Sunny Bee Ashley's Gift Wrapped Sun

(Trying to catch up with posting the Bee Block instructions on the blog for the rest of the world. Here's Ashley's. )


I love this idea of these stars as my "sun". This quilt will be special as I am leaving India after almost 3 years. I want this to best express India for you through the fabrics, applique, etc in the star pattern. You can keep it plain or you can embellish.

Have fun and I look forward to the finished blocks.
Here is a view of mine:



Blocks are 10.5" finished (mine finished at 10.25).

Star  Crossed  Block  Tutorial, a  10  1/2"  block
needs:

2  contrasting  printed  fabrics
1  background  fabric

Cutting  Instructions

focus  fabric: two  2.5"  squares
one  2.5"  x  6.5"  rectangle

contrast  print: eight  2.5"  squares
two  4.25"  squares

background: four  2.5"  squares
two  4.25"  squares


Block Assembly
http://www.dontcallmebetsy.com/2012/01/star-crossed-block-tutorial.html

or you can download it from Craftsy:
http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/quilting/home-decor/star-crossed-quilt-block---10-finished/39829


Thanks
Ashley 

Sunny Bee Elvira's Marble Star

(Trying to catch up with posting the Bee Block instructions on the blog for the rest of the world. Here's Elvira's. )

Hello ladies.. I'm so glad to finally able to upload this tutorial for my Sunny Bee block.

I want something Blue, Yellow and Solid White.

The tutorials and details are in my blog: http://chez-vies.blogspot.in/2013/08/dq-sunny-bee-blue-and-yellow-flower.html

I'm sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoy making my block ;)

Happy Quilting
Elvira

Sunny Bee Aliya's Wonky House

The Queen Bee for the month of July '13 is Aliya and here's her delightful block..

 

Sunny Bee Aliya's Wonky House

Sunny Bee Damayanthi's Sunflower Basket

Flower Basket

Sunny Bee Sudha's Easy Breezy Block

Here is the totally entertaining DIYer, Sudha, with her Easy Breezy paper pieced block for the May 2013 Sunny Bee..

Sunny Bee Sudha's Easy Breezy Block

Sunny Bee Sandhya K's Sunny Sky Block

April's Sunny Bee was the lovely Sandhya K. Following are the instructions to her super simple, super effective Sunny Block..

Sandhya K's Sunny Block

Sunny Bee Gayathri's Dresden Sun

This month's Sunny Bee is Gayathri who has chosen the Dresden Sun as her block.

Sunny Bee Gayathri's Dresden Sun 

Sunny Bee Manju's Rose block

Manju has chosen to raise the bar even higher with her 'Rose' block. Have fun folks !

The Sun and the Rose by

Sunny Bee Medha's Happily Tumbling Blocks

Hello everyone,

This month is my turn to be the queen bee! First of all let me start off by saying I'm glad I got introduced to this group by my friend Veena [a big 'thank you' to her]......cuz ive learnt soo many things here. I always look forward to learning new stuff now-n-then and I've always enjoyed stitching but had never tried quilting up until now... thanks to DQ n its members who are so talented and are an inspiration 

Ok now getting to 'THE SUNNY BEE' of this month, my block is the TUMBLING BLOCK also known as baby block. The theme, the Sun, for me, it means a vibrant, colourful, bright  and cheerful..This  tumbling block  is a depiction of that. I saw this pattern when i was cleaning up some old stuff and found this magazine i had 21 years ago. Since i know more about quilting now than i knew then, i was intrigued by this simple yet its eye catching pattern.

Here's a link to the 'how to' of the quilt http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/1121-tumbling-blocks.php

The colors to be used:

BLACK is a must and should be the upper diamond

The other two colors of youur choice but should be of the similar hue, just different shades, for eg:hot pink and baby pink and black..the lighter shade diamond facing left and the darker shade facing right.

Material :100% cotton

color:only block colors,no prints.

Measurements:

Two isosceles triangles with a common base, with angle of 60 degrees. width of each diamond=2.5''+0.5 seam allowance.heres a picture below.

the size of the whole block would come to about 14'' length, width 12''.

Thank you all!

May many more bee's swarm up this place ;)

Happy sewing!

- Medha

Sunny Bee Sunita's Sunny Logs

HELLO PEEPS,

Alas I am the new queen bee. Super excited and so looking forward to my blocks from all you talented girls. I have been very fortunate to be a part of DQ since my quilting journey began from here. Also lucky to be part of sunny bee as I literally love the sun and so much so that I have it tattooed on my arm. I love bright colours, a sunny day, very many blooms in my small balcony garden and above all I love cutting fabric and then putting it together.

I have chosen super easy scrappy log cabin blocks for my quilt. The specifications are as below:

You can use any colour cotton fabric but try using the sunny bee colours so we can stick to the theme. Make it as bright as possible.

The center square is 1.5 inch unfinished (1 inch finished )
The stripes are also 1.5 inch unfinished (1 inch finished )
The completed block will be 16" finished
Make sure to square it out well before sending it to me

FYI, I will be adding a common border for each block before joining them together. There is a lot of liberty here, do as you choose, but please do a neat job on the front and the back. After adding every strip, please press the seams down on one side and press the front flat. When finished and while trying to square it out into 16" square, if the square is a bit wonky it is fine.

If needed you can check out any tutorial for a log cabin on YouTube

Have fun with this easy peasy one. Promise to show you the finished piece within a week of receiving the last block. Will be making this one without batting for my black and grey sofa. Thank you.

Sunita

Sunny Bee Nikhat's Fiery Sun

Hello Sunny Bees,

My turn to be the QUEEN BEE :-)…well don't you worry, will not take you to task but will just 'Raise the bar' as Tina mentioned, a wee bit.

The theme SUN or SUNNY SIDE UP, for me  literally or figuratively is the fiery sun itself in all its glory.

Googled big time to see an apt image or tute for the image I had in mind and finally settled for this one…

FABRIC AND COLOURS

 100% cotton- small prints of sunny colours, shades of red, orange and yellow only

 100% cotton- Black  (please test for colour fastness for all fabric)

OTHER TOOLS

 White sheets of paper or fusible web

 Gluestick

 Scale and Protractor

 Pencil

 A pair of scissors

Cut out templates as shown

A - 4 nos.

B - 5 nos

C - 1 no.

D - 1 no.

E - 1 no. 

Place the templates A, C and D on the black fabric and stick them. Give a 1/4" seam allowance all over and cut the fabric.

Similarly, place templates B and E on the printed fabric, stick it and cut leaving a 1/4" seam allowance.

The link below will help you...

http://www.connectingthreads.com/tutorials/Freezer_Paper_Piecing-overview__D62.html

Sew the triangles together and then attach the centre arc.  Trim and iron.

 The radius of the arc should measure 13".

Thanks!

- Nikhat

Being a responsible BEE

Being a responsible BEE!!
(Compiled by DQ Brinda)

The first DQ Bee is in progress and the second one has already started! Since many of us are new to this, I feel we need to lay down some ground rules and keep to these to ensure that our blocks are perfect, neat and of high quality.

1. Instructions: Every Bee gives instructions and these need to be followed closely. In case one doesn’t understand it then a clarification should be sought from the Bee! It is important to keep to the size of the block the bee has asked for, otherwise it will affect the size of the final quilt planned.

2. Fabric and thread: Please use only 100 % cotton, not just any cotton but GOOD quality cotton the thickness of poplin, from a recognised mill like Mafatlal or Vijaya. You need to make sure the fabric will not bleed! Please don’t use handloom fabric, or mulmul or cambric, unless the Bee has specifically asked for it. It is very difficult to work with fabrics of different weights and thicknesses and affects the quality of the final quilt!

Please use only cotton thread if possible. This is not available very easily, but if one looks it is available in white and black. The thread you use to join seams should be a neutral colour, for example, don’t use black thread on primarily pale or white fabrics!!!!!

3. Quality of sewing: The rule for quilting is that all seams should be 1/4th inch. Please do follow this strictly. The fabric should be cut neatly and there should be no frayed edges! All seams should be ironed flat, either open or folded to the dark side. Some Bees give instructions about this, others don’t, but either these 2 methods should be used. There are enough tutorials and links on the net that show you how to do this.

Ironing at every stage is essential. The fabric should be ironed when you start, and then each seam should be ironed as you build your block

4. Keeping to time: Please ensure that your block arrives by the last date, and if for some reason you can’t then please let the Bee know!



I think we need to really need to remember that we are putting time and energy into making something that should last and should be as perfect as we can possibly make it!!!!.

Prasanna, the Sunny Bee

Hello busy bee's,

Am in Chennai for 3 months for my vacation. When I saw the name SUNNY BEE I immediately thought about winter in Boston. Am going back on December and it's gonna be freaking cold. Keeping this on mind I wanted my quilt with a sun. But why one when I can get twenty??

Think my winter is going to be warm this time :)))))))...Yipppppeeeeeeeeeeeee....

Oh BTW my name means sunshine and happiness..That's another reason for this quilt ...

This is my first quilt, So giving instructions is a really challenging task for me:)...Hope everyone is able to get it clearly.

I need to mention that I got inspired by Geoff's mom sunny days pattern.

FABRICS AND COLORS:

100% cotton printed fabric – small prints in shades of yellow,red or orange ONLY.

Plain Black 100% cotton fabric(Please make sure that the black doesn't bleed)

 No No's:

No scrap bits (means you cannot put different fabrics in the same block. Use only one type of printed fabric for the whole block)

No embellishments

No polka dots

No stripes

No handloom fabrics

MEASUREMENTS:

CENTER BLOCK:

Size - 8x8 in printed fabric – 1 no.

Corners in center block – 2x2 in black – 4 no's

HOUR GLASS BLOCK:

6x6 in black – 2 no's

6x6 in printed – 2 no's

RECTANGLE BLOCK

2x5 in black – 8 no's

2x2 in printed – 8 no's

CORNER BLOCK

5x5 in black – 4 no's.

Your finished block should be 16.5x16.5

 INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Finish the center block aka snowball block. For this you need the 8x8 printed fabric and 2x2 black (check the reference link no 2).
2. Next is the rectangle block. For this you need 2x5 black and 2x2 printed fabric (similar to snowball). Attach the printed fabric to the bottom of the black and stitch diagonally.
3. Then the hourglass block. For this you need 6x6 black and 6x6 printed fabrics (check the reference video link no 1). Your Finished block should be 5x5.

TO ASSEMBLE:

For the first row take a corner 5x5 black piece and attach it with the 2x5 rectangle followed by the hourglass and then rectangle again and finally another corner black block.

For the second row take a hourglass and attach it with the center block and then another hourglass.

For the third row follow the same instructions like the first row.

Finally attach everything, square it up and you will get a 16.5x16.5 block.

 REFERENCE VIDEOS:

I thought this will be very helpful for new bee's like me. You will get an idea for making your hourglass block and the snowball block.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKbvv6Uy-es

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfdD4-WepJo

I made a sample block to see whether my instructions and measurements were right. Am attaching the picture of my block. If anything is unclear please feel free to call/mail me.I will add another picture of my finished block.

 

A big thanks in advance to everyone.

- Pressi

Bhavani, the Sunny Bee

(DQ Bhavani is Queen Sunny Bee for September 2012)

I am new to quilting, I made my first ever quilt about a month ago, and then I made another one about a week ago. Being new I am not very ambitious in terms of complicated effects and all. During this short time I have also realised that I will never be a 'traditional' block creating quilter. Seems like too much work, when you can just buy awesome prints. But thats me, lazy and easy, modern quilter :).

The Sunny Bee theme resonated with me, and my representation of  'sunny' is yellow, happiness, energy, strength and beauty. The sunflower is more than any other flower because it has purpose. It follows the sun through the day and waits for sunrise every morning. Much like following your dream in life and being sunny, no matter what. 

So here is my Sunny bee block. Simple, no overlapping effects.. just blocks next to each other layed out and sewed together in squares. I like the idea of applique quilts, the possibilities seem immense.

Here is my version of the flower block, called the sunflower block. Once I have all the 20 blocks I intend to add some of my own to this and make a quilt of size 60 by 96 inches.

I will follow a simple color combination technique of mixing 'hot' and 'cold' colors next to each other. So there goes friends....

Sunflower Applique Block for the Sunny Bee September 2012:

 For September 2102 Sunny Bee I want to work with this flower block which I call the sunflower.  The centre is a circle and it has eight petals each which are appliqued to the background fabric.  Following are the instructions.

Fabric Selection:

White background measuring 14 by 14 inches

9 pieces of atleast 3by 5 inches rectangle for the petals and one centre.

Petals are to be made in the same color with varying prints, shades etc. Example Bee 1 will make a red sunflower with yellow circle( which could be plain or printed) white background ( Plain) and 8 petals in varying shades of red, prints etc, but red being the primary color in these petals. Bee2 will make a blue sunflower with a yellow center, white background and blue petals. So on.

Colors that I can think of are: Red, blue, green, Yellow( Yellow Petals and yellow centre), black, Purple, brown, grey, pink. So if we are running out of colors we will have to repeat the color and have two bees make one color

Needless to say all the fabric has to be pure cotton.

Measurements and cutting instructions:

Cut out the white background measuring 14 by 14 inches square.

Centre will be perfect circle measuring 2 3/4 inches in diameter.

Petals will be of the shape below measuring 4 1/2 inch in length and about 2 inches at the thickest part.

Tracing and cutting instructions:

Cut out the background white square.

Take the yellow piece of 3 by 3 ( Atleast, could be bigger depending on your comfort level) mark the circle with diameter 2 3/4 inches and cut out.

For the petals you can make a template on a sheet of paper with the measurements given above and draw out the design as shown above. Cut the paper out and use as a template. Place the paper template on each petal piece measuring 3 by 5 inches and cut out each piece.

Assembly:         

Fold your background fabric in half in twice. Finger press the fold so you can see the folds for placement of your petals and know where the center of the block is. Place the center of your circle on the centre of the background and pin.

Pin or glue baste two petals opposite each other on one of the folds.
Baste 3 petals evenly spaced on each side between the first two petals.

Applique each of the petals and then the centre with the machine satin stitch, use matching thread or contrast as per choice.

Cut out the background for a 12 1/2 by 12 1/2 inch block and send it to me!

Bhavani