Hive 9 January Block for Yvonne

Hi, Everyone!  Happy New Year!  This is my third year in Stash Bee and I LOVE it.

This month we were asked to make a block, well I made two, for Yvonne from a pattern that she created.  Sweet!

Then we were asked to answer the following questions, so here goes it....

1.  Name:  Christina

2.  Where you live:  Central New Jersey

3.  Tell us about your family:  I am a single mom of one AMAZING son, who is finishing his last semester of college this spring. Yeah!

4.  Tell us about your pets:  I don't have any pets at the moment.

5.  How long have you been quilting:  I started quilting about 25 years ago, but only really active and passionate about it since 2011. 

6.  What crafts do you do other than quilting: I have dabbled in crafts all my life.  I can make something about almost anything!  I used to do a ton o scrapbooking.  I have tons of supplies and many albums to catch up on, but quilting is my passion at the moment.

7.  Fabric line you want to by next:  Well I started 2015 with a vow to sew my stash.  That worked until the summer and then I've been a bit crazy purchasing stuff since.  So....I need to put myself on a strict budget for 2016 of stash only, with the exception of a few basic solids like white, black, navy and snow; when what I have runs out.  

8.  Preferred quilting method:  By checkbook!!!!  I can quilt straight line, waves, circles...most anything with my walking foot, by FMQ is just not what I enjoy.

9.  Where we can find you on social media:  Well I started a blog, FellingSewBlessed.blogspot.com; however, I haven't blogged in sometime.  Blogging is one of my Sewing goals in 2016.  Drop by and follow me, so you can cheer me on throughout the year. ;)

10.  Favorite Book:  WOW!   That's a tough one!  I wasn't much of a reader when I was younger but a friend gave me The Horse Whisper to read in my late 20's.  I've been an avid reader ever since.  I like most Nicolas Sparks books, but my favorite of his was Message in a Bottle.  I guess I'd have to say my all time favorite is Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson.  I just reread it for the third time over the break.  LOL.

11.  Favorite show to binge watch:  I don't have TV or internet at home; using the money to pay for my quilting/sewing habits. ;)  When I do get the chance to watch TV, I like Gilmore Girls and oldies with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis and the likes.

Well I hope you now know a bit about me.  Looking forward to an amazing 2016!!!

TTFN!

Christina 

Hive 8 - January Block

Hello everyone,
Pleased to meet you and pleased to be here at 'Stash Bee' this year. Here the completed Star Block in teal as requested by January Queen Bee Laura from Hive 8.

Laura, I hope you like it. I had meant to make the star scrappy as well but my stash surprised me in not providing as many teal coloured fabrics as I thought I had. I will put it in the mail next week and subsequently up-date this post as to the exact date it went out.

Block mailed on 08/01/2016

Happy sewing everyone.
=)


Stash Bee Q&A

1. Name: Katrin

2. Where you live: Berlin in Germany

3. Tell us about your family: 

I am on my own at the moment, never been married and no kids. My parents and my sister also live in Berlin so they are close by. And I have aunts and cousins galore. 

4. Tell us about your pets: 

I do not have any pets but would love to have cats. As I am living in a small apartement without garden access and am working full time, I think it would not be fair on the cats to have them living in such conditions.

5. How long have you been quilting? On and off since 2008.

6. What crafts do you do other than quilting: 

I learn to play the Ukulele and enjoy cooking, though neither are crafts strictly speaking..., well, I do carve rubber stamps on occasion.

7. Fabric line you want to buy next: 

The reprint of  'Mendocino' by Heather Ross for Windham Fabrics. I love this line and missed it the first time round.

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

Actually not at all, I am so much more interested in piecing than quilting. If I had the choice, I would give all my quilts to professional quilters for the quilting bit. I have checked, there are a total of 4 long arm machines in all of Germany, which have of course been imported from the USA. Therefore, I am stuck with quilting on my domestic little sewing machine. It is a bit of a chore and so far I have not progressed past straight lines mostly. FMQ is definitely on my to-do-list of useful skills to master though.

9. Where we can find you on social media: puppilalla.blogspot.com

10. Favorite book: 

Where to even start... at the moment... 'Perdido Street Station' by China Mieville for gritty and complex urban fantasy and as far as grown-up books are concerned the German edition of 'En Finir avec Eddy Bellegueule' by Édouard Louis (The book is not due to come out in English for a while yet, Amazon quotes March 2017).

11. Favorite show to binge watch: 

I don't binge watch as TV is not my thing. But I binge hear while sewing for example drabblecast or radiolab podcasts.

Hive #1--Pineapple Block

Here is the block I made for Alison ... it was fast and pushed my plain yellow stash to its limits =)  I have lots of other yellows, but with other color accents.  It's lighter than I wanted, but it turned out OK.  Can't wait to see how you work this cheerful block into your whole!

1. Name:  Heather Karr

2. Where you live:  Springfield, Oregon

3. Tell us about your family:  This year I'll celebrate my 24th anniversary.  We have 3 children: 18, 15 and 13.

4. Tell us about your pets:  Up until a couple of weeks ago, we had 2 cats who were born in our home about 5 years ago now.  Over winter break my oldest adopted a puppy from a friend and he is a doll--Great Pyrenees/Anatolian mix.  I swear he's grown at least 6 inches in the last week ...

5. How long have you been quilting?  I've been quilting almost 5 years now.  When I started blogging, I found the quilting blogs and re-fell in love.  I didn't know anyone who could teach me growing up, but with the online community I could teach myself--so liberating!

6. What crafts do you do other than quilting?  I crochet mostly, sew clothing, toll paint (just a little) and someday I'll finish scrapbooks for my kiddos.

7. Fabric line you want to buy next:  Since I started my new job last fall, I've been splurging and now feel quite satisfied with my collection =)  That said, I am still crushing on Carolyn Friedlander's Doe.  It would make a good quilt for the boy ...

8. Preferred quilting method (FMQ, long arm, hand, etc.):  I mostly stick to straight line quilting on my home machine; if I want anything fancy I send it out to the longarmer.  Someday I hope to have the space to get my own longarm to play on in my free time.

9. Where we can find you on social media:  areformedheathn.blogspot.com is my blog, but I also check into Instagram (areformedheathn) and Facebook (Heather H. Karr).  I'm on Flickr, too, but never really check it.

10. Favorite book:  This one is hard because I'm a big reader and I used to work in a bookstore ... I love classics like To Kill a Mockingbird (both as a student and a teacher,) but I read police mystery and suspense when I get the chance.  I also love cookbooks and sewing books (of course.)

11. Favorite show to binge watch:  Netflix is great.  I recently finished NCIS.  I love that genre--I also own Bones and Alias on DVD, so I often turn to those too.

Hive 4, January Block

I'm turning over a new leaf...starting afresh...trying not to be behind.  I get a feeling this block isn't quite right, so I figured I'll let everyone have a look and then I've got a little time to redo if there is a problem.

What is the intended finished size?  Mine would square to 14 inches.
Should I have clipped the geese/HST ends?  Or should the backo be "all white".
Finally, did you have a strong feeling on color specifics?  I went for matching reds and white/white fabric.

Jennifer

Hive 8 January Block

Happy 2016 bee mates!  I am beyond thrilled to be participating in the Modern Stash Bee 2016, I followed along for most of last year, super jealous of all of the quilty fun.

1. Name: Lee Taylor

2. Where you live: Manchester, CT

3. Tell us about your family:  I've been married since leap day 2008 and have a daughter that will turn three this month. She wants to make "keeilts" so badly. 

4. Tell us about your pets: two cats, Lou and Zane

5. How long have you been quilting? Two years of quilting in general and one year of super duper obession quilting 

6. What crafts do you do other than quilting? I am VERY crafty.  Before being bitten by the Quilt Bug I did a lot of paper crafts. I still have a shelving decoupage business on etsy with my best friend, she wants me to add my quilts to it, but I'm not sure. 

7. Fabric line you want to buy next: I am always happy with Art Gallery fabrics, especially lines by Katarina Roachella. 

8. Preferred quilting method (FMQ, long arm, hand, etc.): I always FMQ on my domestic machine 

9. Where we can find you on social media:  Instagram: zanytaylor. 

10. Favorite book: I Kniw This Much Is True by Wally Lamb

11. Favorite show to binge watch: Shameless is starting again soon!  Yippee!  I also love Transparant on Amazon

This is hive mama Laura's block, I hope she likes it!

Hive 7, January 2016 Block

Cindy, our hive mama and queen bee for this month asked us to make the block pictured below, and also introduce ourselves to the group.  So, here are my answers to the introductory questions:

1. Name:  Irene Grimes
2. Where I live:  I currently live in Fayetteville, NC but I am originally from Greece and Austria (mom is Austrian, dad is Greek) - I grew up in both countries and speak both languages....
3. Family:  BHE (Best Husband Ever) and I have been together for 15 years now; we are a "May-December", interracial, intercultural couple which causes mass-miscommunication, mass-confusion and barrels of laughs too!
4. Pets: Three Shihtzu girls, to whom BHE refers to as "my puppies", and I call the "old girls" (the youngest one is 8 years old).....
5. How long quilting:  I got bitten by the bug four years ago.  My absolutely favorite method is paper piecing.  When I realized that I needed to be home more (BHE needs me around more as he is getting older), I began Longarming and absolutely love it! I also design paper piecing patterns, and have recently published patterns of all 50 US States.
6.  Crafts other than quilting: There are others????
7.  What Faric Line to buy next:  my taste is not brand loyal - I buy what I like.  Because I paper piece a lot, I tend to gravitate towards fabrics with small patterns, or solids.
8. Preferred Quilting Method:  Longarming in my HQ Avante.  I do not have a computer, so everything I do is hand guided.  I do edge to edge a lot, but I really enjoy coming up with custom quilting schemes more and more.
9.  Social Media:  Email is Irene-grimes@hotmail.com, my blog (which is bilingual English & German) is Patchwork and Pastry
I am also on Facebook and Instagram (patchworkandpastry)
10.  Favorite Book:  There have been many over the years - when I was younger it was the Karl May books (German speakers probably remember those), recently I have devoured the Harry Potter series.  I have to confess that nowadays I read a lot more blogs than books!
11. Favorite Show to binge watch:  ok so now I am turning out my inner nerd!  Several shows on CNN are my favorites: Smerconish, State of the Union, Reliable Sources and AC360.  And I never miss the Daily Show (on the comedy channel)....

So now, here is my block - Monday morning it is off to Cyndi's house!

Hive 5, January 2016

Success!  My first Stash bee block.  Thank you Audrey.

1.I'm MJ Snyder and this is my first Stash Bee as well as Blog posting..My cup is always half full!

2. I live in the suburbs outside Baltimore, Md

3. I have a grown daughter who is married and have blessed us with 2 grandsons, 5 & 2. My older daughter passed away from cystic fibrosis. I might be the senior member of this bee!

I am lucky in love and spent over 30 years with the best husband ever, until he passed a few years ago.  Now I share this journey with the most caring, supporting , loving and wonderful man. 

4.  We are owned by 3 delightful little papillon girls (dogs weighing 5 & 7 lbs). 

5. My quilting journey began in 1981 , then I took a looooong break!

6.  I painted porcelain for over 20 years, obsessed over crochet and faux painted my entire house and anything else I could in the 90's!  9Now it's all repainted shades of neutrals).  Now my passion has me a " born again quilter" . I taught pre school (4yr olds was my longest stint), sold skin care, health and wellness products, was a recipe tester, and volunteered for many causes along the way.

7.  I love fabric, Julianna Horner, Amy Butler and a great sale will get me anytime.  

8.  I love my Innova Autopilot! Using the computerized options, is my go to..Took me about 6 months to get comfortable with it.  Edge to edge is the easiest for me but, I like to hand guide smaller projects...I need a lot of practice in that area. 

9. I'm on Facebook MJ Snyder, Pinterest mj Cooksgrte

10.  Love to read.  My longtime favorite is The good Earth, Pearl S Buck, Historical Fiction is my favorite genre.  Pillars of the Earth was another favorite.  Just finished a delightful book based on a true story about women in the early 1900's.  Called Girl waits with a gun, by Amy Stewart

11.  The Affair , Homeland, Property Brothers and Reign are just a few of my binges!  I'm pretty eclectic with my t v picks.  

Thanks to Audrey our bee Momma for choosing an easy and fun to do block for my first!  

Thank you Alison for putting this together!  

Hive 6 January Tutorial

Happy new year, everyone! I hope you are all ready for a year full of quilty awesomeness! I'm Sylvia, and I'm the mama for Hive 6. This is my third year in the bee.

With my first year's
Stash Bee quilt!

1. Name:  Sylvia

2. Where you live: Athens, Georgia

3. Tell us about your family: Just me and my husband. We have been married for almost four years.

4. Tell us about your pets: One crazy (and crazy cute) cockatiel named Pizzicato. I've had parrots all my life, which is why I called my blog "Flying Parrot Quilts." :)

5. How long have you been quilting? Going on 9 years now!

6. What crafts do you do other than quilting? I want to do AAAAAAAALL of them! I occasionally knit/crochet, although I try to limit myself to buying only yarn for specific projects since otherwise I can't figure out what to do with it. My husband gave me a Silhouette electronic cutting machine for my birthday last year (he's a very good husband), so I've been playing around with that a lot lately, and it's reignited my interest in paper crafts, which I abandoned for fabric when I discovered quilting.

7. Fabric line you want to buy next: I'm so excited about the jellyfish prints in Patty Sloniger's Into The Deep, because my background is in marine science. 

8. Preferred quilting method (FMQ, long arm, hand, etc.): Free motion seems to be what I'm best at. I just turned a show quilt into a non-show quilt using my walking foot, so I am disgruntled with straight line quilting right now. :) I am really, really wanting to get a longarm sometime soon, but I'm having a hard time figuring out whether or not I can realistically fit it anywhere.

9. Where we can find you on social media: Blog: www.flyingparrotquilts.com, Instagram: @flyingparrotquilts, Pinterest: flutefish

10. Favorite book: I never get tired of rereading Harry Potter, even though I was in college when I read the first one. If we're talking grown-up books, I love Katherine by Anya Seton.

11. Favorite show to binge watch: Star Trek (TNG) and The Big Bang Theory. It's too early in the run to binge-watch, but we are loving The Expanse on SyFy so far.

Okay, on to the block! 

I fell in love with this quilt from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection the first time I saw a picture (because the stupid quilt gallery was being redone when I actually WENT to the museum so I couldn't see the actual quilt, which was TRAGIC) and I'd like to recreate something similar, since my husband is a Brit and while I have a Stash Bee Couch Cuddle Quilt he does not. :) Fortunately, the fabulous Molli Sparkles has an equally fabulous tutorial on making anatomically correct Union Jack blocks, and they're a lot faster than they sound--each one only took me about an hour.

For the colors for each block, please choose either two similar colors or two adjacent colors on the color wheel (e.g. red and orange, blue and purple; please no browns/black/gray as the main color). Here are a few pairs that would work well together: 

The top row has similar color fabrics, the bottom has adjacent colors. Please stick to fabrics that read as primarily one color, and you'll probably want to use something with a reasonably small-scale print. (You can squint or wave them in front of you really fast so they're a blur if you're unsure what color a fabric reads as.) I normally like batiks, but I'd rather stick to prints for this particular quilt. If you have any science-y, ocean-y, or text fabrics that you feel like using, he always likes those sorts of prints, but that's entirely optional; please don't feel like you have to use anything like that.

You will also need a white; either a solid or a white-on-white print works.

Molli's tutorial is very detailed, so I don't have much to add, but here are just a couple of things that I thought I'd mention. First, please pay close attention to how the quadrant (diagonal stripe) units are trimmed and then sewn together. If you line up your ruler with the wrong corner it will make the flag anatomically incorrect, and with this quilt going to someone with intimate knowledge of the British flag I'm hoping to avoid that. ;)

Now that I freaked you out over the trimming of the diagonal stripes (don't be, it's OK if it ends up being off--I plan on a lot of blocks so he'll probably never notice ;)  )--when you do trim, it comes out a little differently from the diagram, so don't worry that you did something wrong, particularly for the quadrant 2 units. This was how my quadrant 2 looked when trimmed:, but it's correct when sewn together.

Molli mentions piecing 32" strips and then sub-cutting into 4 8" units. If you're using a fat quarter you can cut 2 16" strips instead. You can also do the sub-cutting thing for the left and right stripes of the cross by cutting 1 14.5" strip in place of 2 7.25" strips.

Since the strips, particularly in the quadrants, are fairly narrow, I found it worked best if I sewed as much as I could before pressing. So I sewed the whole WRW quadrant unit before pressing. 

I got no distortion of the strips this way, which is normally a problem for me.

Here are what my finished blocks looked like. Thank you so much; I can't wait to see what fabulousness you come up with!

Hive 1 January Tutorial - Poppin' Pineapples

Hello this is Alison from Hive 1! I am so excited to start this new year of Stash Bee awesome!

1. Name: Alison

2. Where you live: Frederick, MD -- originally from New Boston, MI

3. Tell us about your family: Just me and my Park Ranger Husband! We met in college and got married just over two years ago.

4. Tell us about your pets: We have a Lionhead house rabbit named Clara! We have had her for a year and a half and her favorite thing is eating cardboard.

5. How long have you been quilting?  Almost 13 years! I started quilting one winter break and was addicted.

6. What crafts do you do other than quilting? I used to dabble in a little bit of everything other than knitting/crochet, but quilting takes up all of my limited free time currently.

7. Fabric line you want to buy next: Aria by Kate Spain! That was a really easy question. :)

8. Preferred quilting method (FMQ, long arm, hand, etc.): I mainly FMQ on my domestic machine, but I have some things done by a long arm quilter. I really do not enjoy hand quilting.

9. Where we can find you on social media:
Blog: Little Bunny QuiltsInstagram: littlebunnyalisonPinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/alisonmarie658/Twitter: https://twitter.com/alisonmarie658

10. Favorite book: I'll just be completely honest here and say Harry Potter. I typically am reading "The Classics" but HP is the true favorite.

11. Favorite show to binge watch: It used to be How I Met Your Mother until the last season ruined the whole show for me, so I would have to say Criminal Minds is the new favorite.

For my month as queen bee, I'd like you to make pineapple blocks! Not pineapple log cabins, no! Actual pineapples.

The block I'd like is sort of a combination of two tutorials (here and here) but it will end up looking more like the second Dear Stella block but not quite so tiny!

For fabrics, feel free to go scrap-tastic but stay away from any large prints, since the squares are a maximum of 2 inches when finished. I found that small to medium scale prints or tonals worked best for me. Here's my fabric pull:

For background, use a bright white fabric (not off white!)-- a solid or a white on white print is preferred. I used medium-to-dark olive greens, but use whatever looks good together from your own stash. I used all different shades of yellow, but stay away from anything with large amounts of colors that aren't yellow.

Cutting:
16 - 2.5 inch yellow squares
2  - 3 inch yellow squares

4 - 3 inch green squares

2 - 2.5 inch background squares (not pictured)
4 - 3 inch background squares (I accidentally put 5 in this picture, you need 4!)

Pair your 3 inch squares together as follows to make half square triangles:
Yellow + white  -- make two
Green + white -- make two
Green + green -- make one -- use two contrasting greens!

Trim each HST to 2.5 inches.

You will end up with:
4 - yellow and white HSTs
4 - green and white HSTs
2 - green and green HSTs

Lay out your 2.5 inch squares as shown below.

I found it easiest to sew my squares into rows of four first.

I then ironed each row in opposite directions so that it was easy to match the seams (which there are a lot of!). Sew your rows together.

Ta da!

Hive 7 January Tutorial

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hello Hive 7,

Let get the 2016 Stash Bee started.  I have been looking forward to this years Stash Bee and can't wait to see what everyone will pick as their block.  This is my second year in the Stash Bee and my first year as a Hive Mama (just a little scary).  Feel free to contact me with any questions that arise.  This month Allison wanted us to introduce ourselves instead of posing a question so let's do that before January's Block.  When you post your made blocks later this month please include your answers to the "getting to know you" survey.

1. Name: Cyndi Black

2. Where I live: Columbia, Tennessee which is south of Nashville.

3. Family: I have been married for 27 years to my best friend and we have one 19 year old son, which I lovingly refer to as, the Favorite Son.

4. Pets:  We have an old cat named Angel that wandered up years ago so we don't know exactly how old and this past July we brought home a German Shepard mixed rescued from a local pound that we named Loki.  He is about 2-3 years old.  Both of course are spoiled and rotten and believe we are here to serve them.

5. How long quilting:  Well my first quilt I made in 1995 and then quilted for 7-8years and then I stopped for about 4 years until I resumed with a new found passion about 3 1/2 years ago.  So much so that I bought the little local quilt store a little over 2 years ago, The Dancing Bobbin.  Of course I am still Nursing full time but have EXCELLENT help running the store.

6. Other crafts than quilting:  I don't really have any time for any others.  As it is I don't have enough time to get as much quilt making done as I would like.  There are so many patterns I want to make and have plans for.

7. What Fabric line to buy next:  That is a hard one because obviously I LOVE fabric.  I pretty much love anything Art Gallery but, I do know that Cotton and Steel have some new lines that just came out that I would like to get some Fat Quarter Bundles of.

8. Preferred Quilting Method: Well when I bought the store I also bought the Gammil Long Arm.  So I have only been long arming for 2 years and only do Edge to Edge.  I don't have the time to try to take up Custom Long Arm quilting.  I now quilt everyone else's  quilts and occasionally get to mine.  I absolutely avoid anything that calls for Hand sewing.  I must confess I even have my Mom hand stitch my bindings down.

9. Social Media:  Email is thedancingbobbin@gmail.com and  Instagram is thegrinch1964 or thedancingbobbin.

10. Favorite Book: I have always loved books and have always enjoyed reading.  I don't know that I have a favorite but I will pick Unbroken because it is definitely one of the top ones. 

11. Favorite show to binge watch:  I don't get to watch much TV or binge watch but I can always watch episodes of Friends when I see them and still laugh just as much as the first time.

Now on to the Block...

Well I thought that I had the block all picked out that I wanted right up to this past Monday night when I was looking through last year's Stash Bee tutorials and found one by Lynn that I really liked.  So at the 11th hour I changed directions and went with the new block.  I don't know what its official name is so I am going to call it the Scrappy Diamond Block.

I would like you to use bright colors.  I chose 7 colors to have a large variety to choose from.  Purple, Grey, Mustard, Aqua (blue), Navy, Green some may call it Kelly Green, and Pink.

For the Background I use "low volume" in white/grey and white/black or white/white.

Here are some pictures of fabric that I pulled that may help give you my color choices.

You will need 18 squares of each: Low volume background and Bright colored prints.

You will be making half square triangles from these.

Please feel free to make them using your favorite method, but your finished HST should measure 3".

Most will use a 3 1/2" square to make their HST.  I actually use 3 3/4" square because I like to then square them all up to the exact size I need.  For me this works better and makes sewing the block together smoother.

Draw a diagonal line across your low volume squares.  Then place a low volume square and a colored square right sides together.  Sew 1/4" away from each side of the line and then cut in half on the line. Iron open and square to 3".

Lay out your block following the picture and sew them together in rows and then attach the rows.  I found nesting and pinning at where each block meets helps keep them aligned.

Feel free to iron your HST away from the background.  I ironed my seams opened because of all the HST and then ironed each of my rows in opposite directions to help them nest.

These blocks should measure 15 1/2".  Don't forget to post your finished blocks to Stash Bee along with your answers to the survey so we can get to know each of you.  Also, Thank you in advance for your time in making these blocks.  I can't wait to get them all together and put into a quilt.

If you have any questions regarding the block just email me.

Cyndi