BEES!

Getting caught up on my two bees.

Dorrie's May block for Quilter bees.

These are one inch blocks, requiring ironing and precision. Oh, quite the challenge for messy me. I think it turned out nicely, too. I really love the block, but this might be too much for me to make a quilt with these blocks.

Next up was Julie's blocks for Sew Bee It.

Julie requested confetti blocks with purple, 12 1/2 to 14 1/2.

And using our own favorites for a friendship block.

Sorrel requested log cabin blocks for June of Quilter Bees.

I was only able to finish one, probably because of poor planning on my part.

All caught up until next bee month!

Donnie Dinosaur, Pink zigzags, and bees

Though we've been busy with moving, I did get two quilts finished while staying with my parents. This first one was for a baby boy, born early March. Kelly requested dinosaurs or space. My first thought was dinosaurs in space suits, but she clarified the "or." I couldn't resist having one of the dinosaurs at least play with a rocket. These dinosaurs were all inspired by the illustrations of Mark Teague from How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? 

Previously, when I've done much applique, I usually turn under the edges of all but the smallest or strangest shaped pieces. For those, I would use an adhesive (heat n bond lite) and then sew around. I decided to just use the adhesive  for all of it this time. For some of the larger pieces, I did cut out the centers of the pieces before ironing them on. Things were a bit stiff, but I knew that would happen. However, I didn't realize how unhappy my machine would be when it came to quilting. Too many thick layers with the heat n bond on the front and back. Many skipped stitches. I ended up having to rip out quite a bit of the quilting stitches and redoing them. Of course, when I searched for help online, I found a great tutorial for using starch for applique, same concept as the heat n bond, but washes out. Good to know for next time. Anyway, I quilted each section around the dinosaurs differently. I wanted to make this a two sided quilt, but the quilting looked kind of odd on the dinosaur on the back. I think that would have worked better if I'd just done an allover quilting design.

All in all, I'm still happy with how the quilt turned out. It was just quite a learning experience for me. Always good, though. This quilt is approximately 48 x 60, made with all kona cottons.

I also made a lap size quilt as a wedding gift. I'd asked the bride's colors months ago, and had this in the plans.

Somehow, I still didn't get it totally finished until right before the wedding. Stipple quilting. This quilt is approximately 75x80.

It would have looked nice staying in my house, too.

I got quite behind on my bees. This is my mini quilt for Adrienne of Quilter bees.

And this is my row (really bad photo) for Tanya of Sew Bee It.

Sew Bee It blocks

I'm not sure what I was thinking signing up for another bee right before moving. Somehow, with moving halfway across the country, I got behind on my bees. A bit of catching up tonight. The photos aren't great, but I was determined to get these packed up tonight.

For March:

 For April:

Still have another block for Adrienne with Quilter Bees, but it's going to take a bit longer.

Another bee block

Two more bee blocks for Sharon, in the style of Denise Schmidt's Drunk Love.

All caught up with bee blocks, back to my usual obsessive quilting.

Jewel Squares

Quilter Bee blocks for Theresa. Inspired by Kaffe Fassett Jewel Squares.

Another bee block

This was for Lisa's month for the quilting bee. She requested a churn dash block. I'll have these two bee blocks in the mail this week.

I'm doing quite a bit of traditional blocks lately, with the bees, plus I'm trying to catch up on the quilt along for Modify Tradition.

Heidi's bee month

For December, Heidi had us follow crazy mom quilts' star quilt along. I was given week 4.This was definitely out of my comfort zone, from fabrics to a traditional block, but I had fun with it. I had been planning on following Modify Tradition , but didn't have the time earlier. This may have inspired me to catch up.

Bee houses

We are making blocks for Anna this month in our quilting bee. She requested pieced houses 2-3 inches, set in a 9.5 inch block. I didn't have enough of the background to set all of the houses, but I did try to even them a bit to make it easier to complete.

I started with the one on top, and that was not my plan. This was a bit harder to get started than I thought it would be. I realized that my house was going to be quite a bit larger than 3 inches, so I stopped and made another house. Looking back at the first start, I thought it looked a bit like a mobile home. So, I tried to curve out the edges and add wheels. I didn't allow enough and the curves ended up in the seam allowances. I still liked that one, though. Anna was right, these are definitely addictive. I kept making houses, until I didn't have enough fabric to keep making more.

White squares baby quilt, fabrics, and a bee

(I admit, I'm not good with quilt names.)

I had some kind of image in my head of white strips with bits of bright color in between. I started sewing strips and squares of color. It didn't quite turn out like I had planned, but I still like it.
Of course, I liked it even more after quilting and washing it. I also like that I didn't have to buy any new fabric for this quilt, except backing. All of the squares and the white were already in my stash. I had enough fabrics for the backing, too, but I wanted a solid backing for this quilt with all of the smaller pieces on the front. Scrappy binding, though.
The finished quilt is about 45 x 55.

The quilt is now for sale in my etsy shop.

I'm going a very different direction with my next quilt (another baby size.) Just the fabrics together for now.

I've been reading what others have been doing in their virtual quilting bees. I liked the idea, but never knew when any of them were getting started. I managed to sign up for one this time. I'm a bit nervous about making quilting blocks for other quilters, but pretty excited, too. You can check it out over here. These are the fabrics I have to make a block for Meagan.