Who put my hand up to join in with this latest sew-a-row?
Of course, I did it myself, having thoroughly enjoyed the Fire & Ice quilts that I was involved with plus the separate project where a few of us swapped rows which resulted in a fabulous quilt with rows donated by others and I got to keep.
After all the discussions carried out in the background through messenger and occasional email with the rest of the ‘rowers’ I decided I would create the Bee Block. A couple of reasons this was chosen, firstly this block was my first ever time at doing needle-turn applique after working my way through Lynn Andrews sampler book and falling in love with needle-turn and it remains my preferred method of applique many years later.
Secondly, I’m fortunate in working in a haberdasher and a new range of tone-on-tone fabric came into the shop with the name Queen Bee and tone-on-tone is my go-to fabric when I need a plain colour, I prefer it to a solid colour. Fabric is by Lewis & Irene and 100% cotton. The other fabrics were used from my stash, making the block a great fabric buster.
Thirdly, it’s a different technique to what the other ‘rowers’ were going to do, therefore giving anyone wanting to make this quilt a various selection of techniques to work through.
I went straight to the Quilter Cache for a pattern, why work it out when this bulging-at-the-seams website is there for all to use. A fantastic go-to place for all types of blocks, you name it and it will most likely appear in the cache. The page didn’t let me down I found exactly what I wanted and to the size I wanted.
Method of making
Pattern of ‘bee’ taken from source, Honey Bee Block
Pinned to fabric and cut the amount required.
Finger press the seam allowance
I find that a finger-press around the edges of the pattern give the line to follow for needle turn.
Cut out the amount you need for all 4 blocks.
Seam allowance marked with finger pressing
If you are not confident in keeping the shape as you applique, then a small quick tacking stitch around the edges will hold the whole shape in place when you applique onto the background.
Suggestion – Tacking the seam allowance to ensure a good finished shape
Once each block has been made they are ready to join into the strip and attach to the rest of the rows.
Each row for this quilt is 12.5” x 40”
Overall finished size 60” x 40”
Sample of many block and in various colours
Happy making and bee happy!
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