Believe Circle March Bee Blocks

This month's quilt is being hosted by Robin from Ormond Beach Quilts. She wanted something really masculine and asked for these simple yet striking black and white blocks.

They come from a quilt posted on the Moda Bake Shop called the Gift Box Quilt. The Moda Bake Shop is a great resource for charity quilt ideas.

One thing I like about our quilt circle is that we tend to have good balance between simple and challenging blocks. This is a month where I appreciated the simple.

I like the way the addition of a wider strip in the middle of this quarter log cabin block makes it suddenly more modern. The color combination adds to the modern look as well.

I cannot wait to see how this quilt turns out.

Believe Circle Bee Blocks

Robin is our Believe Circle quilter this month. Robin blogs over at Ormond Beach Quilts. This month she was inspired by a tutorial for Urban Chickens blocks shared by Wombat Quilts.

Robin asked for black squares and bright colored triangles on a white background. It took me a few triangles to get into the improv style of making them. I like the wonkiness of them all in a row.

This month also highlighted the dwindling quantity of black with white fabrics in my stash. That area of my stash is quite messy so it might be time for some cleaning and organization to make sure there isn't fabric hiding in the deep recesses of my fabric cubbies.

These blocks were fun and easy to make. Can't wait to see how they look all together.

Linking up to Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

September Bee Blocks Finished

Today's accomplishment...completed blocks for the Believe Circle of do.Good Stitches. Robin is our quilter for this month. She blogs over at Ormond Beach Quilts. We're making blocks from the Salt Air Crossings Quilt pattern posted at the Moda Bake Shop. Robin asked for orange and white. 

All of the quilts our circle makes have this cute label sewn on the back. 

I love the anticipation of waiting to see the finished quilts after we send in our blocks. These blocks are based on 2 1/2" strips and were easy and fun to make. I'm adding this quilt pattern to my favorite quilts that I might possibly make someday way in the future list. Do you have one of those lists?

House Quilt - A Finish for do. Good Stitches

In January, it was my turn to be responsible for the quilt for our do. Good Stitches Believe Circle. With permission, I copied a design by Debbie Grifka over at Esch House Quilts. I posted a tutorial for the house blocks here. All of our members sent in vertical strips for the quilt.

Each member could place the houses anywhere on the strip they wanted to. I like the neighborhoods that formed as a result.

Since the fabrics in this quilt are so busy, the quilting was kept really simple. Wavy vertical lines run across the entire quilt top.

The thread is a 30 weight Sulky Blendable in a variegated gray.  

The binding is black with bright colored dots. It is a basic Timeless Treasures print. The back is a Kona solid. It is an older piece so I don't know the official color name. This quilt finishes at 46 x 51 inches.

All of the quilts our group makes are sent out with a special label on the back.

 

Even though we are almost at the end of March, this was a good quilt to start my year. Thanks Believe Circle, for sharing your quilt making talents with me.

House Quilt Tutorial

It's my turn to be in charge of our quilt for the Believe Circle of do.Good Stitches. Most of the time, we each make two blocks, but this month I chose a design that will be done in vertical strips. The inspiration comes from this quilt by Debbie Grifka over at Esch House Quilts. She graciously gave permission for our circle to use her design for our quilt this month. Thank you, Debbie!

If each circle member makes one vertical strip, we'll have a nice size quilt. We will follow the same color scheme of black, white, and bright. The darker colors should be toward the top and the lighter colors at the bottom. Have fun choosing a bright colored door for your houses. Each strip should contain two or three houses.

The squares that are not house blocks should be cut at 5 1/2" square. Cut seven or eight of these depending on the number of house blocks contained in the strip. For the house blocks, cut:

Background - two 3" squares
House - one 3" x 5 1/2" rectangle, two 2" x 2 1/2" rectangles, and one 1 1/2" x 5 1/2" rectangle
Door - one 1 1/2" x 2" rectangle

First, draw a diagonal line on the back of the 3" background squares.

Place one of the squares on the large house rectangle. Stitch on the drawn line and cut away the excess triangle.

Press the sewn triangle up and away from the house rectangle.

Lay the second background square right side down and sew on the drawn line. Cut away the excess fabric.

Press the sewn triangle away from the house rectangle.

Sew the 1 1/2" x 5 1/2" rectangle to the bottom of the roof.

Sew a 2" x 2 1/2" house rectangle to either side of the 1 1/2" x 2" door.

Sew the door to the house and the house block is complete.

Make either two or three house blocks and arrange them in your vertical strip to your satisfaction. When the strip is complete, there should be ten squares total, which includes the house blocks.

If you'd like to be creative with your house blocks and construct them differently, feel free to do so. It will be fun to construct a neighborhood with your creations.

Giraffe Baby Quilt and Tutorial

This project was not one on my list. It is the giraffe's fault. Does that happen to you sometimes? I just happened upon this adorable giraffe print in the clearance bin at my local quilt shop a while back and had to have it.

I have a thing for giraffe's anyway and decided it would be fun to make a baby quilt with this fabric. It needed to be fast and fun. This quilt top only needs six fat quarters for the blocks (I used two fat quarters of the giraffe print plus four others), one fat quarter for the setting squares, and a yard of fabric for the sashing.

First, cut four 7 1/2" squares from each of the six fat quarters. You will have 24 squares total.

Sort the squares into pairs, making twelve pairs. I tried to maintain good contrast with each pair. Take each pair and place them right sides together.

Stitch a quarter inch seam on each vertical side of the blocks. Next, cut each block in half. The center of the block will be 3 3/4" from the side.

I could have just pressed these open and moved on but the blocks would be rectangles rather than squares and I wanted square blocks for this project. Rotate your block 90 degrees.

Trim 1/2" from one side. Press your blocks open.

Each block should measure 7" square. Repeat this with each pair of blocks. This goes really fast. Once your blocks are made, lay them out in six rows with four blocks each.

The blocks can all face the same way or be rotated or whatever looks best to you. I intended to have mine facing all sorts of directions but it got too busy and my giraffes were happiest when they were all playing close together.

From the remaining fat quarter, cut 35 2 1/2" squares for your setting squares. From the remaining yard of fabric, cut 58 2 1/2" x 7" rectangles for your sashing. All that is left to do is sew your blocks and rows together. Easy peasy.

This really is an easy project to make but I have to confess that it took me a little longer to get there. The blocks were a piece of cake. They came together in under two hours. Then I got a little over confident and decided to just throw a white sashing between the blocks and call it done.

Super duper fast. But I didn't like it. All that fun fabric and I thought the end result was sort of plain. It was all blue and yellow and white and totally ignored that awesome green color in the giraffe print. So I threw some green on top of it and knew I had to fix it. I painstakingly unstitched enough to add setting squares in the body of the quilt. Here's the first one.

Here's how it looked when I finished that step.

That was definitely better to my eye, but still incomplete. I took those outer borders off and added setting squares there, too.

Now it is complete. And adorable. With just the right amount of blue, yellow, AND green. The lesson learned here is to always play around with the layout and colors as much as possible before jumping into a quick project. There will still be times when changes are needed but I am certain I would have saved myself a little bit of unsewing if I had taken the time to really look and think before starting.

I have a nice yellow back and bright blue/teal binding all ready to go.

The quilting will have to wait a bit though. I'm out of 505 basting spray. Guess that means I'll be heading to the local quilt shop soon to restock. I can't wait to see what is in the clearance bin this time!