Common Threads

Wonky House and Tree

Finished two more blocks for the Wonky Quilt Bee.  This bee member asked for a wonky house and a wonky tree.

I was able to piece it so that the animals were in the tree.  Love the details of that.

The roof of the house has directional lines that are supposed to imitate different slopes of a roof.

Both blocks lean toward the right.  I'm not sure what's up with that.  It's just how it came together.  Blended in with the other blocks, I'm sure it will be fine.

I'd never done this type of piecing before, but I enjoyed it and look forward to more opportunities to practice the skill.

Another block done!

The first block I made for the April member of our Around the World Bee took so long that I put off making the second for a couple weeks just to recuperate.  I'm happy to say that the second block went much faster.  It's it great when we can learn from our experiences?!?

The blocks are slightly late, but will be sent out this week, only two weeks late or so.

What is it about tiny piecing these days?  Somehow, I've both drawn and plagued by it.  I'm ready for something larger!

They're done!

25 blocks of very tiny squares.  I joined the Tokyo Subway Map Swap a while back.  Each of us was to make 25 copies of the same block.  I chose block 16, as I had plenty of greens and grays on hand.

The advantage to doing the same block over and over again is that I could strip piece it.  I cut 2" strips, sewed those strips together and cut out 2" strips from those.

One of the most difficult things was trying to keep a consistent seam allowance.  It had to be an exact 1/4".   When I matched up the seams, some were slightly off,but I'm hoping it won't be too noticeable once the whole quilt is put together.  Besides, I expect to receive some blocks where the seams are off, too.  That's just part of doing a swap like this.

After I made these 25 blocks, I realized that I'd essentially constructed enough blocks to make an entire quilt of very tiny squares, albeit the same 25 squares.  I'm sending these blocks out this week and I can't wait to receive the other blocks back so I can construct the whole quilt top.  That will be another summer project!

Around the World Bee

It's my month for the Around the World Bee and I've decided to go with all blues.  I've been wanting to make a value quilt for some time now, and recently have been drawn to various shades of blue.  A perfect combination.

I decided to ask my fellow bee members to make a kaleidoscope block using different color values and sent them a ton of fabric to use creatively.  Since it's such a small bee, I'll probably end making additional blocks to make a full quilt.  I'm excited to see how the colors come together!

Another Bee Block

This block is for the Sew Modern Quilt Bee.  This bee member asked for a confetti block, where the green are the confetti pieces.  

I was able to finish one block with the fabric she sent, but the second one came up a bit short.  Luckily she has some fabric that she can use to finish it up.

The blocks are quite easy to make and would lend themselves to various color combinations.  They are a little more time consuming as each piece needs to be sewn and pressed before you can sew the next piece.  But, then again, that makes for the perfect block for a bee!

A whole lotta piecing

This is another block for a fellow bee member from the Around the World Bee.

The particular block was quite intense to make.  It is comprised of a lot of small HSTs sewn together in different directions.  I finally figure out the pattern of the blocks and it went a bit quicker.  

Unfortunately, the block came out 1/4" bigger than it was supposed to.  I have no idea why.  I trimmed as I went and used a 1/4" seam.  I haven't checked the math (ie: calculated it all), and I'm not sure I really want to.  It's a lot of math.

I really like the block, all the neat corners, and the flow of squares out from the center.

I have one more block to make, but we'll see if I end up doing it.  Because it came out a bit bigger, I'm not sure the bee member will want me to complete the second one.  I have all the pieces cut, so we'll see.

[3 x 6] Bee Blocks Received

Another quilting bee that I've joined is the [3 x 6] Bee.  This is an ongoing bee that has many members each in a "hive".  Each quarter you make six of the same block in the colors requested by each of the members.  In turn, you receive six blocks, each a different layout, but the same colors.

Here are mine from the first quarter of this year.  The colors I chose were gray, orange, and blue.  They are colors I wouldn't normally choose for myself, and this was a perfect opportunity to go outside my comfort zone, again.

One thing I like about bees is the ability to try out new blocks, either those requested by a  member, or something that has inspired me.

We're well into the second quarter with this bee and I've requested the same colors.  My plan is to keep the colors for the year, end up with about 24 squares and make a large quilt.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

Wonky Quilting Bee

I joined a few quilting bees on Fickr that should keep me busy for a while.  One of them is the Wonky Quilt Bee.  The person who had April asked for a spiral log-cabin block.  The center block was cut as a pentagon and each side spiraled out from there.  

The first one turned out a little square in the end, but still has the spiral effect in the middle.  The second is a little lopsided, but I like the effect.

I have to say that I love the fabric she chose.  I've not been a big purple fan, but the combination of purple and orange and pink works perfectly.  I find that the more I quilt, the more I'm branching out into different color combinations that I wouldn't normally choose.  I'm having fun experimenting with color.

Quilting Bees

I've recently joined up with a few quilting bees.  I once thought they were elusive clubs that were difficult to find open and join.  But, that's not the case at all.  In fact, it's quite easy to join a quilting bee.  

The best resource I've found has been this flickr group.  It has a thread where you can find bees to join and post that you're interested in joining a bee.  For a couple months, I just looked at the thread (when I had time) looking for bees that I could join.  I didn't find too many that were still open.  They go fast!  A couple weeks ago, I decided to post that I was interested in joining a few bees and my inbox was flooded with invitations.  Well, maybe not flooded, but I got quite a few.  Moral of the story:  Don't be afraid to post that you're interested.  Don't just watch from the outside.

Here are a few that I've joined:

[3 x 6] Bee: I did the first round this year and signed up for the second.

Wonky Quilt Bee 

around the world { a modern bee }

Sew Modern Quilt Bee

Tokyo Subway Map Block Swap - this one isn't really a bee, per se.  We're each making one block from this quilt 25 times, sending it out, and receiving back 25 blocks to make a completed quilt.

Each bee is a little different in it's timeline, requirements and block style.  I know I'm going to be busy over the next several months, but I'm looking forward to trying out new things and seeing what everyone else does with the same materials.  I really love the idea of the finished product being so easy to complete and so small.  

[3 x 6] Bee Blocks - All of them

Here's a shot of all the [3 x 6] Bee Blocks.  I enjoyed making this pattern and deciding which scraps I'd use for each block.  I've received a few blocks from my Bee-mates, that have been awesome.  I'm excited to see the rest of the blocks.  

Since we only receive six blocks per quarter, I'm going to ask for the same colors for the next three quarters and put them all together at the end of the year to make one complete quilt.

Doing this swap has been a learning experience.  People talk about being a process or product quilter (or knitter).  Well, I've always been both, enjoying both the process, learning through that process and enjoying the final product, the sense of accomplishment at the end.  Having a small product that I can finish in a timely manner made this project especially satisfying.  But, it also challenged me to use colors in a different way.  Some of the color combinations I wouldn't have necessarily used together (pink and red), but they came out great.  In choosing the fabrics, I wouldn't have put certain fabrics together either, but they worked out well.  

Now, I'm wanting to do more work with color and color value.  We'll see what comes out of that in the coming weeks.