January 2019: Charity Block

Our Bee Inspired group has been together since 2017.  Our first two years, we operated as an online quilting bee.  For 2019, we’re changing it up!  This year, there are a variety of activities and each member chooses which she’d like to participate in.  And we’re no longer limited to just the original twelve members; anyone can sew along with us!

One of our activities is making charity quilts.  There are three of us throughout the year who will pick a block, post a tutorial and a mailing deadline, and anyone can make and mail blocks. The hostess will then assemble the blocks and donate the quilt to a charity.  I’m first up and we’re making boats!

I am an active member of the Charlotte chapter of Project Linus.  Project Linus quilts go to kids from birth to age 18 who need a blanket hug.  The Charlotte chapter sends quilts to 45 organizations in a 5-county region, including hospitals, police departments, shelters, and more. The quilt made from the boat blocks I receive will be donated to Project Linus.  My preferred size is a 4 x 4 setting, meaning 16 blocks.  I can do a Project Linus quilt with as few as 9 blocks.  If I get more, it will just be a bigger quilt!

Bee Inspired members already have my address.  Anyone else who wants to make a block or several, leave a comment letting me know and I’ll email you my mailing address.  Please plan to mail blocks by February 15th. 

There are several patterns and tutorials out there for this block.  I mostly followed this one by The Spruce Craft, but I also saw basically the same block at Generations Quilt Patterns, Alanda Craft, and this complication at Quilt Inspiration has several quilts that include this block.  These measurements (except for the HST pieces) are from The Spruce Craft.  I am using my photos because I like a  detailed and photo-heavy tutorial.  This is a 12″ finished block.

You will need four fabrics:

Sky:  light to medium blues or light to medium grays

Water: dark blue

Boat Bottom and Sails: anything yellow, green, red, orange, brown, or multi-colored.  Purple is also fine if it is on the bold side and not too pastel-y. My Project Linus chapter specifically needs non-gender-specific or boy-ish quilts so please avoid anything obviously pink, floral, or girly.

cut pieces

Cut:

Sky: (2) 3 1/2 x 6 1/2″ rectangles, (2) 3 1/2″ squares, (2) 4″ squares **or whatever you like to make 4 HST**

Sails: (2) 4″ squares **or whatever you like to make 4 HST**

Boat Bottom: (1) 3 1/2″ x 12 1/2″ rectangle

Water: (1) 3 1/2″ x 12 1/2″ rectangle

Use whatever method you like to make 4 HST out of the sail and the sky fabrics.  I cut (2) 4″ squares from each fabric.  I used my Quilter’s Magic Wand to mark both sewing lines, then I stitched on both lines, cut apart, pressed, and trimmed to 3 1/2″ using my Bloc Loc Ruler.  If you prefer a different method, adjust your original pieces accordingly.  You want 4 Half Square Triangles each measuring 3 1/2″ square.

Quilter’s Magic Wand

Arrange your HST as shown below.  When you have your pairs sewn together, press one unit toward the sail fabric and the other unit toward the sky fabric.  This will allow the units to nest when assembling the four-patch.

HST arranged for the sails

Once your four-patch of sails is assembled, add a 3 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ inch sky rectangle to each side.

sails plus sky

To make your boat bottom, take your 3 1/2″ sky squares and mark a line down the center of each square.  Line the squares up on the corners of the boat fabric rectangle as shown.

Sew on the marked line.  Trim 1/4″ from the sewn line and press.  Your boat bottom will look like this:

boat bottom

Sew your boat bottom to your sails.

boat bottom plus sails

Sew your water rectangle to your boat.

completed block

Voila!  You are ready to sail away!  I can’t wait to put together this colorful, scrappy armada!