Trees Wallhanging In Progress

I am working on arranging the my tree blocks I asked for my bee-mates in November.
I wanted to post this first photo.
The blocks are on my make-shift design wall. (A piece of batting on a curtain rod hanging on the front of the old entertainment center, so things move and fall when someone walks past.)
I think this is going to be a fun quilt to hang in the breezeway of our house!
I will post more as I get further along.
Thank you all. And Happy New Year.

November and December 2016

Nancy's trees were fun to make for our November 2016 Bee block.  I did follow Mary's suggestion to cut the base larger first, before slashing and sewing.  I left them large so that Nancy could trim them to her liking (making the slant so she likes it).  Very fun!

Then I ordered some Anna Maria Horner fabrics when Elizabeth posted her block, and they came really quickly from Hawthorne Threads.  I combined them with some I already had and used a Chuck Nohara block (#1290) as the basis for my designs.

I realized that the block I had requested from you all in January wouldn't look that great all by itself (it needs at least four to look great), so I asked Elizabeth R. if I could do a different block, and she agreed.  Hope these two (a 9" and a 12") will work into your sampler quilt.  It will be fun to see it when you get everything together!

I've enjoyed quilting with all my bee-mates for the last four years, and am glad Cindy asked us to come together in a Mid-Century Modern Bee: many thanks to her.  

I'll miss you all!

B-Be-Bee

I finished my blocks for Anne near the end of October, but forgot to post here. 

I learned a new lesson in this block-making excursion. Anne wanted low-volume on all but one letter. I made four letters that did not work for me, before I realized that the low-volume letters had to use fabrics that looked to me very much darker than what I would say is low-volume. My final letters satisfied me. I hope Anne likes them.

BEEEEES!!!

It was Anne's turn for our Mid-Century Modern Bee, and she wanted to play around with B's and E's and b's and e's, asking for them in a fabric that we liked (I chose Alison Glass) and then the rest in beiges, creams or ivory and low-volume backgrounds.  She said there should be a contrast -- however slight -- between the letter and the background.  I can't wait to see what she makes with all these paper-pieced blocks.

It's October in Southern California, and while we don't have the gorgeous lush colors of autumn that so much of the country has--the golds, reds, rusts and oranges--we do have cooler weather.  That means we can leave windows open in the afternoon instead of hiding away from the scorching sun.  While fall signals an end for the greens of summer, we know that after some time we'll see new growth and spring flowers again soon.

And this bee, the Mid-Century Modern Bee, is also coming to an end at the end of this year.  We've been together for four years, with some changing of the people in the bee as change is always good.  I've enjoyed getting to know a range of sewers, quilters, women of strong skills and good work ethics, always delivering their blocks (a rarity, I've heard, in bees).  We owe a lot of that to the original grouping by Cindy, as well as our fabulous name of Mid-Century Modern, as we are all over the mid-century mark in chronological age, but not creative age!

So, we'll "buzz" on to other things, other groups, other creative ventures, but check back for a few more months to enjoy blocks from our terrific group.

Woven Bee Blocks in Mail

Mary will have 2 more blocks arriving soon.

Raspberry Kiss Blocks for Rene for June

These were a fun block to make up--I hope they are the right blues for you, Rene! I know I'm early, but I had a few minutes and wanted to get them out to you.

April Blocks for Stephanie

I just realized that I hadn't written a blog post for my April blocks for Stephanie, a varied mix of blues and taupes and tans--such a restful and beautiful collection!

Gibson Blocks

I thought you all might like to see all he blocks I've received so far, plus the one I made, laid out together.  Here is how they are looking!  I just love them.  Thank you, everyone!  I also appreciate the little extras some of you sent along (extra half square triangle units, selvages, goodies).  You are all the best!  Now, I will make some more blocks to make this larger, and then sash them.  I have that dark gray that I saved out for sashing.  I need to figure out how I want to do that.  I think I will keep the sashing skinny, as I don't want the gray to overpower everything.  What do you think?  I really love the play of the lights and darks, and I love the light and dark blocks mixed in with all the jumbled blocks.

As an update, the kids at the Kalamazoo Academy of Rock lost their place in the Gibson building.  The guitar manufacturer in there now has taken over the entire building.  So, this will be even more special to the group, as everyone loved the windows in there.  We will still raffle the quilt off.  I will talk to the owner of Kalamazoo Academy of Rock to see if the proceeds should still go to the building (in KAR's name) or to the group of kids doing the rock bands.  More to come!

Thank you everyone for your help with this!

Stephanie

January - March 2016 Blocks from Stephanie

I am getting back on the blogging bandwagon.  I apologize to my beemates for being such a lame blogger.  But one of my goals for this year was to be better at blogging.  So, here I am.  I'm going to catch up from January through March, and then I promise to keep up every month.  I even came up with a tracking system for myself.  :-)

Let's see...January was Elizabeth.  I can't show her blocks, and she knows why.  But these were the fabrics I used for her.  :-)  Love me some Alison Glass.

February was Cindy, and we made some really fun book blocks.  I made these for her.  One of these was for the Sew Sisters bee we are in together, too.  I can't remember which was which, so I'll just post them all here.  So cute.  Such a fun block.

March was Linda, and she wanted these churndash blocks.  And some of these were supposed to be "Gwen Marstoned" up.  Hope they hit the mark.

I made these at a retreat I was at recently.  These blocks made for a little party in my thread catcher bag our retreat organizer put on the table for us.

April is my month.  That always makes me go "eep!"  Don't worry gang...no 100-piece paper piecing block for you this time.  More coming soon!

Can't wait to see all these together!

Stephanie

March blocks for Linda

These are so tiny & cute Linda - hope you like them!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Round Two for February

Good morning. I'm sure i'm the last one to mail these, but I feel better about sending them off now. For some reason I had trouble with my second block. I redid the top section three times before I felt satisfied. 

I changed the text fabric when I found this in my stash. The 'frozen food' text seemed very fitting for the veggie tale fabrics    : )

Mailed and on their way Cindy.

February Blocks Come Late

I finished my blocks for Cindy were completed soon after I got back from my trip. They were fun to make and went quite quickly. I could have made more, but told myself to STOP and get them sent. 

Can't wait to see the completed quilt!

March 2016 Blocks: Miniature Churn Dashes

I went wild for red and darks, then threw in some lime green and bright blue.  This month we were supposed to make miniature churn dash blocks (4" finished) for Linda, who wanted a wonky something or other, here and there.  I switched out some colors but when I looked at the photo, I realized that I'd turned one corner sideways--hope that's all right, Linda.  It was definitely a random event, but you can still see the form of the churn dash, as per your request.

These nine blocks went very quickly and I can't wait to see the finished quilt!

February Book Block

I got mine done and will make another Cindy : )  This was fun. I hope my fabric isn't too 'old' . I used to have a love of toile and actually still do!

Book Block • February 2016

As I've been watching these book blocks being made, I'm reminded of the quote from C. S. Lewis: "No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond."

I love seeing the covers of cherished books from my childhood being made in these blocks, and certainly--since we are all beyond the "age of fifty" -- we have a chance to evaluate what stands the test of time.  As Mortimer Adler noted, "In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you" and these have obviously gotten through to us.

Someday I'm going to have the luxury of re-reading some of my favorite books, but I seem to be on that hurried twenty-first century schedule of one-and-done-and-move-on.  Perhaps this feeling is not peculiar to our era, but others, from other times have also felt this way; however, books have a way of stopping time, of "reading us" as W. H. Auden noted, and so for just a moment, we can linger in a space without clocks, without to-do lists, and just be drawn into a story.  Thanks for letting me think about books, Cindy, as I rush off to sew something else.

February block for Cindy

These Books For Baby were lots of fun....the variety should make a great quilt for Ella!

 

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January 2016 block for Elizabeth

I made two of these blocks. I had trouble with one of them, so while I'm sending them both, I think only one of them will be useful. Bummer. The fabric is really pretty.

January block for Elizabeth

I went through my entire stash and didn't find anything in the range Elizabeth was looking for so I just ordered a half-yard piece of Indigo by Allison Glass. It's beautiful & I have a little left over to add to my stash after making Elizabeth two blocks and signature block.

This block/quilt/pattern is a beauty!

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Cool Blue and White Blocks

I had fun sewing the block that Elizabeth designed. Since her pattern is not ready for the public, I will only show a portion of the block.

My favorite, color since I can remember, has been blue. I have two, maybe three, times as many blue fabrics as any other color. I found only 3 colors I thought would work! The one I chose looks great with the Kona White. The block sewed up so nicely.

I used the Press Stick to get the seams straight without affecting the previously pressed seams.

I think the quilt will be spectacular with all the blues and white.