles.
b.With right sides together, sew the H squares to
the smaller side of one of your flying geese. Press toward the Flying geese
unit.
d.Sew the swallows unit to the flying geese unit
without the corner square. Trim off the dog ears. TPress toward the flying gees unit.
e.Nest the seams to sew the assembled triangle to
the corner row with right sides together. Press however you’d prefer.
e. Sew the straight sides of the H triangle onto the other side of the flying geese units. Press toward the triangle
f.Square up each corner by trimming 1/4inch from the corners of the HST and flying
geese (see image). You now have a window (economy block) and four corners with
swallows.
6.Assemble the block.
a.Use a pin to link up the seam of the HST with
the corner of your window.
b.Sew the first two corners on opposites sides
being careful not to stretch the bias edges. Press open or toward the window
(whichever feels less bulky to you). Remember to be careful because the seams
are on the bias.
c.In the same manner, sew on the other two
corners. Press toward the window.
d.Don't worry about squaring up. The video said they would come out to 16.5 inches, but mine were 16.25.
June is here! I love June, it’s my birthday month, when I was a kid it meant summer vacation was finally here, and the long days are just good for the soul!
I have had this block on my Pinterest board for years and when I saw someone in another hive used it for their block this year, I decided to give it a shot, finally.
This is a super easy block to assemble. There are a lot of pieces, but it goes together quickly and is a great use of those small scraps you’ve got laying around.
I used this advanced chain piecing also known as web piecing (and probably other things as well) for the 16 patches. Assemble them however you prefer, but I thought I would share for anyone who is interested and hasn’t tried this method. https://youtu.be/qE7KKaS5p-8?si=ADB0Qz5b-0JStY7n
You will need the following fabric:
Forty (40) 2-1/2” squares in a nice mix of colorful prints. Just about anything goes but I would like to avoid browns, blacks, greys, and anything that reads mostly white. Batiks are cool. Licensed fabric are fine. Holiday is acceptable (preferably not majority holiday).
Two (2) 4-1/2” squares from low volume fabric with white background or white or white on white.
Two (2) 4-1/2 “ by 8-1/2” rectangles from low volume fabric with white background or white or white on white.
Here’s my pull of prints:
I played and moved things around and tried out a bunch of layouts and even did a few (unnecessary, but really fun) fussy cuts to show of some of my favorite scraps.
I sewed each of the 4 patches to a white square
And then assembled the block in two rows and the two rows into a block:
I hope you have as much fun putting this together as I did! Enjoy!
This month I'm asking for trees to go through a woodland quilt, specifically Aspen so I hope you still have some black and white.
This is my inspiration photo but I'm going for more of a fall theme so I'll be laying the trunks out over some fabrics from the Through the Woods line rather than a green background.
This is the third time, or maybe the fourth, that I have been a part of StashBee. They have not been consecutive times so that is where the discrepancy comes in.
I am originally from New Jersey but now live in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. If any of you are familiar with the reality show “Moonshiners”, Mark and Digger are from the county that I live in.
My block is called Antique Tile and is a nine patch block variation. The pattern that I used was from www.quilterscache.com/A/AntiqueTileBlock.html.
The block finishes at 12 1/2” which includes the seam allowance.
EDITED TO ADD
The colors shown are just the ones that I grabbed. Feel free to use any fabrics you like. The yellow fabric is just to have a “constant” throughout the quilt.
I love scrappy quilts that have some kind of unifying element, and that is where the yellow comes in.
Brights, low volume, wild, sedate, calm, loud…..all fabrics are allowed to play.
Just only use three fabrics in your block.
Thank you.
You will need three fabrics:
A. Yellow
B and C. A lighter and a darker shade of your favorite color
The cutting is as follows:
From all three fabrics cut four rectangles that are 2 1/2” x 4 1/2”.
From the two shades of your color cut four squares that are 2 1/2” x 2 1/2”.
From the lighter of your color cut one square that is 4 1/2” x 4 1/2”.
Lay out your pictures as below:
Since this is a nine patch variation the way I constructed it was by piecing the squares together first:
After that I sewed the yellow and dark rectangles and the squares and rectangles from the corners together to create squares:
Sorry, it seems that I didn’t take a picture of the four corner squares before I started sewing the blocks together.
Once the squares were done I started the assembly of the block. I like “webbing” my blocks whenever possible…I think it helps me keep things straight.
I took the first two squares of each row and sewed them together:
When that was done I added the last square onto each row:
Then it was just a matter of sewing each row together to complete the block:
I am looking forward to seeing what your favorite colors are.
Green is not my favorite color……but you wouldn’t know that by the amount of green fabric I have in my stash! LOL I thought I better start using it so I can make room for more yellows and pinks.
Hope you have fun with this block and that your summer is fun filled.
Here is a perfect example... Log cabin quilt blocks. There is practically nothing more traditional than this block. It has really been around since forever. And today when I was thinking about what kind of block I wanted my Hive 4 bee mates to make for me in June, I thought this would be spot on.
So, naturally I went looking online for something that would suit my modern-ish tastes and conform to our Stash Bee Rules. Lucky me, I found Gracey Larson at Burlap and Blossom who offers a free pattern.
I love love love it. It is sew very straightforward. There are absolutely no angles, no surprises, and no tricky paper piecing. It. Is. Just. Cut. And. Sew!
You are welcome.
My wish list for June
1. 12.5” unfinished block
2. White background. I would prefer solid white if you have it in your stash…but, if not then white on white or very low volume is fine with me.
2. Please use bright modern fabrics for the logs. Use either solids or prints that read as solids. See my test block at the top of this post and the example in the tutorial for examples made with prints and a solid white background.
3. You can use the same colour more than once if you like, or make every log different.
That’s it… easy peasy, lemon squeezy. If you have problems downloadin or finding the link please shoot me a message at Freckledfoxquiltery@gmail.com or on IG @freckledfoxquiltery.
Hi Molli! I really followed my "whims" on this one, using up some scraps, and it ended up being much more than 11" in one direction. Hope that's okay! I'll get it mailed out after this weekend.
I didn’t realize until I got going on this how limited I am on gray fabrics. I hope this kind of variegated gray goes ok! (Can we pretend your leading is a little dusty/grimy just in some places?) I can’t wait to see it all; your massive stained glass is going to be amazing!
This is such a quick and easy block to make but when you put them all together, they are going to have such a "wow" factor. I can't wait until you finish this project. It's going to be stunning.
