For Gretchen from Kris

I love the fabric Gretchen sent and I had a ton of fun doing these blocks. I think this quilt will be spectacular! Here are the blocks I made (6.5" and 9.5"). I meant to make some smaller ones, but just couldn't help myself and kept making them bigger :)

Addicting

Well, I must say these squares were quite addictive! I decided to paper piece them so that it would become a mindless activity. It is nice not to think every now and then :) Gretchen sent so much fabric that I decided I would make a layout that would be nineteen inches by nineteen inches if sewn together. There are a total of 30 blocks. On some of them I really did use the last bit of fabric, so those will be a little shy of the unfinished size, sorry. If they are too small for you Gretchen feel free to add to them.

So sorry!

So I got behind, really far behind actually on my bee committments and I'm truly sorry. I finally dug out my fabric, sewing machine, cutting mat etc last weekend and finally found time to work on my blocks today. Thankfully my month was October (I love all the blocks I've gotten so far!) so I didn't have to worry about it but September was still looming over my head.

But not anymore!!!!



The task was stars and I immediately knew I wanted to make a wonky one because I love wonky stars :). From there the red, white and blue color scheme seemed best fit in a flag block.

I don't normally use batik fabrics but I really like them in this block.

Since I was on a roll I also knocked out my blocks for November. My goal, is of course, to avoid ever getting behind again!

Gretchen asked for squares in squares and I have to say these blocks were quite addictive!

"Can you believe it's already August?"

I almost cried when I re-read Zonnah's card and realized that it's almost November.  Yikes!  I was terrified to do these curves since I've never done them before so I wouldn't let myself finish any other bee blocks until I completed this one.  I used a pattern from Purl Bee for Curved Seam Pillows , and shrunk the pdf by half.  It worked out pretty well and the instructions on the site were a great intro to curved seams.  My picture definitely suffered from being in the bright sun - the shadows are making those puckers look worse than they actually are (although there's no denying that they exist).  Learning some new skills, such as curved seams, was why I joined some quilting bees, so thanks, Zonnah, for the challenge - and enjoy!   ~Gretchen

Shot cotton love

Have you seen those gorgeous shot cottons from Kaffe Fassett? I thought I had, but let me tell you-- a computer screen does not do the fabric justice. I had not been so up close and personal with the fabric until Nichole sent some Thunder to use in her block this month. I had heard people describe it as iridescent looking, but didn't really understand until now. It really is. WOW! LOVE I'm telling you!

Nichole requested a big block (16.5") with 1 to 3 individual flowers surrounded by the fabulous shot cotton background. She said she loves bright, bold colors, so that's what I tried to do:


It was a fun block to make. I started by cutting out my flowers and then measured them to see how big they were. Then I used graph paper to help me figure out the sizes background pieces.

I have a feeling that Nichole's blocks are going to create a spectacular quilt!

Thunder is one of the best color names

First, the purple shot cotton Nichole sent us for October is delicious.

I didn't think I had a lot of flowers in my stash, but I was able to find several. These three looked best in the Thunder field.

Amazingly, the block when smoothly and that scares me. I checked and double checked the instructions so I think I am good on that end. It was fun to arrange and rearrange the flower placement. I decided on this so that the flowers were further from the center, but still kind of balanced. By the way, the littlest flower on the bottom right isn't that close to the edge. Some of the side got cropped out of the picture.

I am really interested in seeing the finished quilt. The block should be in the mail tomorrow! =]

October

This months snip.sew.send from Nichole was a bit of a challenge for me because I don't have a stash. I do have leftovers from all the quilts I have made but none of those had flowers in them. I did have the floral print from my month but it did not go with the purple. So I did some begging and got these flowers :) My favorite is the yellow one. This picture really does not do it justice but it looks really good with the purple. I had a lot of fun fussy cutting and doing the math to make the block.