Tag Archives: bee blocks

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Anyone else feel like they are on a race to complete goals before the end of the year? One of my big goals for 2015 was to work down my WIP list. Unfortunately, I added quite a few projects to the list this year, but I am doing my best to knock many of my projects into the finished column before the end of the year. Here's the binding for my next four quilt finishes. Okay, one is actually for my son's finish, but since I help him, then I get half credit, right?

 

Two of those are for Christmas gifts, so I'm just about down to the wire on those deadlines. I'm about 40% done quilting this 60" X 72" lap quilt. I was inspired by Jessica's woodgrain pattern that I saw on her Top 10 Tips: Quilting Large Quilts on Your Home Machine post. See her Stripey quilt in #9 of her post for my inspiration. Tons of great ideas in her 10 tips, too!

I'm quilting mine with aurifil #2915 (very light brass). I don't even know how I ended up with this spool. (Was it maybe in the sampler of aurifil that I got from you an eternity ago, Sarah N?) I like the rich color and the great contrast on my dark fabrics. It blends in somewhat with the backing fabric, which I'll show off when it's done.

 

We're nearing the end of this year's The Bee Hive quilting bee, I need to make the December block and then January is my month to be queen bee. So I worked a bit on both of those tasks. I'm making a couple Houndstooth blocks this month, so I printed my paper piecing patterns and cut fabric for those:

And I also pulled fabrics to make a couple sample blocks for my month so I can get that email out to my hive just after Christmas:

Perhaps I'll be sewing my sample blocks on Christmas Day?

 

Yesterday I didn't manage to spend any time sewing (oops), so this afternoon will be spent quilting and binding the Christmas gifts.

Thanks for visiting.

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In June I showed you my Q2 bee blocks. Here's the Q3 bee block report.

July

The Bee Hive:  Kristen chose these low volume and blue Ripples blocks for her month. I had a great time pulling in a ton of different fabrics to use in this one. What fun this is going to be when she gets it all together.

do. Good Stitches: In July Julie picked these blocks. The 12" blocks went together very quickly. I loved using that spoon fabric for the first time!

Stash Bee: July was my month for Stash Bee and I picked Rainbow Simply Woven blocks. Here's the block I made as a sample, and mine with the first 8 blocks that I received. I've gotten all the blocks from my bee (no current photo of the whole group) and want to make some more to go with them before I start piecing them together. Not sure what size quilt I'm aiming for yet. I love these. Thanks to everyone in my bee!

 

August

Stash Bee: We made Curved Log Cabin blocks for Jennifer. I made mine on the late side, so I picked purple to round out the palette she received from the group. The sewing went together quickly on these (it felt much faster than the cutting). Maybe it helped that I was working with one of my favorite colors!

do. Good Stitches: Heather chose these blocks for us to make in August. I felt a little too lazy to mark my blocks like she showed, so I created a paper pieced section for each three piece corner for each star. I even managed to chain paper piece them in long strips... which was a little nutty, but helped make things go more quickly. I think her option for us making our blocks with three (and a blank) or 4 stars will create an interesting design element in the finished quilt.

 

September

do. Good Stitches: This month we made solid jewel tone and white Disappearing 4-Patch blocks (finished size 8"). Quick and easy, but since my stash is lacking in solids I'm glad I could find a good variety of jewel tones.

Stash Bee: Katie asked us to make Scrappy Crossroads blocks for her. Her palette was navy, blue, teal, orange and gold (and maybe touches of dark purple). I had fun going through my past project scraps to cut 2 1/2" squares. There are 48 feature fabrics in this block! Do you recognize any of these from my finished projects?

The Bee Hive: Last month I cut into Halloween fabric for the first time to make my Halloween Mini for the swap. It was so fun to work on and I was glad that Lisa gave me an excuse to use some more of my Halloween fabric for her Double Star block. She loves Halloween and skulls but wants to maker her project "fun and quirky." I thought this guy was the perfect choice!

 

Have you participated in a quilting bee? If so, which one? What was your favorite part? If you haven't participated in a bee and would like to try one, Stash Bee signups for 2016 open on October 28th.

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They were all completed and mailed on time, but I'm finally showing you my April, May and June bee blocks.

April

Stash Bee: We made these adorable paper pieced cranes for Liz in April. She was looking for blues and teals, but open to other colors, so I made two. It was a quick and easy block to put together.

do. Good Stitches: In April, Diane had us make these simple spool and square blocks in this great color scheme: apple red, dark navy, cream + rain (grayish-blue-greens). I really liked the randomness generated by having each block be any combination of spools and plain squares. Here are my three blocks.

The Bee Hive: We made bright and funky Tic Tac Toe blocks for Nicole. We had also made this block in February. It goes together very quickly and I find it easy to be very precise with matching the seams. It was really fun to choose some loud fabrics.

Nicole has put together her (soon to be queen size with a border) quilt top with blocks from the bee and about 14 blocks that she made herself. Isn't it so fabulous!?

Nicole's Scrappy Happy X's
Scrappy Happy X's by Nicole (@saphre1964 on IG)
Nicole's Scrappy Happy X's 2
Scrappy Happy X's by Nicole (@saphre1964 on IG)

May

Stash Bee: In May, Hive 1 made Kaleidescope blocks in yellow, lime green, dark teal, red-orange and light lilac for Jackie. I had a great time pulling these fun colors and digging into my low-volume stash. Jackie gave us the option of making a positive or negative block. I decided to make one of each.

do. Good Stitches: We made some large scrappy flying geese. The geese measure 4.5" by 8.5" (unfinished). Ailish asked us to use mostly lime, avocado, bright green -- with some turquoise/aqua - on a scrappy gray background. Here's what I came up with for my blocks.

The Bee Hive: In May we made the double star block. Lisa provided us some Essex linen, so there would be some commonality throughout the blocks. This was my first time working with the Essex linen and I think it got me past my fear of cutting into the yardage for my Patchwork City project. She had admired the green print in my block for Nicole the previous month, so I used it again for her block.

June

Stash Bee: In June we made this Loopy block for Leo. She was great with her specifics of what she wanted and didn't want for fabrics. The size of the block surprised me when I started cutting fabric. I knew it was 16", but 16" is big. I really like the graphic, geometric pattern and look forward to seeing how Leo sets the blocks.

The Bee Hive: For June, we made Wanta Fanta block. I had a great time putting this together, because I used 34 different fabrics in this 12" block. Kylie didn't want blenders (which is the majority of my stash), so I had to rifle through my scrap bin to find stuff to use. Overall, I was pleased with how this came together. I could totally see using the pattern in the future. I love the illusion of curves it creates when many blocks are put together (and you get a little distance from it).

July

This month I'm the Queen for Hive 1 of Stash Bee. I decided on this Simply Woven block with rainbow colored strips. I'm so excited for the scrappy quilt that will result. And excited to have some fun mail coming my way. My first package has already arrived. :-) Here's my sample block:

Thanks for visiting!