Catch-Up and Mustard

Slowly I am digging my way out of the black hole that was March. I don't even know what happened, how I got so busy and far behind on everything. Unfortunately, my bee commitments suffered.

I finished my March block for Stash Bee the evening of the 31st. Jan wanted us to make a block following this tutorial.  It's not evident from the picture, but the block finishes at 17 inches!  I can't wait to see Jan's finished quilt when it all comes together.



Yesterday I finished the March block for Simply Solids.  Charisma wanted an asterisk block, and I ended up loving this block.  The instructions were written without diagrams, so it was a bit confusing when I first read it over.  However, everything began to make complete sense once I followed the step-by-step instructions.  It's rather like turn-by-turn directions instead of using a map.



As it turns out (and I'm still not sure how I managed this), I am the queen bee this month for both Stash Bee and Simply Solids.  I had been looking at different block options for a long time, but all of sudden with April looming, I had to make some final choices.  For Stash Bee,I chose Road to Oklahoma, and for Simply Solids, I chose a paper-pieced Star Block.

Finally, these were my February blocks for both bees, which I never got around to posting about.

Duck Creek Puzzle - February block for Simply Solids

Wonky Star - February block for Stash Bee

Wonky Log Cabin - February block for Stash Bee

Projects for 2013

We really hit the ground running for the new year, so I didn't have time to do a retrospective of 2012.  Rather than dwell on that now, I thought I'd organize my thoughts about sewing commitments and projects for 2013.  Making my mental list, I'm going to say the theme for 2013 is "ambition."

This year, I'm involved in two sewing bees, Stash Bee and Simply Solids Modern: A Modern {Bee}.  I've really enjoyed Stash Bee, and Simply Solids looks to be just as fun, based on the first block assignment for February.

In addition to quilting bees, I love the idea of Block of the Month clubs.  It's like getting a little present every month.  Of course, I've bemoaned in the past how far behind I am on Fat Quarter Shop's Designer Mystery Block of the Month, but forget that, I'm still tempted to sign up for 2013.

I also signed up for not one, but two, online BOMs.  Both clubs are pretty ubiquitous, which speaks for the popularity of the designers.  First off is Sugar Block Club from Stitchery Dickory Dock.  I think what really got me was the little button for the club and the blocks on the button -- so cute.  Next, is Don't Call Me Betsy's Lucky Stars club.

So between these two bees and three BOMs, I think I'm well committed for now. The way I thought I would handle it is to devote one weekend per month powering through these blocks. I'll let you know if that works out.

BUT, it doesn't end there.  There are a bunch of very cool free sewing bees going on right now too.  Very tempting.  If you haven't seen them, there is one from Gen-X Quilters called Sister's Ten Modern Block of the Month.   The second one is from Open Gates Quilts called Blogger Girls Block of the Month.  Finally, Riley Blake Designs is introducing a video BOM on January 14th, called "Things we Love."

My 8-year-old recently picked up on my constant lamentation, "I wish there were 30 hours in a day!"

Stash Bee - December 2012

These blocks are for Jackie, a fellow Oregonian, and December's Queen Bee.  When I saw Jackie's post about her tutorial for these blocks, my reaction was "Phew, back in familiar territory."  The last two months the Stash Bee blocks called for paper piecing and applique, respectively, which were completely unfamiliar territory for me.

The block is called Arkansas Crossroads and were delightful to make. The funnest part was picking out the fabrics.  Jackie wanted the blocks to be completely scrappy, so there are no fabric repeats.

Now I'm off to cruise WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

Stash Bee Block for Laura

These were just about the silliest (in a good way) blocks I've ever done.  Enough said, take a look for yourselves.

This is Pumpkin, our almost 10-year-old pug. When she was a pup, her coat was a nice, glossy black. Now in her mature years, her muzzle and chest have gone gray, so we call her Gray Beard.  She refuses to respond to that name.

Laura, the Queen Bee for the November Stash Bee, wanted everyone to do portraits (one self-portrait, and one of a pet), so this is my self-portrait:



This is the real Pumpkin -- the picture was taken at an odd angle, so her head is not really that huge (in case you were wondering).


These blocks are in the mail and on their way to Laura! Thanks again for letting me play along!

Stash Bee - Belated October Blocks

Rachelle, the Queen Bee for October, requested these neat paper-pieced bookshelf blocks.  I completed and mailed these first three blocks to Rachelle on time:

This one is my favorite -- I like the look of the stacked books and the one leaning to one side.

Paper piecing is not one of my strengths, so these were kinda challenging for me.  There was some ripping out of seams and cursing, especially with this one:

This is a picture frame on top of a stack of books.  Pretty clever, huh?

In addition to Kona black (each Queen Bee can specify up to two solids for her block), I used some more of my Just Wing It layer cake.  I think the colors from this collection contrasted nicely with the black.



As I was saying, I cruised along happily with the first three.  Then Halloween came, and I got slammed -- between costumes and work, I didn't get any sewing done until today.  So, today while the boys were out of school for a teacher in-service day, I finished off this last one and dropped it in the mail:

 

Phew.  I really did have a lot of fun making these blocks.  That's what is nice about belonging to Stash Bee -- there's a variety of ideas and techniques that I would have never come up on my own or thought to try.

Here they are in a row, to give you an idea of how it all goes together.  Unfortunately, because I was late with the fourth block, I don't have a picture of all ot them together.  Boo.

WIP Wednesday - Of Bindings, Bee Blocks, and More

Is it nerdy to gush about FMQ goddess Angela Walters and how awesome she is?   Her book, Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters, was the source of inspiration for the quilting on my Giant Vintage Modern Churndash Quilt.



Angela's philosophy struck well with me -- it seemed to be that you should go with the organic rhythm of the quilting and not stress so much about reaching perfection.  Despite repeating that mantra to myself, I did experience moments when I despaired that I could ever make a circle -- it's actually kinda tough to make a round circle.  At times, my circles/swirls felt more like squares with rounded corners.



Nevertheless, Angela was right.  At the end of the day, after I trimmed the excess backing and batting, I was immensely pleased with how this quilt turned out.

All this quilt needs now is the binding.  I was thinking that I would send it to my cousin who lives in Berlin, as a thank you gift for hosting us this summer.  I have to admit, however, that I'm so loving this top right now that it might be difficult to part with it.

I will post the finished quilt with binding later this week, hopefully.  I chose a cream and red striped binding WITH POLKA DOTS.  How awesome is that, stripes and polka dots in one print?  Pure genius, I think.

The next piece of news I have is that I finally joined a sewing bee, called the Stash Bee!  This is my first foray into any type of sewing bee.  This one happens to be virtual and seems to be relatively low key.  Each person is assigned a month where they are "Queen Bee."  The Queen Bee posts a tutorial of a block she wants the rest of the hive (20 participants in each hive) to make for her, using personal stash fabric.

This block is for Anneliese, who lives in Galway, Ireland. You can find her tutorial for this block called "converging corners" here.  The fabric is from a collection called "Just Wing It," by MoMa for Moda Fabrics.  Although the block looks relatively simple, it can be a little tricky.  I wasted some fabric and did some ripping until I finally figured out the dimensions.



Finally, here is my latest crush. This is Chicopee, by Denyse Schmidt. I love the mixture of modern and retro that is evoked by the prints and colors in this collection. You can get the entire collection (26 prints, 2 colorways) here.

I'm linking up to these blogs today! Have fun sewing, everyone!