Hive 5 January Tutorial - Five Crosses

HIVE FIVE. Are you ready? With this tutorial, I'm kicking off our Stash Bee year of awesome. The words that keep running through my head are, "This year is going to rock."

1. Name: 

Audrey. 

2. Where you live: 

Central Illinois surrounded by CORN.

3. Tell us about your family: 

I have an amazing husband-dude of almost ten years, plus three small boys who are super fun.

4. Tell us about your pets: 

No pets. (I'm allergic to most animals, which is SAD.)

5. How long have you been quilting? 

Three years. Ish.

6. What crafts do you do other than quilting? 

I used to do a bunch, but now I focus mostly on sewing, although I do dabble in apparel and bag making as well.

7. Fabric line you want to buy next: 

Chipper from Tula Pink because I can't quit my Tula love.

8. Preferred quilting method (FMQ, long arm, hand, etc.): 

I am really boring when it comes to quilting. Like, really boring. Straight line echo quilting is my bread and butter, but I also love handquilting, especially in conjunction with straight line quilting.

9. Where we can find you on social media:  

blog hotpinkquilts.blogspot.com; instagram: hotpinkquilts; flickr: hotpinkquilts

10. Favorite book: 

TOO HARD. I'm a YA author and former bookseller, so I read a lot, especially YA. A few of my favorites are Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, Savvy by Ingrid Law, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. As for authors, I'm currently excited about Brandon Sanderson, Rainbow Rowell, and Melina Marchetta.

11. Favorite show to binge watch: 

Right now? Star Trek: Next Gen or Sherlock. I am SOOOOO excited for tonight!

Onto BLOCK AMAZINGNESS. I'd like y'all to make me a Five Crosses block. I saw this block randomly on instagram, and I loved it so. I figured, it'll be easy to find a tutorial, right? WRONG. (That being said, if you know of one/find one, please don't tell me! I think I would cry!)

My goal is to make a throw-size quilt for a friend of mine who has been having a bit of a rough time. She loves blues and greens and blue-greens, so that's the palette I've selected. I ask that you keep the colors saturated, not pastels, like the fabrics pulled above. I'm not particular about which color goes where. Use two blues! Or two greens! Or mix blue-green in there somewhere! Just please make sure they contrast well. Also, I pressed my seams open, but I'm not particular about how you press yours.

You'll need: 

FABRIC A (blue in my pictures)

(8) 2.5" squares

(12) 2.5" x 3.5" rectangles

FABRIC B (green in my pictures)

(6) 2.5" squares

(5) 2.5" x 6.5" rectangles

1. You might be able to figure out how the block is pieced just from the photo, but in case you'd like some instruction, here's where to start: piece the center cross first, using (4) fabric A 2.5" squares plus (2) fabric B 2.5" squares and (1) fabric B 2.5" x 6.5" rectangle.

2. After that is completed, attach a 2.5" x 6.5" fabric B rectangle to the top and bottom of the cross. You'll need to piece the left and right sides, which are each composed of (2) fabric A 2.5" squares and (1) fabric B 2.5" x 6.5" rectangles. Once all four sides are attached to the center cross from step 1, set piece aside.

3. There are four corner units, which are each sewn up using (3) fabric A 2.5" x 3.5" rectangles and (1) fabric B 2.5" square. Two fabric A rectangles attach to the left and right side of the fabric B square. A third fabric A rectangle should be centered and attached to the top of the pieced rectangle.

4. Grab your center piece and lay out the block. The four corner units will need to be positioned around the center bit, then attached. One way of centering the corner units properly is to fold both the center square and the corner units in half. (You'll see I folded one right sides together and one wrong sides together so that they will nestle.) Pin and sew.

5. Your finished product before trimming will look like this. I would love it if you sent them untrimmed, but if you really really want to trim it, the block is 12" unfinished.

Thanks for all of your help, hive 5! I am looking forward to your interpretation.

Hive 3 January Tutorial - Holiday Wreaths

Hello and Happy New Year to everyone! I'm Diana from Red Delicious Life and I'm the Hive Mama for Hive 3. Here's a little bit about me before we jump into this month's block. Be sure to include your own answers when you post your January block.

1. Name: Diana, aka Red Delicious - a nickname given to me by my husband
2. Where you live: Orlando Florida
3. Family: My husband and I have a 5 year old son
4. Pets: We have 3 cats. Emma is our lover of finished quilts, Gideon is my free motion quilting inspector, and Oliver is our youngest who thinks he's human and loves to help me with every aspect of sewing.
5. How long have you been quilting? My mother was a seamstress, so I've always known how to sew but didn't start quilting until 2012.
6. What crafts do you do other than quilting? I've been knitting for more than 25 years.
7. Fabric line you want to buy next: I don't have a specific fabric line in mind, but I'm a pushover for Bonnie & Camille fabrics.
8. Preferred quilting method: I love to free motion quilt and would someday like to master long arm quilting.
9. Where we can find you on social media: I'm on instagram, pinterest, and flickr.
10. Favorite book: My favorite classic would be To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. My favorite contemporary books would be A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, The Harry Potter Books by JK Rowling, and The Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones) by George RR Martin.
11. Favorite show to binge watch: Right now I'm binge watching The West Wing. I'm only 16 years behind most of the population.

Okay, enough about me. Onto the fun stuff!

January's Block
I thought long and hard on what project to have all of my bee-mates help me with and I realized I really wanted a Christmasy quilt as part of my holiday decorations for next year. I scoured Pinterest and some of my favorite blogs for ideas and I found an adorable wreath block from Popular Patchwork. Here is my variation of it:

Wreath #1 (uses 4 different colored fabrics)

You can check out the original tutorial in the link above, but since I've resized it, please follow the tutorial in this blog post. 

Fabric Selection and Inspiration
I have a lot of holiday fabrics in my stash. Below are some of the ones that I really like. I made my wreaths primarily green with some hints of red but red wreaths will work as well. And don't fret if you don't have holiday fabrics. Anything red or green will be great.

I'd like the background fabric to be from low volume prints (Not sure what I mean by the term low volume? Click here to learn more!). Below is what I've pulled from my stash. I'd prefer those that are predominantly cream, white, and gray. For this project, I'd stay away from stark black and white prints if possible.

Now that you've got an idea of the fabrics to use, let's get to the tutorial on how to make this block.


Tutorial
This block will measure 14.5" (unfinished) and is made up of half square triangle (HST) blocks and quarter square triangle (QST) blocks. If you're comfortable with making these, then you're going to breeze through this. But don't worry if they're new to you -- I'm going to walk you through everything step by step. Also, I've made this precut friendly, using 5-inch charm squares.


What You'll Need:

• 8 colored 5-inch charm squares - these can be green, red, a combination of both, or a cheery holiday print.  This pattern works best with at least 4 different fabrics, or you can make each charm square a different fabric. It's totally up to you and what you have in your stash. To give you an idea of how the finished wreath will look, the photo at the top (wreath #1) uses 4 different green prints. The finished wreaths at the end of this post (wreaths #2 & #3) use 8. 

• 8 low volume 5-inch charm (LV) squares - since I have a large stash of low volume charm squares, I used 8 different prints but you can use however many you wish. I like the scrappier look of all the different prints. (cutting note: if you're using yardage instead of charm squares, 4 of your LV squares can be cut to 4" x 4" as these will be the corner blocks.)

Step 1 - Making Half Square Triangles with Colored Prints

We need 3 sets of colored HSTs so choose 6 prints and pair them together, placing right sides together.

On the first pair, draw a line down the diagonal of the square.  Sew a 1/4 inch on either side of the line.

Cut on the diagonal line (between your stitching) and press both HSTs. I like to press these to one side so that I can nest them later on. Repeat this with the other 2 pairs until you have 3 sets of HSTs like this:

6 colored HSTs

Don't worry about trimming any of the blocks yet. I'll have you do that once we get all the units pieced.


Step 2 - Making Half Square Triangles with Low Volume prints

Take your 2 remaining colored print charms and pair them each with a low volume charm square. Just like before, draw a line down the diagonal of the square, sew a 1/4 inch on either side of the line, cut and press.

4 low volume HSTs

Step 3 - Making the Center of the Wreath

Select 2 of the colored HSTs and pair each of these with a low volume charm square. The HST will be slightly smaller than the low volume charm square, so just center it. You will draw your line diagonally on the colored HST bisecting the seam. Again, sew a 1/4 inch on either side of the line.

You will make 2 of these

Cut on the diagonal line (between your stitching) and press to the low volume side.

These will become the center of the wreath. Set aside.

The 4 units that will make the wreath center

Step 4 - Making the Quarter Square Triangles 

We will now be pairing up the remaining colored HSTs (4) with the Low Volume HSTs to make QSTs.

Place a colored HST right sides together with a low volume HST, lining up the seams. If you pressed your seams to one side, they should nest up together.

Pin in place and draw a diagonal line bisecting the seam. Sew a 1/4 inch on either side of the line.

Cut on the line and press seams open to reduce bulk. Repeat this for the other 3 sets.

You should now have 8 QSTs.

Step 5 - Trimming the blocks and putting it all together

All of your block components are now sewn, so the last thing to do is trim them all to 4" square and sew it all together. Here is how I trim my HST and QST blocks down to size. I use a ruler that has a 45 degree diagonal line on it, and lay that on the diagonal of the block and make sure that the 2 inch mark lines up with the center point of the block.

Once all of your blocks are trimmed down to 4" square, lay out your blocks as follows, adding your 4 remaining low volume squares in each of the corners:

I sewed them together in quadrants of 4, pressing all seams open to reduce bulk. Your finished block should measure 14.5" square. It's not necessary for you to trim them to size. I'll take care of it once I have all of the blocks together and am ready to add sashing. Here are my other finished blocks.

Wreath #2 (uses 8 different colored fabrics)

Wreath #3 (uses 8 different colored fabrics)

I can't wait to see what everyone creates, and if you have ANY questions whatsoever, please don't hesitate to ask for clarification. I've tried to make this tutorial as clear as possible, even making 3 finished wreaths in the process of testing it.

Happy Sewing!

Hive 8 January Tutorial

Happy New Year Hive 8!  After the craziness of the holidays I am ready to have a play date with my sewing machine, but before we start, Alison has asked us to start our month as Queen Bee by answering the following questions instead of posing a question:

1. Name: Laura

2. Where you live: Loris, SC (20 miles from Myrtle Beach, SC)

3. Tell us about your family: I am married to my best friend and we have three daughters.

4. Tell us about your pets: We currently have no pets which is unusual for us.  We took in and adopted several pets when the girls were still home. Now my husband is a transplant patient and cannot be around animals.

5. How long have you been quilting?  I made my first quilt when I was 10 and my next when I left teaching to help care for my husband while we waited on a kidney transplant.  The first was all hand stitched with my grandmother watching over my shoulder.  I still have it. :)

6. What crafts do you do other than quilting?  I have dabbled in knitting and crocheting but my sewing machines always call my name.

7. Fabric line you want to buy next: This is the year I sew from my stash, so it would really have to knock my socks off for me to buy it.  Quilt backing does not count, right? Neither does Carolyn Freidlander or Alison Glass?  Bottom line, I like it I will buy it, but I am not anxiously awaiting the release of a fabric collection.

8. Preferred quilting method (FMQ, long arm, hand, etc.): My goal in 2016 is to learn to FMQ on my sewing machine.  Did I say I have 17 quilt tops waiting to be quilted?

9. Where we can find you on social media:  Instagram @1lousypetunia (I have very few posts but hope to get better at it in 2016)

10. Favorite book: Tough question as I have so many.  The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Warner ranks at the top.  I checked it out of the library so many times in elementary school that the librarian bought me a copy to keep. Embarrassing!

11. Favorite show to binge watch:  Gilmore Girls or Big Bang Theory

Okay, on to the fun stuff, for this month, I would like you to make a star block.   I recently finished piecing my Moda Modern Building Blocks quilt top and after working with all the tiny star points, I was not going to ask you to make star blocks where you had to stress over keeping the points.  This is supposed to be fun!

This is my first attempt at a tutorial, so ask questions if I am not clear.  

This is my fabric pull, teals and low volume.  (The weather is so dreary that this is not the best picture, but hopefully you get the idea or recognize the fabric.  They really are teal and not as aqua as the picture makes them look.  If the weather is better today, I will try again and edit so you can see more clearly) I am not asking for these fabrics, but fabrics in this color family.

Cutting list:

8 - 5" squares of low volume, as scrappy as your stash will allow.  If you are using fabric with black in it, just be sure it is not too over powering.

These are cut from the same teal fabric
1 - 5" square
8 - 3" squares


Draw a diagonal line on the back of each 3" square.  Sew one square on the right bottom corner of four of the low volume 5" squares. Stitch on the drawn line then trim 1/4" on the corner side of the line of stitching. (Make sure you are trimming on the corner side and not the block side. ) Flip to the right side and press the seam toward the teal fabric.  Now stitch a 3" square to the left side overlapping the one you just did.

Trim seam to 1/4" and press with seam toward the teal fabric.

Your square should measure 5" (trim if necessary.)  Layout the nine squares and sew each row.  If you press the seams toward the sides on the top and bottom rows and toward the center square on the middle row, the seams will nest and the block will stay nice and flat.

Your block should measure 14".

I cannot wait to see what you come up with. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Happy Sewing!

Hive 4 January Tutorial

Hello fellow bees!  Welcome to the 2016 Stash Bee!  If you haven't participated before, you are in for a fun year!  If you have, welcome back!  You know the fun in store :).


My name is Katie,and I get the privilege of being your Hive Mama this year.  Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions/problems.  I look forward to the creativity in store this year!

For my block this month, this star pattern, used by a few people last year, has really caught my eye.  I've wanted to have a quilt made in red and white for a while.  This provides the perfect opportunity!  You can see in the tutorial all the steps, but I have provided a simplified version below.


Cutting instructions:

Background 1 (white):

4 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" stripes
4 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" squares

Background 2 (white):
4 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" strips
8 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" strips

Main 1 (red):
8 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares
8 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" squares

Main 2 (red):
8 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares

For nine-patch
4 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares of white
5 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares of different reds (can use same as Main 1 and 2, but would also like different reds

Construct the nine patch block first (pressing seams towards the darker color), then mark a line from corner to corner on each of the squares of the main red colors.  You will then sew the red squares as follows:

Main 1 2 1/2" go on each side of Background 1 6 1/2" strips

Main 1 1 1/2" go on Background 2 1 1/2" strips

Main 2 2 1/2" go on each side of Background 2 4 1/2" strips

(press all seams towards the darker color)

The trick to sewing all these corners will be to make sure that you sew them at the appropriate angles (see pictures).

Once you have all the pieces together, it becomes very easy to put them all together!

And now, answers to the questions!

1.  Katie C.
2.  Hartford, CT
3.  I grew up in Clemson, SC, and that's where my parents and siblings still live.
4.  I have one kitty cat named Mietz.
5.  I've been quilting for 6 years.  I started with T-shirt quilts and have moved to other types of quilts.
6.  I have knitted and done cross-stitch, but my favorite crafting/creating besides quilting is home remodeling.  I re-did my bathroom last year and love it!
7.  I really like the Camelot Design Studio, especially the Zoey line.
8.  Machine quilting, though I will have a go at hand quilting this year.
9.  I only have Facebook, but would be happy to be friends!
10. Not just one book, but the Outlander series is absolutely my favorite!
11. I just finished watching The Newsroom, and love it!!!

Hope you have fun!!

Hive 9 January Tutorial - Plus Banner Block

Happy New Year and welcome to a new year of the Stash Bee; I would like to extend an especially warm welcome to my Hive 9 bee members! My name is Yvonne and I will be leading Hive 9 in 2016.

For January, we will all be filling out a "Get to know you survey". When you post about your finished block for January, please answer these questions so everyone in the hive can get to know one another better.

1. Name: Yvonne Fuchs (aka Quilting Jetgirl)

2. Where you live: Tehachapi, CA - a mountain pass town in the very southern edge of the Sierra Nevada mountain range

3. Tell us about your family: I have been married to my husband for 12 years. My mother is a quilter, and my husband's cousin's wife (that's a mouthful) is also a quilter. The 3 of us are sharing a bed and breakfast room together when we attend QuiltCon in Pasadena in February!

4. Tell us about your pets: I have a 13 year old, black and white (tuxedo) cat named Puppy. When my husband and I were dating, I had moved into my first apartment after college and started my first full time job. I wanted a pet, and set out to find a kitten. My boyfriend (at the time) really would have preferred I get a puppy, but as I was the one picking the animal out (and paying for it!), I got a cat. I did let him name him, however. Our vet loves this story and apparently tells it to other vets across the country when he goes to conventions.

5. How long have you been quilting? I started my first quilt in 1995, but I have been really active as a quilter since 2008.

6. What crafts do you do other than quilting? I have recently been making a lot of knotted embroidery floss friendship bracelets (I made a lot of them as a teenager). I dabble in other crafts, but my true crafting outlet is quilting.

7. Fabric line you want to buy next: I don't tend to ever want to buy an entire fabric line. The exception to that is that I am seriously tempted to buy a full bolt of a full line of solids.

8. Preferred quilting method (FMQ, long arm, hand, etc.): I own a long arm, and I like to FMQ on my long arm. I also love matchstick straight line quilting. And just because I own a long arm doesn't mean I quilt everything with it; I still like to FMQ with my domestic for smaller pieces.

9. Where we can find you on social media:
Blog, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, and Periscope (@QuiltingJetgirl). Whew!

10. Favorite book: Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card

11. Favorite show to binge watch: I don't own or watch TV! I quilt!

I am super excited about this block, which I am calling the Plus Banner Block. It will be 14 1/2" square unfinished and ready to ship to me (14" square finished in a quilt top). I designed this block when I was on vacation last September, and it is a great block to use to hone your accurate, consistent quarter inch seam allowances.

I was inspired by a color palette I saw on October 1, 2015, on Kitty @Night Quilter's blog. She pulls gorgeous color palettes for inspiration once a week using her amazing photography coupled with the palette builder tool created by Anne @play-crafts.

For this block, please select one mid- to dark tone blue in the "blue jean" colorway (slightly gray). Carolyn Friedlander prints on the upper right of the image are especially good at capturing this shade of blue. I have extended out the color range indicated in the color palette to go darker through a couple of Tula Pink True Color prints as indicated in the upper left of my fabric pull. The solid blue in the image above is Kona Prussian, for reference.

You will also need one mid-tone pink to light burgundy. I would prefer to stay darker in color and tone and away from very light pink if possible.

For the background fabric, you will need one white to off white fabric that falls in the Kona White to Kona Snow range. White on white prints are also OK, but please try to avoid low volume prints if you can; I would like the background to read as close to a solid white as possible.

Prints that read as a solid or solids are welcome in your fabric selection, and I hope my fabric pull image above is helpful.

Fabric Requirements

Background Fabric (white):

• (2) 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" squares
• (4) 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" squares
• (8) 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares
• (4) 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangles

Blue Fabric:

• (2) 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" squares
• (4) 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" squares

Pink Fabric:

• (2) 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares
• (1) 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangle

Fabric Requirements / Fabric Prep for Plus Banner Block Piecing

Piecing Instructions

Step 1 - Half Square Triangles (HSTs)

Combine the (2) white and (2) blue 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" squares and (4) white and (4) blue 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" squares, right sides together, as shown in the photo above. Draw a line corner to corner on the wrong side of each white square.

Sew a seam 1/4" away from both sides of the drawn line. Press to set seam [optional]. Cut along the drawn line. Press seam open. 

Note about pressing seams for this block: I would prefer if all seams are pressed open. As I mentioned earlier, this block is all about sewing a consistent 1/4" seam allowance (and not a scant 1/4" seam). I think that if you piece with a 50wt thread or thinner and press your seams open, this block will come together very precisely. I have a blog post about a tip I use when I plan to press my seams open.

Trim the (4) larger HSTs to 4 1/2" square and the (8) smaller HSTs to 2 1/2" square.

Step 2 - Arrange Blocks

Arrange your blocks as shown in the photograph above, taking care with the orientation of the HSTs. The block will be pieced in 3 columns: the two sides of the block and the center of the block.

Step 3 - Piece Sides of Block

Sew together a 2 1/2" square HST, 2 1/2" square background fabric, and 2 1/2" square HST to create a 2 1/2" wide by 6 1/2" long unit for each side as shown in the photo above. Press seams open.

Note that from this step forward, it is important to sew an accurate 1/4" seam allowance (and not a scant 1/4" seam allowance).

Sew a background fabric 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangle to the side of a pieced 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangle pieced in the previous step. Refer to photo above for orientation. The pieced unit should measure 4 1/2" wide x 6 1/2" tall. Press seam open.

Sew a 4 1/2" square HST to the top and bottom of the 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangle pieced in the previous step. Refer to photo above for orientation. The pieced unit should measure 4 1/2" wide x 14 1/2" tall. Press seams open.

Step 4 - Piece Center of Block

Piece together the (4) rows of 2 1/2" squares and HSTs to create (7) 6 1/2" wide x 2 1/2" tall rectangles as shown in the photograph above. Press seams open.

Sew the (7) 6 1/2" x 2 1/2" rows together to create a 6 1/2" wide x 14 1/2" tall pieced center for the block. Press seams open.

Step 5 - Finish Piecing Plus Banner Block

Sew together the (3) column rectangles to create a 14 1/2" square Plus Banner Block. Press seams open.

A quick note about directional prints and HSTs. If you choose a very directional print for your blue and if you care to do so, it is a simple matter to get the print to be oriented in the same direction in all your HSTs.

Step 1 - Arrange all your Blue squares with the directional print going in the same direction.

Step 2 - When laying your background fabric on top of the squares (with your pre-marked line corner to corner), place half of the background fabric squares with the line going from the upper left to the lower right and the other half with the line going from the lower left to the upper right.

Step 3 - Continue with the earlier piecing instructions, noting that as you place your HSTs for the block layout, you should be able to get all the prints going in the same direction in the block. Again, this is not something I am asking you to do. I just thought I would point it out if it interests you. :)

I went ahead and used all the fabric from my initial fabric pull to create (5) Plus Banner blocks, and I am looking forward to creating a fun quilt top using what you send me!

When put together, the Plus Banner Blocks make a fun secondary pattern in a quilt top. Thank you so much for sewing with me!