June's Block, Dragonflies and Bumble Bees...

June is here! I was hoping to get some time in the garden last night and plant my veggies. But it looks too wet right now. I am still planning my trip to the greenhouse to pick up my tomato plants! I can't wait for a garden ripe tomato from the garden. Or a fresh caprese salad. I hope the basil plants aren't all sold out.

Now back to this month's block! It's not just one block this month, but two! This month I am celebrating bumble bees and dragonflies! I am very fond of these little flying creatures and love seeing them at work in my flower garden. I try very hard to plant bee friendly flowers to help attract and feed them. A cousin of mine is actually a bee keeper and studies them. Every year I look forward to a fresh jar of honey when we see him. I love hot tea sweetened with honey. Yum..... Did you know that dragonflies flew the earth before dinosaurs. They are a fascinating ancient creature which I love to see flying about. An adult dragonfly can eat hundreds of mosquitoes each day. Yeah! Something that actually preys on Minnesota's national bird... another great reason to attract dragonflies to your garden! This month there are two blocks... both are similar to March's block in construction. The direction of the flying geese does matter. 

Hint: While cutting fabric, check what you have used so far and see if any of your scraps will work. This includes the background fabric. I am a very frugal fabric cutter and save every little scrap until the end.

After you construct the blocks trace all of the pieces for the block onto the back side of the fusible web, grouping like colors. For this block I am making a pink coneflower.

Iron everything in place with a dry iron.

Then stitch around all of the edges. I used a dark brown thread from Aurifil.

Here is my bumblebee block. The 3 dimensional  wings are added after the quilt is quilted.

Repeat with the other block and trace all of your pieces onto your Heat n Bond.

Position them onto your block....

Iron in place using a dry iron.

Stitch around these also using dark brown thread, or a color of your choice.

Dragonfly and bumble bee block... isn't it sweet.

The blocks for this month go together pretty easily. Your flying geese can be any color fabric you want, or you can use the same colors as I have pictured in the pattern. I look forward to seeing everyone's progress. Remember the blocks can also be embroidered.

I had fun embroidery the bee... I wanted him to pop more, so I added extra stitches to color him in.

The monthly FREE pattern will be available on my website. I have a special 2019 BOM section on my website. Each month the FREE pattern will be posted. But as soon as the new section or block is out the old block pattern will no longer be a freebie. But it will still be available for a small fee on my website or in my Etsy shop. If you want to share you finished blocks, feel free to post them on Facebook Group (Quilt Doodle Designs Garden Sunshine BOM 2019) and tag me or post them on Instagram tag Quilt Doodle Designs. I love to see everyone's progress as we stitch along together. 

Let me show you how I made this month's block. First, following the directions cut out all of the block pieces... as a reminder... if someone asks for the PDF or where it is on the Facebook group, please do not post the PDF directly onto the site. I appreciate you referring them to my website or to the blog.

This month's blocks will takes a little time to put together. Hope you are having a great day, remember May's block is no longer FREE. It can be found in my ETSY shop and also on the Quilt Doodle Website for a small fee. To get this month's block, head on over to Quilt Doodle Designs... remember this block is only available this month as a FREE PDF download. 

Happy Quilting!

Cindy and Belvedere