Bzzzz: Bee Blocks

These will be buzzing off in the mail today.

First, the [3x6] Sampler Quilt Mini Bee. This is such a fun block exchange. You pick one block style to make, and then make the same block in  the color combination requested by each person in the block swap.

 Tiffany (yellow, green and blue):

Nancy (rainbow--something for the kitchen table):

Kelly (blue, gray and yellow--something for a throw):

 Karie (blue, gray, green--for a quilt in her boys' play area):

Jane (green, orange and pink):

Donna (she wanted to be surprised, but added that she likes jewel tones):

And this is for Vicki in Block Swap 2 (these string blocks are really a great way to use lots of scraps!)

Third time's a charm...sort of

Like a lot of you, I'm in a couple of bee swaps. This month's swap leader requested Drunkard's Path.

No problem. In my day, I have set in a lot of sleeves into garments, without any puckers, I might add.

In preparation, I even ordered a special foot, called the Curve Master, as it claims pinning the convex and concave pieces is unnecessary. I printed out the tutorial. I watched the video. Ready to go.

Wait a minute....this can't be right. I must have done something wrong...

Something is definitely wrong. No problem. I'll just try it again, this time without the Curve Master, and with pins. Carefully pinning the center, then both ends, and working my way back to the center.

I don't think so...I'll try it once more, pinning closer together this time.

Ugh. Still not right. (Question: would you keep me in your bee??)

Let me read those directions again. "Place those pieces together matching centers with the white on top. Pin from the center to the outer edges. You will have some little white hangovers on each side. This is okay."

Okay. Wait a minute. Where is that homemade pecan pie Mark brought me last night? I need sustenance.

Don't worry. This is not a full-sized pie. It is only 5" across, and I already ate about a fourth of it last night. But I know a couple of bites will give me the energy I need to try it again. Ran out of other "practice" fabric--(sure hope I don't need it for the sampler quilt-along I was using it for). Oh, well, I'll try this fabric.

Not too bad.

The real fabric pinned together. Feeling a little nervous...

Look! No puckers. Hmmmm...why is there more white fabric hanging over on one side than the other?

I probably need some more pie.

Tangent thought: are you a "geometric" eater? Do you like your pie/brownie edges nice and neat? I'll just eat trim that pie so it's a little neater as well...

There. Much better.

After the edges are trimmed and all four components put together...

Our bee partner said we only had to make one block, but I was kind of on a roll, so I sewed the rest of the parts together too...

Not bad. Maybe my bee partners will keep me after all. Now, where is the rest of that pecan pie?

ADDENDUM:

The pie worked its magic, because then I turned around the did this (oops--sorry for the untrimmed threads--I was just happy to be done).

The Color Purple

I am in a block swap and July is my month to decide what kind of block I want the other members to make. After looking at swap blocks from other bees and changing my mind from day to day, I finally chose a variation of Red Pepper Quilts' scrappy quilt.

Instead of scrappy, I have decided to go with a "color wheel" theme. Each member of the swap picked a color, and going out in the mail today is a 6 1/2" square of white Kona cotton and a little stack of ten tone-on-tone prints in a specific color, and each person is encouraged to add some fabric from her own stash. (Yep, two people picked orange--hooray!)

I had made a sample block in purple, which I then tried to photograph. It turned out to be really difficult to get a true representation of purple. It kept photographing as blue. I'm sure it had to be fabric, not the photographer. So then I tried playing with the white balance settings on my camera. These are the crummy pictures I came up with.

I finally did something I hardly ever do: photograph with the flash on. Whew. The white really got bleached out, but the purple looks a little better.

I'm pretty happy with the block and I think the quilt will be awesome.

But is there someone out there with photography hints?

You've Got Mail

Incoming:

I participated in the Modify Tradition quilt swap and this came in the mail the other day, all the way from Massachusets, made by Erin. I love it! Soft and crinkly, beautiful colors.

More blocks on the back:

I already have it hanging on the wall in my sewing room.

Outgoing:

Leslie got to choose the block for June in Block Swap 2 and chose the disappearing nine-patch. This is on its way to her in Nebraska (fabric: Oz by Senae--the colors are awesome).

My contribution to the Modify Tradition quilt swap 2010 is on its way to...... Oh, wait. I can't divulge that. It's still a surprise.

There is now a label on the back, but I snapped the picture before I sewed the label on. You know: shhhhhhh.

*sigh* I love mail.

Mail for Melissa

I just finished the second month of Block Swap. Melissa wanted a "scrap tree." Very cute idea. But...I know virtually nothing about fusibles (Steam a Seam, Lite Steam a Seam, Steam a Seam 2, Lite Steam a Seam 2--really? What's the difference? Which one do I use? So confusing...) and have never done free edge applique. Melissa solved the first part by including the fusible and plenty of really cute scraps. So I sketched my tree stump and leaves, fused them, stitched around all the edges,

and then added some cute little mushrooms and a snail from fabric by Michelle Engel Bencsko's "Shade Garden" collection.

And no matter how I turned this leaf, it just looked like a fish to me. Oh, well. We'll just call it charming and whimsical.

This was fun, Melissa. I've seen some of the other blocks so I know this will be a really fun quilt when you are done!

Here's hoping Hope is happy with her block

Say that three times....really fast.

Before the end of the year, I signed up for a virtual quilting bee. Twelve women. We each have our own month (mine will be in July). When it is our turn, we send fabric and block ideas to each of the other eleven, they usually add some fabric from their own stash, make a block (or two)  and send it back to us. The next month we start over again.

First up was Hope. She sent this fabric and instructions to make a string kaleidoscope block.

These were some of the possibilities from my stash.

And these are the two blocks that I made and sent back to her. I hope Hope likes them.

Now I wait for the next fun package to arrive in my mailbox.