Bee blocks, catching up

What a wild month--it's amazing how a few things like a stomach virus (YUCK!) and a quilt commission will just knock the whole month out. I am all caught up (actually, a little ahead of myself) on my bee blocks. I've stayed true to my word, and I'm down to two bees (from five at one point--I am feeling much saner!), but there's been enough to keep me busy!

First, there were two scrappy green stars for February's round of my Peace circle over at do.Good Stitches, using a tutorial by Amber. Such fun little blocks--I fell so in love with them that I have a super-scrappy version in process. Like I need another WIP, I know!

And then there was a call for some scrappy log cabin blocks for a special quilt for a girl going through a rough time (you can read about it over here), and I was so moved by her story, I had to help out. In a night, these little guys were sewn up and then sent out the next morning.

Then I started putting together piles of yummy fabric for the lovely ladies in my hive of 4x5--I'm caretaking for hive #2 this quarter (see, still a little nuts!), and my hive has some great color combinations...

Which quickly became some of these Ribbon Stars (tutorial by the illustrious Faith of Fresh Lemons). Really fell in love with these--they actually come together super fast, and the piles above became these:

Over the course of a few evenings. See the extra in the bottom left corner? That was my test block in my colors this round. I love seeing them all together again. Can we say, future scrap quilt? (Really, this should surprise none of you at this point--I always have...several in progress!)

And finally, March's blocks for do.Good Stitches are already done and sent. Paula was heading out of town for a few weeks and gave us our assignment early, so I took a couple of evenings and knocked these babies out--8 little 6.5" scrappy blocks using the tutorial over at Completely Cauchy.

Love them, with their little red centers--Paula's only stipulation on color.

SO much happened in February, obviously it's going to take me more than one post to tell y'all about it. In which case, I'll be back in a few days with Swoon blocks, a baby quilt, and what I made for my Valentine. :)

2011 wrap-up

My apologies for disappearing for the last month of the year. There were many gifts to finish, a house to clean in order to entertain (twice!), and general holiday madness in these parts. But overall, this feels like it was a fairly productive year, and the new year will be one of a number of changes for me...

First, the wrap up. I made a rather ridiculous number of bee blocks this year, doing multiple rounds of several quarterly bees, in addition to rocking out with my ladies over at The Beehive and the Peace circle of Do.Good Stitches.

The Beehive

1. Julies Block #2, 2. Julie's Block #1, 3. February Beehive block for Jo, 4. Andi's Beehive block, April , 5. May Beehive blocks for Kat, 6. Wee boats for Annabel, 7. The Beehive, Belinda's String Blocks, 8. The Beehive, Sheridan's blocks, 9. Tanya's block for The Beehive, September, 10. 3 blocks for Meg, December Beehive11. Not available12. Not available

Peace at Do. Good Stitches

1. do good stitches April, aqua, 2. do good stitches April, green, 3. coin block 1, Peace circle, May, 4. coin block 2, Peace circle, May, 5. do. Good Stitches, Peace Circle, June, 6. do.Good Stitches, Peace Circle, July, 7. Starflower blocks, Peace Circle, do.Good Stitches, 8. bee blocks, do. Good Stitches sept , 9. October block for do.Good Stitches, Peace Circle, 10. do.Good Stitches, Peace blocks, November11. Not available12. Not available

3x6

1. 3x6 Beehive blocks, Qtr 1, 2011, 2. 3x6 bee block, hive #28, 3. 3x6 bee block, hive #28, 4. 3x6 bee block, hive #28, 5. 3x6 bee block, hive #28, 6. 3x6 bee block, hive #28, 7. 3x6 bee block, hive #28, 8. 3x6 bee block, hive #7, 9. 3x6 bee block, hive #7, 10. 3x6 bee block, hive #7, 11. 3x6 bee block, hive #7, 12. 3x6 bee block, hive #7, 13. 3x6 bee block, hive #7, 14. secret, 15. 3x6, 3rd Quarter, hive 17, 16. 3x6 bee blocks, Q3, hive 21

4x5

Round 1

(Round 2 is still in progress on my design wall....)

One of the significant changes coming is that I'm stepping back from a number of my bees. The Beehive has gone for two years, and we've come to the unanimous conclusion that we've had a lot of fun, learned a lot, made new friends, and challenged ourselves, but life has changed for a number of us and we're ready to move on. I love that group, and I was really torn about the decision, but it ultimately is what's right for all of us, and I look forward to swapping around Flickr with them all in the future.

I also stepped back from the 3x6 after the third quarter, and am debating whether I'll stick with the 4x5 after this round. I will absolutely stick with the Peace circle of do.Good Stitches--wild horses couldn't drag me out of that group!

I'm hoping that changing my focus this year will let me finish more of my own projects, including making quilts with the stacks of bee blocks in my sewing room!

Finally, speaking of finishes, there were a few this year.

A little pillow that I whipped up just before the holidays...

A quilt for my mom and dad

I finished the scrappy Epic Adventure quilt for little Leah

And I completed the baby quilt for Leah's new little sister, Cadie

I also made a set of placemats back in March for the Urban Home Goods Swap, round 3.

And made a special little block for a secret project

That became part of a very special gift for a talented woman (Heather Ross) and her new addition

(picture c/o Mama Spark)

And waaaay back in January, I finished this little baby quilt for my friend Tori's new little boy, Ryan

My resolutions this year, with regard to sewing, are:

1) Finish more projects than I start. Seriously, I have so many UFOs, it's a little embarassing.

2) Use up some of my stash, especially some of the things I've been hoarding. Wonderland layer cake, I'm lookin at you.

3) Finish more projects, full stop. It tends to be my least favorite part of the process, the basting and actual quilting, so I need to push through that and complete more. I'm setting myself a lofty goal of finishing 10 quilts in 2012. Let's see if I can manage that, eh?

4) Make a few scrap quilts. I'm actually tackling this one early on, as I have two scrappy UFOs already in progress, and just need to get moving on the sashing and putting together of tops for these.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year, full of more good than bad, more happy than sad, and many warm quilts. Thank you for spending 2011 with me, and I look forward to seeing you all in 2012.

do. Good Stitches

I love working on scrappy projects, and in particular, digging through buckets and bags of scraps for just the right pieces. And that's one of the reasons I enjoy sewing for the do.Good Stitches beeevery month (I'm in the Peace Circle). For October, Paula asked us to make word blocks using the methods from Word Play Quilts by Tonya Ricucci. It was so much fun! Paula started us off with "Today, I will..." and then we each had to pick a word or phrase. I chose...

"Celebrate" as my word. I love the palette she gave us--vibrant yellows, reds and aquas with touches of linen--it all makes the white letters stand out beautifully. And now, off it goes to be put with the other great blocks from my fellow bees, and I get to look forward to what we're doing next month!

Still yet more bee blocks!

I know, right? I don't blog all summer and all of a sudden I'm burying you in posts. What can I say, it feels good to be back! I actually did work on these and get them knocked out in August, at which point they promptly became buried in the pigstye I call my sewing room. Seriously, I'm worried someone's going to see the stacks of stuff around here and nominate me for Hoarders.

Anyway, I finally unearthed the blocks! More bee blocks, this time for my absolutely fabulous group of ladies in the 4x5 Modern Quilt bee over on flickr. I used the Summer Sampler Series hosted by Faith, Katie and Lee over the summer. This is the Mosaic block from the series, and it has great visual impact without being particularly difficult. That said, I'm rather in love with the secondary pattern created by having the blocks together, and I'm thinking perhaps a scrap quilt done in this block would be awesome. Yes?

In any case, the blocks are off to the four corners of the map, and I'm feeling relieved to be caught up with ALL of my bees right now! Being in 3 hives for 2 quarterly mini-bees was a LOT, and I'm feeling it. In the process of taking a mighty step back. I have Christmas presents to sew, people! (Sorry, I did it. I'm sorry!)

I'm a sewing machine!

Or something like that.

I've been a bit of a sew-a-holic the last couple of weekends, and I've finally got a bit to show for it!

I've gotten my blocks all done for one of my (two) hives in the current round of the 3x6 bee over on flickr. It's my hive with the other caretakers, and I really hope they don't mind that I had a bit of a play in my scraps for their blocks, because I had such fun.


I decided to revisit the tutorial from Elizabeth's blog, which I've done for a couple of bees in the past. Truth is, I love improv sewing and messing with my scraps, so this block never fails to make me happy when sewing. Hoping to get out of my own way long enough to get them shipped this week!

I was on a roll Saturday, and had a bit of time before I was due to meet my dad for dinner (Mom's out of town visiting college pals, so it was time for some father-daughter quality time!), so I cranked out my September blocks for do. Good Stitches, the Peace Circle, too.


Star blocks using Allison's tutorial over at her blog, Cluck Cluck Sew. I love Allison's work, and I love the color combination that Lisa gave us for these blocks--red, gray, white, and the occasional little pop of additional color. In my case, that pop was the orange chairs on that Tufted Tweets fabric--I wasn't sure about that line when it was released, but honestly, that chair print has seriously grown on me.

Working to finish getting caught up on ALL of my blocks, because I have baby quilts to make! Two of my friends are due in just a few months, and I need to get cracking!

Me, myself, and Irene

Somehow August turned into the biggest social whirlwind my husband and I have experienced since being married (lo, these 6 years). Trips to the beach, a plethora of sushi dinners with several different friends, a couple of date nights to ourselves...

And then a hurricane. New England usually gets good and clocked in some fashion or another by a hurricane roughly every 10-12 years. Connecticut, as it happens, is usually pretty exempt, maybe a little storm surge along the shore, but nothing we can't handle. As a result, our trees can be a rather wimpy lot. Blizzards aren't enough for these suckers. Oh no. But 8 inches of rain followed by 80mph wind gusts for 24 hours? And they come down like houses of cards.

A lot.

My husband and I were without power for just shy of 3 days. Just long enough to lose the contents of our fridge and most of what was in our freezer (we were lucky enough that the madman's folks kept power the whole time and let us use some space in their spare freezer). My library is still without power nearly a week later. I'd like to say it's been like being on vacation, but that would be a lie. I've been getting up at 6:30 every morning and getting half-ready for work, only to wait around for an hour to see if it's worth completing the process. Thus far, it hasn't. As I'm sort of unofficially "on call", I've been a bit of a homebody. While we had no power, I spent most of the days reading, and finished the 4th book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series (so, so good), and read Penny Vincenzi's "The Best of Times" for this month's book club--here's to hoping the library's open in time for our meeting next week!

However, once power was restored, there was finally a bit of sewing done.


What the... Ah, proof that my husband made the bed--kittens strewn over it, in the name of quality control. That would be Zoe to the left, and Ellie (also known as Beans) above. Zoe is not a monster, and Ellie is not a baby. Zoe is 11 years old, and weighs a sturdy 10 lbs. Ellie is 3, and is a perma-kitten--she was the runt of her mother's first litter, and is a whopping 5 lbs...

Ellie sez, I eat ur soul, kthx?

5 lbs of pure evil, that is...

Ok, but really, I did some sewing--honest!


Scrambled through the August blocks for the Peace Circle of do. Good Stitches--late blocks went out on September 1. Sorry! We used the Starflower tutorial from Jennifer over at her blog, Ellison Lane Quilts.

And after a loooong trip from Australia, Sheridan's fabric for The Beehive finally made it to my door (just before the hurricane). Took an unusually long time to get to me, nearly a month--normally, it's about 2 weeks or so, first class. At any rate, I whipped up Sheridan's blocks and sent them out, so I'm caught up with bee blocks again!


Solids and Amy Butler--love these quick blocks.

Readers, if you stuck with me during the summer doldrums here, I appreciate it more than you'll know. With a little luck, the cooler weather as we hit fall in New England will mean more time sewing, and more things to share in this space! And if you were with me last year, you also know that there's some fun to be had here in October (more so than usual, that is!), so thank you, and I promise to make it worth your while!

Snippets

Summer is marching on at a rather alarming, if sweaty, rate. I mean, it's August already? How did that happen?

In the few moments it has been cool enough to sew in my un-air-conditioned sewing room, I've gotten a few bits and pieces done.


I finished and sent out my July blocks for The Beehive to Belinda just in time. Linen, French newsprint center strips, red, blue, and pops of kelly green in string blocks. I think Belinda is a color-combining genius--these blocks were extremely quick and fun, and I just love the colors.

I've also been noodling around with blocks for both hives of the 3x6 bee that I'm in this quarter, as well as for the first round of the modern sister-bee, 4x5. Trimming...



And sewing up some test blocks in my own colors, aqua, orange, white and gray. Like this Mosaic block, most recently from the Summer Sampler Series going around blogland, care of Faith, Lee and Katie.



It's been too humid to be comfortable working with the iron at all, or sewing much past noon on my days off, but I've gotten a few bits and pieces done. Heck, it's too humid for blocks to stick to my design wall for very long. Hopefully I'll have more to share soon. I don't know about anyone else without AC, but I'm looking forward to some cooler evenings to help me get some sewing done!

Sunday Stash in action, 5/1/2011

Happy May Day, (or Beltane) to my readers! I'm still here--and officially on a "stay-cation" this week. That's right, all the sleep, cups of tea, book reading, couch lounging, and sewing I have been missing out on for months! Think I can cram it all in in just a week? Yeah, me either. Oh well.

I do have a few things I plan to get done in the early part--you know, the "gotta-do" stuff. But I also want to do them, so it doesn't feel too terrible.

One is to turn this pile of scraps into a couple of blocks for this month's round of do.Good Stitches, the Peace circle.



I'll be turning these bright and pretty scraps into a couple of coin blocks--hope to show those tomorrow!

I also need to get cracking on a mug rug for a swap over on flickr. I know there are some folks who really don't get the whole mug rug thing. I think they're cute and functional--hope my partner knows I hope to use what she makes until it falls apart! I drink a LOT of tea and coffee, especially at work, so I'm hoping that I'll have something cute to bring in to the office and break up the dreary gray of my workspace a bit. Honestly, I'm really all about the silver linings lately. (Not up for positive? Come over and I'll make you cookies. Seriously. Life's too short to be miserable--I've had a lot of forcible reminders of that lately.)



These are what I've pulled for the mug rug I plan on making my partner. I hope she likes it--I need to get sketching!

Oh, and as far as keeping track of my Sunday Stash? I think I'd rather just enjoy what I'm working on than keeping inventory on what I buy and what I use. I tried it, it's not for me. I'll still do Sunday Stash posts, but I think it will be more about using the fabric instead of sitting down to do math and statistics every Sunday morning. Ok with you guys? Or are you sticklers for math?

With a little help from my friend...

If you're familiar with the song in the title, I'm sorry--I know you'll be singing it for the rest of the day. :)

I am referring, of course, to my quilting buddy:


This would be Timmy, keeping half an eye on me while I sew, in between his naps, of course.




What is it about cats and niches? Does that look comfortable? (please don't look at the fact that we're missing the baseboard on that wall. It's been on the honey-do list for...5 years? Oy!)

Timmy was supervising my work on this:



A ginormous 20.5" log cabin in Echino-inspired solids, for Andi of The Beehive. I left this slightly large for Andi to trim down--it's bigger than my cutting mat! I loved working with the range of bright colors, though, and every time I work strictly with solids, I promise myself that one day, I'm going to do a solids quilt. Of course, you and I both know that means I'll start one... *wink*

This week also saw the kickoff of the second quarter of the 2011 3x6 Sampler Quilt Mini Bee over on Flickr. This is my second round with the group (though I did help out with a couple of angel blocks in the 4th quarter last year), and it's my first time acting as caretaker! Yeah, I don't know how I managed to get roped into that, either. *sheepish* So the first week has been hectic, getting everyone set up, information shared and links mailed. I also spent two nights knocking my head against the wall with total quilter's block. I had a flash of clarity two nights ago as to what I'd be doing for one of my groups.

Did you catch that?

That's right, in addition to The Beehive, and do. Good Stitches, AND caretaking one group for the 3x6 Bee, I'm doubling up and participating in a second hive with the 3x6 Bee.

Am I insane?? Quite possibly. We'll see if I can manage to make this all hang together the next few months.

In the meantime, I've been cutting up lots and lots of little squares...


Spending the rest of the day working on my trial-run block, and if all goes well, tackling a few more of these!

And since I'm running behind on my Sunday Stash reports...

Used this Week: 3 yards (bee blocks sewn from stash)
Used year to Date: 161.5 yards
Added this Week: 3 yards (Solids from Pink Chalk Fabrics)
Added Year to Date: 53.25 yards
Net Used for 2011: 108.25yards

If you don't see me for a day or four, don't worry--you know where I am. :)

Progress?

I can't say that my design wall has changed much in the last month or so. I've developed a wicked charity sewing habit lately, it seems! I think for me, charity sewing is like joining a bee. I think my favorite part of quilting is making blocks, and both bees and my recent charity sewing ( Just One Star, Log Cabins for Japan) allow me to indulge in making some blocks and then moving on to something else. I don't know, I guess I'm finding it rather liberating!


April will also be my first month taking part in the do. Good Stitches Charity bee on flickr, a project started by the talented Rachel Hauser. I'm so excited! My circle's first round is being led by Katie, and she's asking us to use a brilliant tutorial by Elizabeth of Don't Call Me Betsy. I had a little time the other night to dig into my scraps and try out a block...



The light in here is weird today--that light color actually is Kona White. Can I just tell you how much fun this block is? And with the surplus of scraps going on over here, it just eats them right up! I've sorted through and pulled for the two blocks I'm making for the April quilt.


So you can see what I'll be up to this weekend! (I'm almost disappointed I have a wedding to go to tonight--I'd rather be sewing!)

Also, just a little thank you for everyone's kindness in putting up with me being a bit whiny in my last post. We all have our days, right? Good news it that the treatment seems to have helped, and I'm feeling quite a bit better! Whew!

What I did with my snow day

Last Wednesday, New England got socked with our third snowstorm in three weeks, and it was a doozy! Here in my part of Connecticut, we got just over two feet of snow--enough to break records in some places. And really, once you're counting it in feet, who cares how much there is? It's a LOT.

Thankfully, my uber-boss (the town manager) decided to follow the Governor's directive and close municipal offices last Wednesday. An impromptu snow day--yay! The madman was already scheduled to be off that day, so we spent a cozy day snowed in together. And while he played video games, I got all caffeinated (I may or may not have also cleaned the kitchen during my coffee-fueled frenzy--the details got blurry) and came out sewing!

I joined the 3x6 Beehive Mini-Bee over on flickr this year--this is my first quarter with the group, and I have to say I love that I have a three-month chunk of time to make up blocks on my own schedule. So I figured I'd at least make a dent in my blocks on Wednesday. Thanks to my caffeine buzz, I made quick work of the demo block, in my own colors of green, gray and white:



I love the look of maverick stars, and with fewer seams and points to match than traditional star blocks, they work up really quickly.



This quickly, in fact--they're all done! Even better, they were all pieced from my scraps and stash--NO purchasing came into play for these puppies. You can see red was a VERY popular color in our little hive. I had such a great time with these blocks, it gave me the push I needed to finally start working on a project I've had bouncing around in my head for over a year--you saw hints of it in yesterday's Sunday stash post. I'm on vacation all week, and hope to get some more sewing done, so pop back here later this week, and there should be more progress!

Out with the old, in with the new...year!

A lot of my bloggy, crafty friends are posting huge mosaics of what they've accomplished this year. Not that they're bragging--in many cases, they're as shocked as their readers! But it's left me feeling a little bit out of sorts, like I should somehow be managing to be more productive.

Then I decided that some accomplishments were better than none, and what the hell, I'm celebrating my little triumphs, too!

I've made a pillow cover, a mug rug (my first!), a table runner, tea towels, coasters and a drawstring bag for 3 rounds of swaps in flickr groups...


1. PillowTake 4, take 1, 2. Saavy Seasons Swap gifts!, 3. Urban Home Swap, sneak peek


I've finished 2 baby quilts, 1 small throw (for another swap), and one large throw...




1. Baby quilt, finished!, 2. 398.2 baby quilt, finished!, 3. Urban Home Swap 2, 4. jay's quilt, finished


And I've made lots and LOTS of blocks for my two bees this past year!




1. Flying Geese, for Jo, Dec. Beehive , 2. 9.5" block for Belinda, 3. 18.5" block for Belinda, 4. Beehive blocks for Mel, 5. 2 Blocks for Feb Coast to Coast bee, 6. Beehive blocks for Bec, February, 7. Beehive block for Bec, February, 8. Jennifer's block for March, 9. March Beehive block, for Kat, 10. May CtC Block Party block 2, 11. May CtC Block Party block 1, 12. Beehive May block for Julie, #3, 13. Beehive May block for Julie, #2, 14. Beehive May block for Julie, 15. CtC Block Party April block for Tracy, 16. String blocks 1-4, Andi's July Beehive blocks, 17. string block 5, Andi's July Beehive Block, 18. Amy's June Beehive block, 19. Susan's blocks, July Coast to Coast Block Party Bee, 20. Bibi's Block, C2C bee, August, 21. CtC Block Party block, September, for Wendy, 22. Beehive block, September, for Angela, 23. Oct Beehive block #2, for Karlyn, 24. Oct Beehive block #1, for Karlyn, 25. Sheridan's block #1, 26. Sheridan's block #2, 27. Sheridan's block #3, 28. Sheridan's block #4, 29. April Beehive block 1, for Tanya, 30. April Beehive block 2, for Tanya


So, while not a lot of finishes, still plenty of sewing. Since I figured out that quilting at the dining room table is so much easier than trying to do so at my little sewing table in my office, I hope that I'll be able (and willing) do quilt and finish a number of my works in progress before it gets too warm to think about quilting for awhile! Here's to more finishes for 2011! Have a safe and happy New Year!

Bits of sewing

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch! Well, unless you consider the gravy flood of 2010, but otherwise, everything was great. Hehe.

In the last week or so, in and amongst preparations for the holiday, I managed a bit of sewing!


First, I volunteered to be an angel for this round of the 3x6 Bee over on flickr.com. I knew I couldn't devote a lot of time to being part of a beehive this quarter, but I've liked helping out when I had some free time.



Dipped into my stash, and found I rather love the color combo. Not sure it would work in my house, but it's one more reason I love bees--I get to play with fabrics and color combos I might not otherwise sew with. Also, I love maverick stars. LOVE them. So quick and easy--I have a feeling that my Heather Ross quilt may be made of these. Ah, one day...



In other news, I'd mentioned that I'd finished the last 10 blocks of my husband's quilt. Here they are together on the design wall. They just need sashing and sewing together. I may move them around some, as I see a few spots where the red is pretty concentrated.


I've got a couple yards of khaki solid for sashing. And that dark print with the little spots? It's a Japanese import, little owls on an indigo background. My husband fell in love with it when I was using it in one of the first months of my first bees last year--I tracked some down on Etsy, and have slowly worked along on improv log cabin style blocks. It should be big enough for a good-sized throw (just shy of a twin bed size), and will go well with the reds, blues and tans in his man cave. :)

Now, for a little more recuperation from yesterday's holiday marathon. So far, today has been nothing but lounging and napping. However, I do have a hot date for some leftovers, drinks and video games this evening. How can a girl resist an offer like that??

Unplanned absences?

Wow. Where the heck has September gone? I've been busy, honest! Swaps, bees, and lots of planning for upcoming projects. We've had the strangest weather the past few weeks here in CT. Hot and humid, cold and almost frosty, more thunderstorms in these early days of autumn than we had the whole hot summer. Very bizarre. Those few chilly nights, though, have been enough to put me into hibernation mode--all I want to do after work is sleep! Though that could be because those warm, humid nights in between keep me awake! As my mother would say, sometimes, you just can't win for losing.

In any case, I can share a few things with you while I'm caffeinated enough (I hope!) to string together coherent sentences.

I'm caught up on my bees...

August for Coast to Coast Block Party, for Bibi:


Bibi sent us some of her amazingly gorgeous scraps (serious scrap envy over here!) and had us use Elizabeth's Map of the States tutorial to make up her block. It was a great learning experience--I've been an admirer of the technique for awhile, so it was great to try it out on a smaller scale. Bibi was definitely smart to spread the love on this one, to get enough 9" blocks for a quilt for her little guy--it was labor intensive. Definitely worth it, though, I think.

Also for the C2C Block Party bee, for Wendy's September block, she asked for house blocks. I chose to freestyle, so there's a little wonk to it. I still get a kick out of the stripey door!



And for my Beehiver Angela, a simple square-in-a-square block, which she'll put together as a bento block quilt once she has everything back!



Stay tuned--I have swap pictures queued up from the Urban Home Goods Round 2, and starting in October, there will be give-aways! (It's my birthday month, and really, I can't help but share the love!!)