Bee Happy Sew Along - Flag and Pinwheels Tutorial!

Good morning!

Here's another blog post to help y'all

"Bee Prepared"

for the Bee Happy Sew Along!

If you are just joining us..

Click HERE 

and then

HERE

 to get caught up on all info so far:)

As you know...

the majority of the blocks in the quilt are appliqué...

but there are a few pieced ones and so I thought I would show you how to do those 

before the sew along begins on August 28th just to get a good head start:)

Keep in mind that 

just because I am

 showing you now...

does not mean you have to

 have them finished before the 28th.

After you get your kit...

and you have done all of the cutting...

and if you have time...

great! 

If not...

when it's time to start 

you can always 

refer back to this post 

because it will remain here 

and you can find the link 

to each and every week 

on the right sidebar 

here on my blog:) 

First up is the flag:)

It's easy peasy simple piecing.

You already know the

 sizes to cut the

 pieces from the 

instructions in the 

Sew Along Guide

CLICK HERE

to download it 

if you haven't done that yet.

Lay out all of your pieces

 on your design boards 

and make sure that you 

have them all cut and ready:)

Before piecing...

you will need to 

appliqué the star 

onto the blue 5" square. 

Trace the 

D-14 Sew Simple Shape 

onto the co-ordinating size of

 Sew-In Interfacing

(size chart is in the guide)

If you are new here 

and this is your first time doing

 my easy appliqué method...

CLICK HERE 

to see the video tutorial 

from my last sew along ...

for the Sweetie Pie Quilt:)

FYI - I'll be doing 

another video tutorial 

on week one of this

 sew along as well!

After you you have sewn and trimmed...

you will need to give each 

cleavage area between the

 star points a quick clip. 

Clip just once...with small sharp embroidery scissors ...

all the way to your stitch line 

but not into your stitches.

You will need to do this

 in order for your

 star to lie flat:)

After turning and 

shaping with the 

point to point turner...

Press your star on 

the front side only:)

Center it onto the 

5" background square 

and appliqué 

by hand or by machine.

Either way...

I always use thread 

that matches the piece

 that I am to appliqué.

***NOTE***

There are several rectangle blocks

 as well as square blocks in this quilt.

For all of the rectangle blocks

 I have given you instructions 

to cut each background

 the exact size 

that they need to be 

when sewing the blocks together 

after appliqué is completed.

For ALL square blocks...

I have had you cut the 

backgrounds bigger...

 and then after appliqué

 trim them down.

I much prefer to cut

 backgrounds bigger when appliquéing 

and so for the square blocks 

that is entirely possible... 

because they are super easy

 to trim up afterwards 

because of "exact size" 

square rulers available to us.

However...

the reason I did not 

have you cut backgrounds larger

 for the rectangle blocks 

is because there are NOT

 "exact size" rectangle rulers 

for these and so I cut mine 

the exact size needed 

and was just very careful 

when doing appliqué and embroidery 

so as not to fray the edges:)

I used a 4 1/2" Trim-It Ruler 

for the star block.

After using the lines on the ruler

 to center the star...

I always trim along the 

top and the right edge first...

Then turn my little mat and 

trim the two remaining edges.

Now that your star block 

measures 4 1/2"square...

go ahead and sew your

 strips together into 

2 sections like this.

Make sure that you 

cut accurately and use an 

accurate 1/4" seam allowance when piecing your blocks throughout making the quilt. 

If you do...

 your blocks will be the 

size necessary to sew into the quilt:)

Finish putting your flag

 together like this...

and you have your first block

 for the Bee Happy Quilt completed.

YaY!!

It should measure 

8 1/2" x 10 1/2" 

at this point.

Now put it in your pile of

 "Fun and Done" 

and lets move on 

to the pinwheel blocks!

There are 8 pinwheel 

blocks in the quilt.

I have had you cut 

2 -  3" squares from print

 and 

2 - 3" squares from background 

for EACH pinwheel block.

Pair them up like this 

and I'll show you how to

 make the red pinwheel!

Grab a background square 

and a print square 

with right sides together 

and sew 1/4" on each side 

on the diagonal 

from corner to corner.

You could draw a line 

from corner to corner 

before sewing...

 but I don't have to 

because I use my 

Seams Sew Easy Guide

I simply place the corners

 on the line to the left side

 (which is exactly 1/4" 

from the center line) 

and sew.

Then I turn my square around 

and do the same thing again 

on the other side.

(I always chain piece and do all of my squares at the same time)

I end up with two sewn lines 

exactly 1/2" apart...

or in other words...

1/4" from each side of 

the center of the squares 

on the diagonal.

Give them a quick press 

to set the seams.

Cut apart between the

 sewn lines like this.

Before you press them open...

use a 2 1/2" square ruler 

to trim them up.

Place the center line 

of the ruler directly onto 

your sewn seam like this.

Everything that you see 

sticking out from beyond 

the edges of the ruler 

will need to be trimmed off...

Like this!

Using a cute little 

small mat 

that is easy to turn 

really helps during this step:)

Now you can open up your 

half square triangle 

and press the seams open.

And now you have a 

super cute and super accurate

 half square triangle 

that measures 2 1/2" square.

Trim up the other half and...

You will have two!

Repeat the trimming and pressing

 on the other matching sewn square...

until you have a total of 

4 half square triangles.

Lay them out on your 

design board like this...

And sew them together

 to make a pinwheel.

YaY again!

Your pinwheel should measure 

4 1/2" square at this point.

I really LOVE pressing my

 seams open on small blocks 

because they lie super flat!

Sometimes we quilters concentrate 

so much on the sewing...

 that we can overlook how important 

the pressing is. 

  Good pressing 

is an important step for

 keeping your blocks accurate!

If you have bulky and unevenly

 pressed seams...

chances are that your block 

will be smaller than it should be:)

***Another Tip from Miss Bee***

Do not use steam or starch 

on your pieces AFTER 

you have cut them 

because when you apply moisture 

and then heat to cotton fabric

 it shrinks!

You don't want your blocks 

to be too small...

so only use starch or steam

BEFORE cutting your pieces out...

and after they are cut...

keep them dry:)

Remember:

Moisture + Heat = Shrinkage 

I really love this method on

 making quick and accurate 

half square triangles...

and it's the method that I teach 

in my books as well.

Inside of my 

Scrappy Project Planner 

you will find a chart on 

what size squares to 

start out with for all different

 sizes of half square triangles:)

With easy cutting...

 and just a little bit of trimming...

the results are perfect every time!

Here are all eight 

of the pinwheel blocks 

needed for the 

Bee Happy Quilt.

Next Monday...

I'll show you how to 

do the Churndash Blocks!

Now that the 

Bee Happy 

Sew Simple Shapes

are here...

as well as the

 rest of the fabrics...

y'all should be getting

 your pre-ordered kits soon!

If you have not 

ordered a kit yet...

check with your local quilt shop 

or 

simply do a google search 

to find out who 

has one near you:)

If you need any other supplies 

for the quilt...

(all supplies needed 

are listed in the guide)

check with your quilt shop

as well to see if they stock them.

Chances are...

if they are cutting kits 

for the quilt...

they will have all of the 

supplies needed as well.

If they don't stock them ...

I do have some (not all) 

of the supplies needed 

in my etsy

I hope you are happy

 with this weeks 

"Bee Prepared" tutorials 

and are as excited to be 

starting the quilt.

I'll be back next week!

xx

Lori