For The Journey Not just the destination…

I haven’t posted about my Quilting Bees for a while, and in fact, I’ve joined one more — for European Quilters only. I’ve also now got the Bee links on my Crafts Tab. Here’s some of the blocks I’ve been making…

This block was for Stitches and Scissors in the SewConnected 3 Bee. She asked for a String Quilt block. This was my first time doing paper-piecing, but it was very easy with this tutorial. Hopefully, it doesn’t screw her up that mine makes a diamond-shape rather than a square.

This block is one of my favorites that I’ve made – mostly because of the colors. Crafty Lady Crafts in Another Quilting Bee sent the greens and white without any specific directions. I added in a bunch of my favorite greens with it. I liked how it turned out so much that I’m thinking about recreating it with some of my leftovers…maybe a pillow, or table runner?

For this block, Messy Karen in Another Quilting Bee requested some kitchen-themed blocks that pop off of her retro kitchen print. Once I finished the pot, I realized there was a little blue and red pot in the print too. :)

This Dutchman’s Puzzle was requested by Mama & CO for our first Eurovision Quilter’s Bee block. Unfortunately, after cutting the fabric, I discovered that the fractions were blacked out for me on the tutorial page, and then I misread her directions on the final size. I sent it back to her before I messed it up further, but hopefully my big seam allowances will allow her to still use it.

Quilt Dad in Sew Connected 3 sent these vibrant prints and requested that we make a log cabin, and then cut it into quarters so he can mix and match them in a Bento Box type of quilt. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

This block is a Maverick Star, created with this tutorial for Oh That Ashley in Sew Connected 3.  Everyone is making different-sized stars, all with the same background.  I look forward to seeing her finished quilt.

This is my quilt, so far, for Sew Connected 3. I sent out Fall-colored fabric and asked for bold and modern blocks. The blocks I got were all very different, but they go well together. I outlined them with a sash and am now just waiting for one or two more blocks to finish it up. The back is going to be a mixture of three vintage sheets with brown, yellow and green patterns.

I haven’t posted about crafting for a while.  In fact, I really haven’t done much crafting until this past week.  I finally caught up on the blocks for my two virtual quilting bees, Another Quilting Bee 1 and Sew Connected 3.  Here’s a few of the blocks I made:

The top three were done earlier, but I never posted them.  I like posting all of them together because I can see that I’m improving.  Recently, I’ve been working on getting my points to line up better, and I’m very happy with how the last one, the whirligigs on black, turned out.

Sometimes these blocks can be tricky because you’re working with just one piece of someone else’s quilt, and you don’t always know what they want.  I’m really challenged with the wonky blocks because it’s just not my style.  Still, the virtual bees have been a lot of fun.

June is my month for SC3, and I’ve sent out fabric to the participants.  I eagerly check Flickr everyday to see if any finished blocks have been posted.  It’s still early, but they’re starting to come in and they look great.

I’ve only done one other sewing project recently, and that was a couple of burb cloths for a friend’s baby shower. I forgot to get a photo beforehand, but here’s Ali and her husband modeling them.

Later this week, I’m going to visit my in-laws and spend the week working on a bed-sized quilt with my mother-in-law. I’m bringing this pattern below, Timeless Treasures Central Park, which I bought in Atlanta, but have been to afraid to tackle because of the curves and the size.  My mother-in-law is a professional quilter, so I’m not so intimidated knowing we can work on it together.  I’ll be sure to post about how it turns out when I get back.

This has been my favorite virtual quilting bee block so far.  This is the April block for Another Quilting Bee 1.  The fabrics were bright and cheerful, the instructions were clear, and I still had plenty of freedom to be creative.

Sarah asked us to make her a wonky house. It could be any size and shape, and we could use the fabrics she sent, or add in some of our own. The only requirement was that the sky and ground fabrics couldn’t change.

My wonky house reminds me of our house in Georgia – with a big yard and trees. It was a little tricky to make the grass go to the middle of the house’s height, but I like the depth it gave the block.

We have two quilts going for the month of March in SewConnected 3.  This block is for Rocklilly in Australia.  I love the fabrics she chose, and I was excited that I got to work with the mermaid fabric.  I actually recieve the fabric for me and Sarah since we live so close, but one of our packages didn’t have mermaids.  Luckily, Sarah seemed cool with me taking the package with it. 

Rocklilly sent us some photos to use as inspiration – squares within squares but not precise and exact lines.  She also said we could add in our own fabric.  I added in the darker turquoise flowers.  The black and red fabrics were interesting – they had a texture like seersucker fabric, but they were easy to work with.  

My biggest challenge with this block is that I peeked at the blocks others created before doing mine, and I think I was influenced by them.  I loved another one that outlined some of the fabrics in blue, so I did that too.  Hopefully it’s not too similar.  You can check out the other blocks at the SC3 link above.

I’m participating in two virtual quilting bees, Sew Connected 3, and Another Quilting Bee 1. This was the first block that I made – for Sew Do I in Thailand. She sent us 5 fabrics and no requirements for what to make, but she hinted that embroidery might be nice. When I opened the package, the solid pink color said Heart to me. The green leafy fabric inspired the embroidery. And then I thought the big crazy paisley flower was a good contrast to the detailed orderly pattern in the bottom corner.

After completing the block, I noticed the problems with it – maybe I can still fix some of them. The heart is not symmetrical. The bottom yellow block is slightly crooked. And I ran out of white fabric at the top corner and had to piece some smaller pieces together. If I did it again, I would make the white strips thinner and the 4 blocks bigger.

Overall, it was a good first block. The pattern came to me right away – hopefully future blocks will be that easy. And I got to practice my embroidery – split stitch, stem stitch, and French knots. Hopefully, it will work for Sew-Do-I’s quilt. You can see the other participant’s blocks by clicking on the Sew Connected 3 link above.