Saturday, December 31, 2016

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.

Friday, November 11, 2016

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.

Sunday, October 16, 2016

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.



Tuesday, May 31, 2016

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!