Brad’s Bee by Janet Stone Brad’s Bee, 20½" x 20½", by Janet Stone I I wanted to make a quilt for my husband, a great sup- tailed information on making quilts, including mi- porter of my quilting obsession. His first initial is B, tered borders, see the AQS Quiltmaking Essentials at so I wanted to include a bee in the quilt. I decided to www.AmericanQuilter.com. appliqué the bee over a background of letters, and the Making the background bee block is featured in B. S. I Love You, number nine in my ongoing alphabet quilt series. The instructions that follow are for a small quilt featuring the Bee block and a border. For more de28 American Quilter May 2013 Arrange the A squares in 5 rows of 5 squares each. Join the squares into rows. Press seam allowances for adjacent rows in opposite directions. Sew the rows together. Press seam allowances all in one direction. Brad’s Bee Join in order along the long edges one each of border #1, #2, FABRIC & CUTTING REQUIREMENTS and #3 strips. Make 4. Center a Quilt size: 20¹⁄₂" x 20¹⁄₂" combined border strip on a side of • Requirements are based on 40" fabric width. • Strips are cut selvage to selvage unless otherwise noted. • An extra 2" has been added to the length of the border strips to allow for adjustments. the quilt. Sew it to the quilt, starting and stopping ¼" from each corner. Press seam allowances away from the center. Repeat for all sides. Miter the corners. Trim seam allowances to ¼" and press them open. Preparing the appliqué Enlarge the bee and alphabet patterns 200%. Verify the accuracy of your enlargement with the size-check box. Trace bee appliqué shapes, except the wings, onto the paper side of the fusible web, allowing at least ½" between the pieces. Be sure to trace the lower bee body piece N as a whole and trace each yellow stripe (O-R) on the lower bee body separately. Trace the alphabet pat- Assorted light print scraps – ¹⁄₂ yard Dark red tone-on-tone – ¹⁄₃ yard Skill level: Intermediate • 25 A • border #1, 4 strips ⁷⁄₈" x 23³⁄₄" • appliqué Yellow batik – scrap Black batik scraps – ¹⁄₈ yard • appliqué • appliqué White crinoline – ¹⁄₈ yard Black & white stripe – ¹⁄₄ yard • appliqué • border #2, 4 strips 1¹⁄₈" x 23³⁄₄"* Off-white print – ¹⁄₃ yard Binding – ¹⁄₃ yard Backing – ⁷⁄₈ yard • border #3, 4 strips 2¹⁄₄" x 23³⁄₄" • 3 strips 2¹⁄₄" x 40" for 92" of continuous binding • 1 panel 25" x 25" • sleeve, 1 piece 9" x 20" Batting • 25" x 25" * Center a white stripe in the middle of each strip SUPPLIES: fusible web – 12" x 30"; Teflon pressing sheet; assorted 40-wt. threads for bee machine appliqué; 100-wt. dark red silk thread for alphabet appliqué; tear-away stabilizer – 20" x 20"; hot fix nailheads – 3mm gold (51) and 4mm black (25) ROTARY CUTTING A terns onto fusible web. Editor’s Rotary dimensions include seam allowances. A – 3¹⁄₂" x 3¹⁄₂" note: Although a complete alphabet is given, you don’t need all the letters. The bee body covers M and R, Appliqué wings, in alphabetical order on the Referring to figure 1 and fol- sheet over the placement diagram lowing manufacturer’s directions, (fig. 2). Dashed lines indicate a por- fuse the letters to the quilt. Place tion of the appliqué piece that un- Following manufacturer’s di- the quilt right-side up over a piece derlies an adjacent piece. Tip: Since rections, fuse to the wrong side of of tear-away stabilizer. Machine the bee pattern is symmetrical side to the appropriate fabric: black batik blanket stitch using dark red 100- side, you do not need to reverse the pat- for legs, body, and head; yellow ba- wt. silk thread. Set aside. tern for fusible appliqué. When laying and S is not included in the quilt. Cut out each shape leaving a ¼" margin all around. tik for bee stripes O thru R; dark Place the enlarged bee pattern out pieces over the pattern, place the red tone-on-tone for letters. Cut under the Teflon pressing sheet. non-reversed pieces over the r shapes out on the drawn lines. Lay out the bee pieces, except the on the pattern, and vice versa. May 2013 American Quilter 29 Brad’s Bee When all pieces are placed, fuse together on the Teflon sheet. Allow to cool and gently peel the fused bee from the sheet. Place the bee on the background with the top of the head 1" below the seam between letters C and H, and centered side to side. Do not fuse yet. Use pattern pieces T, Tr, U, and Ur to cut wings from crinoline. Do not apply fusible web. Position the wings under the bee body. Pin. Remove the bee body. Blanket stitch around the wings. Replace the bee body on the quilt. Fuse. Using yellow thread, blanket stitch along the long edges of the yellow stripes. Using black thread, Border and alphabet layout Fig. 1 blanket stitch around the legs, head, upper body, and the bee entire lower body, including the edges of the yellow stripes. Quilting and finishing Remove the excess stabilizer. Layer the backing, batting, and quilt top. Baste the layers together. Stitch in the ditch around the letters and bee body pieces, and along the borders. Stitch swirls in the background and outer border. Referring to figure 3, use a triple straight stitch (forward, back, forward) to stitch veins on the wings with tan thread. Using black thread, free-mo- Appliqué pieces B through Hr on Teflon sheet tennas. Fig. 2 30 American Quilter tion machine embroider the an- May 2013 Brad’s Bee Following manufacturer’s directions and referring to the quilt photo for placement, apply 3mm gold hotfix nailheads to the letters and 4mm black hot-fix nailheads on the black stripes of the bee body. Sew the binding strips together to make 92" of continuous binding. Finish the edges of your quilt with double-fold binding. To display your quilt, make a sleeve and sew it to the back of the quilt. Top wing overlaps bottom wing here B. S. I Love You, 58" x 68" Fig. 3 B Please respect copyright laws. This pattern is provided for individual use only and may not be reproduced or distributed without written permission from the American Quilter’s Society. Br Ir I D J U Jr K C Cr Ur S O T E Brad’s Bee by Janet Stone ©2013 Enlarge 200% P L Lr Q G F M R N (lower body) Bee appliqué placement Tr Er H Gr Fr Mr This box measures 1" x 1" enlarged size check Hr May 2013 American Quilter 31 Brad’s Bee This box measures 1" x 1" enlarged size check Brad’s Bee by Janet Stone ©2013 Enlarge 200% 32 American Quilter May 2013
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