April Quilting Bee Blocks

I hope you enjoyed the Bella Solids parade! Now, back to regularly scheduled programming. It's time for my monthly round-up of my quilting bee blocks...

First up is my block for the do. Good Stitches { Charity Bee }. April was actually my month in that bee, which means I determined the blocks I wanted the other bee members to make. I am also responsible for assembling and finishing the quilt top and making sure it gets donated for charity.

I decided to ask each member to make 4 shoo-fly blocks using Malka Dubrawsky's pattern (free pattern here), because I was so inspired by the gorgeous quilt she made that is featured in her book, Color Your Cloth. I asked everyone to stick to shades of green, blue, and purple. It's been great fun seeing everyone's fabric selection as the blocks roll in.

Here's my contribution to the quilt:

Can't wait to see this one come together.

In my other bee, Buzz Cuts, Sudi-Laura asked for large (15.5") square-in-square blocks. It's my absolute favorite block, so I had no trouble whipping up this one for her:

With this month, sadly, Buzz Cuts is coming to a close. The group has been a rarity -- two years going strong with little to no flaking or major issues. The Buzz Cuts gang included some of the most reliable and highly inspirational quilters that I've met on my quilting journey so far. Thanks to everyone in the group for all of my wonderful blocks and for letting me stitch with you. Special thanks goes out to our fearless leader, QuiltinKimmie. Love ya', Kim!

But you know what they say: when one door closes, another one opens. And as Buzz Cuts draws to an end, Bee Tweet will be getting started in May. I'm excited to join some old friends and get to know some new ones as this bee gets up off the ground.

March Blocks

Wow, March really flew by, didn't it? I can't believe it's April already. Fortunately, I managed to keep up with my quilt block commitments!

But first, an update on the Union Jack block I had so much trouble with last month. I can finally claim SUCCESS!:

Granted, it's not perfect. I am sure you can find the flaw without too much effort, but after two failed attempts, I don't really care. I'll take it!

Now on to some new blocks. This first one isn't for a quilting bee, but for a special project that's been organized over on Flickr. I can't share too much more about it yet, but I will soon ... promise! Anyhow, I was tasked with making an improvisational block in shades of yellow. It turned out to be a pretty cute block!

Here are my two blocks for the do. Good Stitches charity bee. We were asked to make "stacked book" blocks (not the official name, but it's what I call them!) in shades of blue, gold & yellow:

And finally, here are two blocks I made for my neighbor Rachel (olivethebeach) over in the Buzz Cuts group. I LOVE how these turned out! I followed a tutorial that Rachel put together on her blog -- you should check it out if you want to make something similar:

So what did you work on last month?

January / February Quilting Bee Blocks

Hi everyone! Wow, I haven't been around much lately, huh? I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I last posted. Thanks to everyone who reached out to make sure I was doing OK. Fortunately, my absence had nothing to do with my elbow -- it's almost 100% back to normal now and I officially graduated physical therapy! And with that has come a lot of sewing ... some stuff I can share, and some I can't! (eeeeee! don't you love secret surprises?)

So why haven't I blogged? A couple of reasons, but largely because Mrs. Quilt Dad dropped and broke our camera! Can you imagine what it's like being a blogger without a camera?? It's been rough, I tell ya'!

I've tried my best by taking some pictures on my iPhone but, as you'll see later in this post, it hasn't been the ideal solution. The good news is that I just got a suh-weet deal on a new DSLR camera this week ... so as soon as I figure out how to use it, I'll be back to my old tricks.

In the meantime, I thought it was a good time to catch up on my quilting bee blocks from the past few months.

These first blocks were made for my homegirl Heather in the { Bee } Imaginative group. January was Heather's month and she sent out some bits of solid fabrics and the fabulous Quilter's Tweed by Robert Kaufman. She requested mini blocks made improv-style. Here's what I came up with:

I can't wait to see how she pulls it all together.

January was Andrea's month in the Buzz Cuts bee. She sent us the grey print from Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley line that you see below as the background print, and asked us to use our own scraps to complete the following block:

The block was a bit work intensive, but is also a great scrap buster and fun to put together.

Now, I had vowed to go on a quilting bee diet this year -- no new quilting bees! -- but I couldn't resist joining Rachel's do. Good Stitches charity bee. All of the quilts made from this bee are donated to a charitable cause.

The group started in January but generously gave me a pass for the first month to let my elbow heal. February's block assignment was 2 blocks made from Elizabeth's Map of the States block in shades of orange and grey. I had been hesitant to try this block pattern -- freezer paper? who needs it?! -- but I'm hooked. It's become my new favorite block pattern and I've even made a mug rug using the technique.

Cool blocks , huh? Jill has already put the quilt top together. Check it out here!

February brought a really fun design challenge from Nettie in the { Bee } Imaginative group. Take a look at the photo she provided as inspiration for her blocks. She sent some grey fabrics and an assortment of rainbow colored scraps. I made this block featuring a wonky block of color in the middle of sea of grey. I wanted the rainbow bit to stand apart from the neighboring blocks in Nettie's final quilt.

And now ... errrr ... Buzz Cuts' February block. Julie requested paper-pieced Union Jack blocks made from this free tutorial. Let's start off by saying that paper-piecing is SO not my thing. I love the fabrics I selected for this block but was doomed for disaster from the start.

Here's the travesty that I ended up with:

Clearly this isn't acceptable to send to Julie, and I need to start over from scratch. I don't think I have enough of these fabrics to replicate the block, though. And I'm having a hard time finding the motivation to start all over again. Send me strength!

November Quilting Bee Blocks

Thanks for all of the nice comments on my giveaway post! Keep 'em coming -- the giveaway will remain open through the end of the day on Friday.

I've been pretty good lately in keeping up with my quilting bee commitments. It really helps now that I am down to a much more manageable number of bees (2).

November was the supremely talented Rita / redpepperquilts' month in the {Bee} Imaginative bee. She sent an assortment of strips in prints featuring red and white, with some splashes of pink and orange for good measure. She requested large-scale (15") log cabin blocks. The simple yet scrappy design, using a limited color palette but featuring modern prints, is going to be a stunner!

I was able to make 2 blocks for Rita and had a lot of fun pulling a few fabrics from my stash to add in.

Over in the Buzz Cuts group, November was Sara's month. She is making a quilt for her husband and asked for traditional (i.e. non-wonky) blocks using brown, orange, and black fabrics from our stash.

I made this block up on the fly. It's not traditional in the traditional sense -- and by that, I mean that it's not a star, or pinwheel, or another more traditional pattern -- but the construction is based on simple log cabin squares. I think it looks more modern because of the fabrics I chose to use (Joel Dewberry woodgrain, Moda grunge in black, an orange stripe from Moda's Wee Woodland collection, and a featured square in the center from Rosemarie Lavin's Spa line).

December's an off month for {Bee} Imaginative, and it's MY month in Buzz Cuts! I was so excited to send off my precious stash of Tula Pink's Flutterby line, and I asked for spiderweb blocks. (A spiderweb quilt made from bug-themed fabrics? How meta!)

A few have already popped up in the pool, and I can't WAIT to put this quilt together ...

from Arnden's Space

from jgmehlin

October Bee Blocks

After the whirlwind of the past few weeks (quilt market in Houston! more on that soon ...), I spent this past weekend trying to catch up on some bee commitments. It felt good to knock out some small projects and cross a few things off of the ol' to-do list.

First up is a block for Modern Quilt Guild headmistress and sewist extraordinaire, Alissa (from handmadebyalissa), for our {Bee} Imaginative quilting bee.

She was inspired by this photo of a contemporary woven tapestry seen on Cathy of California's blog, and asked us to interpret this design in our own way to create a rectangular quilt block.


Here is the amazing fabric collection that Alissa pulled together for this project:

And here's what I created:

I had a lot of fun going back to something purely improvisational, making it up as I went along. It was a great way to spend my Friday night. Can't wait to see Alissa's quilt come together!

On the complete other end of the spectrum was a much more traditional, paper-pieced block for Mary over in the Buzz Cuts bee. The funny thing is that I enjoyed making this more traditional block, where accuracy and precision was key, just as much as I enjoyed making Alissa's block. Having made them both in one evening, it was a very cool exercise in contrast, and flexing both sides of my brain!

I am still not very comfortable with my paper piecing skills, but I only had to rip out one seam on this block. I also made a corresponding alternate block that Mary is going to use in her quilt layout:

And here they are both together:

There's lots of good chatter going on right now about virtual quilting bees over in the Quilting Bee Blocks group. For me, I am really enjoying being in 2 bees at the moment ... down significantly from the 6 or 7 I was in at some point over the past year!

How about you? How many bees are you in? How many is too many? And if you're not in a bee yet, what are you waiting for?!

September Bee Blocks

Just popping in to share some pictures of my September quilting bee blocks.

This first one was made for Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson! fame as part of our {Bee} Imaginative bee. She asked for something in a wonky, improv style that was not a square-in-square block. Can you imagine how intimidating it is to make a block for a quilter as crazy talented as Elizabeth? Well, I tried my best ...

That 9-patch variation on the top left of the block came to me first, and then I decided to embellish it with a graduated border on only two of the sides. I hope Elizabeth likes it!

Over in my other bee, Buzz Cuts, Dorie had a very special request. She decided to request blocks made from children's fabrics from our stash, which she will make into preemie quilts for her local NICU. Doesn't that kind of selflessness and generosity warm your heart?

Here's the block I made -- not exactly children's fabrics, but cute for a baby girl's quilt, no?

Except that Dorie asked for 16.5" blocks, which I totally forgot when I made this 12.5" block. So I'll be making another to send to Dorie shortly.

How have your bees been going?

August Bee Blocks

Until I have some bigger things to show, I thought I'd share some pictures of my recent quilting bee block creations.

In the {Bee} Imaginative group, Kate asked for large square-in-square blocks. She is going to cut all of her blocks into quarters and then rearrange them to make a modern bento box quilt. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

And in my other bee, Buzz Cuts, Kathy asked for blocks to make her 19 year-old son a green, blue and black quilt. I found these fabrics in my stash that fit the bill perfectly.

I'm finding it much easier to keep up with my bees now that I've cut back to just two of them. I even have time to work on fun little projects like this one: an itty-bitty mini quilt for Kim (aka meangirlie), the VP of our Triangle Modern Quilt Guild.

Why? Just because. We worked a booth together at Maker Faire a few months back, and we were both pulling these little scraps out of the giant scrap bin we had in the booth. I stuck them in my bag and decided to surprise her with a little homemade gift.

Have you made anything lately, "just because"?

July Bee Blocks

Yay! It seems that I am all caught up on my quilting bee blocks -- both making the blocks themselves, and blogging about them! It helps that I've pared the number of bees I am in down to 2 ... MUCH more manageable and, as a result, I am able to take a moment and enjoy the experience again. It helps that the two bees I am in are both GREAT.

First up this month is {Bee} Imaginative, where July was fellow manquilter Ryan's month. He sent a selection of red & aqua fabrics and asked for asterisk-inspired blocks in multiples of 3". I was able to make a 9" and a 12" block. I was excited to use some of my Circa 50 by Monaluna for Birch fabric.

Over in Buzz Cuts, swapmistress Kimmie asked for colorful flying geese blocks made from fabrics from our stash. I thought this was a great opportunity to cut up some of my Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

I don't use Kaffe's stuff very often, but I think there are some occasions where it really fits the bill. I especially love the flying geese-like print that I used within the flying geese. How meta.

April, May, and June Bee Blocks

It's been kind of quiet on the sewing front. I'm chalking it up to it just being a busy summer with the kids, the new puppy, the on-again / off-again moving saga and, oh yeah, the full-time job. I actually have made something pretty major -- my new pattern for the next issue of Fat Quarterly, coming in just a little over a week.

More on that project soon, but in the meantime I thought it was a great time for a long-overdue recap of quilting bee blocks.

Here's the block I made for Sara / sames05 for the Buzz Cuts bee back in April. Sara asked for monochromatic blocks made up of squares, rectangles, strips or triangles from fabrics from our stash. My color was brown. Here's what I came up with:

April was Ashley's month over in {Bee} Imaginative. She requested square-in-square blocks in the style of Denyse Schmidt's popular Drunk Love pattern. Here are the two blocks I made from her lovely lilac, green and gray fabrics:

April was our final month over in the bee inspired group. I made these two square and rectangle blocks for Lisa / lharsma:

Moving on to May ...

This beast of a block is 16.5" and was made for Adrienne / Arnden's Space for the Buzz Cuts bee. She requested blocks made from this tutorial (scroll down) in shades of blue & green, made entirely with fabrics from our stash:

May was Amanda / sasikirana's month in {Bee} Inspired. She sent a whimsical selection of prints along with a lemon yellow shot cotton and asked for any design that featured flying geese. After deciding to do some fussy cutting, here is what I came up with:

Another bee that's wrapping up is my own SewConnected 2. Our final swapper was Kristen / kirbyloulou . She sent an assortment of "upcycled" blue and white pattern shirts and asked for blocks in the Gee's Bend / strip style. This was a fun challenge, and I loved working with the non-traditional materials! Here's what I came up with:

And now, June ...

Over in {Bee} Imaginative, Jacquie of Tallgrass Prairie Studio asked for rectangular blocks in the modern / improv style. She sent two solids -- an aqua and a charcoal gray -- as well as a patterned IKEA print. Here's my interpretation of Jacquie's theme:

And finally, for Jennie / sunflowerquilt's month in Buzz Cuts, she requested a scrappy block made from this tutorial using our own scraps and a black & gray dotted print that she sent. Here's what I made for Jennie:

Another great scrap-busting pattern!

I hope you enjoyed this round-up of bee blocks. Have a wonderful week!

Quilting Bee Blocks | March 2010

Wow, what a difference a weekend makes. I have lots and lots to share with you, dear readers. The best news is we sold our house this morning! Fingers crossed that it all goes through OK, but it looks like we'll start looking for our new home closer to Chapel Hill. We've also got a new member of the family, and those of you who follow me on Twitter already know what I'm talking about ... if you don't, stay tuned for more info. It seems like my blog writing can't keep up with the pace of my life these days!

In the meantime, I thought it would be a good time to catch up on sharing my quilting bee blocks. I really love the batch of blocks I have to share with you today! March was a good month for quilting bee inspiration.

First up, for the SewConnected 2 group, Rita sent out some really gorgeous shot cottons and wanted "love" blocks in the spirit of this amazing quilt. I went around and around on what to make for Rita (so many ideas!) and finally landed on a "Be Still My Heart" block from Jacquie's free block tutorial over at Tallgrass Prairie Studio. I added some extra borders and was quite pleased with how it turned out!

In the SewConnected 3 bee, Solidia asked for spiderweb blocks using mostly Denyse Schmidt "Hope Valley" fabrics and a nice charcoal gray for the centers. These blocks were a bit of a challenge because, unlike other spiderweb blocks that I've made, these were not paper or foundation pieced. Solidia asked us to use an online tutorial that uses regular piecing. I had to work over the numbers a few times in my head before starting to cut, but I think they turned out OK!

Also in SewConnected 3, Leah requested the popular "Circle of Geese" block. I love making these blocks. They might look intimidating, but this was the first paper-pieced block pattern that I ever tried. Trust me, it's beginner-friendly!!

Over in Buzz Cuts, Jennie sent out red, white and black fabrics and wanted us to feature the adorable chickens however we saw fit. I made two big 15.5" blocks, and can't wait to see how Jennie's quilt turns out.

SO cute!

March was Julie's turn in the {Bee} Imaginative bee. Julie wanted wonky log cabins / square-in-square blocks, and pointed to this wonderful quilt as her inspiration. I was able to make two for Julie, and really enjoyed working with her fabric selections.

And that's it for March! Another month in the books. I just finished up my April blocks this weekend (nothing like waiting until the last minute), so I hope to have them up to share soon.

Have a great week!