Horizon Views

Imagine huge sighs of relief. That's me when I glance over and remember that my latest Bee Sewcial quilt is D.O.N.E. Back in April, I offered my bee mates the initial prompt of "Horizons." It was Day 1 of my retirement, and the prompt held a multiplicity of meanings for me.

At the time, I said, "For color, anything goes! I'm asking my beemates to take the liberty - please! - to use it abstractly. I love the work of digital artist Grant Haffner - the layering and his use of multi-colors. I'm hoping they are as inspired by it as well, as they create their own horizons in fabric." I also asked for one rectangular block from each of them, in a landscape orientation, approximately 8"-10" tall, and 30"-40" wide.

And of course, one by one, the blocks arrived from my beemates. I really loved that each represented a particular kind of horizon. Sadly, it took me several more weeks before I dug in and created my own block, reminiscent (to me at least) of the lake photos I've posted over the years. 

And then, the blocks hung on my design wall where I ruminated over them nearly every day. I confess I really struggled with how to arrange all the blocks together into a cohesive whole. But FINALLY, I hesitantly pieced them into a top and with a handful of trimmings, pieced a quilt back. That process was helped along by a stashed two-yard length of the Kona Color of the Year 2020, Horizon. It was kismet.

About the time I puzzled the blocks into a quilt top, I decided that dense Organic Straight-Line Quilting was the way to go. The process on a quilt this size - 43" x 74" was a tad arduous, and I didn't make it any easier on myself by using multiple threads. And by multiple, I mean 16! 

All but one were Aurifil 50wt - 2600 [Light Gray], 2805 [Light Turquoise], 2715 [Robins Egg], 2730 [Delft Blue], 1125 [Medium Teal], 2784 [Dark Navy], 2840 [Loden Green], 1114 [Grass Green], 2910 [Medium Olive], 4030 [Plum], 4225 [Eggplant], 2530 [Blossom Pink], 2115 [Lemon], 2320 [Light Toast], and 2372 [Dark Antique Gold]. Then there was also one Sulky 50wt Cotton+Steel 753-1058 [Tangerine]. 

That's a lot of colors! But when you see the quilt top, I think you understand why, right? Of course I wasn't able to match every fabric in the quilt, so in some sections, I chose a dominate color of thread; in others, I used two or three overlapping. For the bobbin, I used Aurifil 50wt 2805 [Light Turquoise] throughout.

Finished off with a faced binding using the tutorial by Audrey/@cottonandbourban, I'm pleased to be celebrating another Bee Sewcial quilt finish, which I'm calling "Horizon Views."

During the time that this quilt's blocks were still under construction, my husband and I actually purchased "Sunset Road," one of Mr. Haffner's prints, and it now hangs happily in our home.

So of course, when we went out for a quilt photoshoot yesterday, we went looking for a road with a power pole, and got a photo reminiscent of Mr. Haffner's own beautiful scenes. It was the perfect finishing touch.

 Blocks made by: 
Leanne/@shecanquilt, Marci/@marci_girl, Felicity/@felicityquilts, Karen/@capitolaquilter, Stephanie/@spontaneousthreads, Ken/@thekingslacker, M-R/@quiltmatters, and myself/@aquilterstable.

Here are links to my previous Bee Sewcial quilts - Mod Mood, Baconrific, Looking Up, Homage, Modular, Rings, and Lined, if you missed them.

Improv Letter Study

Oh it actually felt good to be working on some bee blocks again this week. My Bee Sewcial bee mate, Felicity/@felicityquilts chose an Improv Letter Study prompt. Guidelines included two-12.5" blocks, a different letter for each block, and different values of one color for each block.

First, I chose the letter "L" in varying blues. Though L was a natural for nesting several letters in one block, I realized after, that that wasn't Felicity's first choice, so didn't do that in my second block. But it was fun here. How many Ls do you count?

For my second block, I chose "A", and tried to include a solitary lower case a as well. This one took some tricky puzzling, but I had a lot of fun with it. 

So those were more than enjoyable, and for once, rather than mail them off, I'll get to hand-deliver them to Felicity when we meet up at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in November. Meanwhile, I just finished up quilting on my current Bee Sewcial quilt, so hopefully will get to share that with you soon. It's been a journey, this one!

Subtle Secrets

Well THIS was interesting! I was intrigued enough when Felicity/@felicityquilts announced her Bee Sewcial prompt for the month - Subtle Secrets. Wonky, ruler-free improv blocks based on traditional quilt patterns sounded like a good challenge, but it was Felicity's choice of colors that really caught my interest.... We were asked to use "two shades of white for one of the blocks, and two shades of the darkest color in [our] stash such as black, grey or blue for the other."

My first block is a Monkey Wrench (aka Snail's Trail) block in two blacks, Kona black and pepper.

The second is Jacob's Ladder in Kona snow and Michael Miller Cotton Couture in soft white, which believe it or not, I did press really well.

Anyway, I enjoyed this prompt alot! I'm anxious to see more blocks, and of course, this quilt put together. I was surprised how much I loved the resultant blocks, especially the black with black. Despite how they look in my photos, in person the two-tone is very subtle (yay!) but visible.

Be Counted

I'd been looking forward to Sunday night all week. Often a time when I can focus best, I was ready to start in on this month's Bee Sewcial block. Stephanie/spontaneousthreads had given us the prompt "Be Counted", where we would select a number significant to us, and represent it in tally marks. Most of the marks were to be in dark grays, very dark inky navy, or black (look close, and you'll see mine are a random mix), with one lone mark being red.



The number I selected to represent was 40 - the anniversary hubby and I will be celebrating this fall. I kept trying to think of other (smaller!) numbers of significance, but kept coming back to the big 4-0. I made eight unique sets of four improvisational marks, measuring from 1/16" to 3/8" in width. Then I 'crossed' them using the Inset Pieced Strips tutorial by former bee-mate Hillary/entropyalwayswins.



The 'double' cross was a late-in-the-process idea, but I like the interest it adds to the piece. And the single red tally represents, to me, the 'now'....the 40th year not yet complete. And as Stephanie guessed, the up and down placement represent the rhythm of life itself. Stephanie put it better than I could have, "A journey with an uncertain destination and lots of ups and downs and joy along the way." Exactly.

Freeform-Transparency-Connection

Bee Sewcial is always challenging. Rarely do I know right off where I'm headed when I read my bee-mate's prompt. But this month was one of the most challenging of all. One big Freeform-Transparency-Connection block. That was Karen/@capitolaquilter's request. The palette was the easiest part: Maximal minus pink/purple & limited neutrals. And freeform? Ok, that I could do.

I started by piecing one element with transparency. Not sure it was totally successful - still a concept I struggle with - but my attempt resulted in that center 'circle'. From there I just pieced some random improv segments using techniques I enjoy, and I even grabbed a couple of discarded blocks from previous projects that I discovered in my solids scrap bin.

I even tried to create an improv 'egg' that I'd seen Karen admire before - see the dark oval in the bottom left? Yeah. I need some practice with that shape. The 'connection' theme was incorporated through that crooked 'line' in the center of the piece. Then the 'dots' were created as a way to fit the block elements together.

This block was made totally ruler-free until the final trimming, which resulted in a block measuring 17" x 21 1/2". Whew! The top photo was my original orientation, but as I was photographing it I decided to see what it looked like from every angle, so to speak. Do you have a favorite?

Direction

Bee Sewcial prompts never fail to intrigue. M-R/Quilt Matters directed us to one of Stephen Von Worley's maps coloured by orientation for our inspiration this month, with the overall theme of "Direction". Remember we use only solids in this bee. For background, we were asked to use medium to dark grays. In a single color per block, we were to create aerial maps of 'neighborhoods' in two 12.5" unfinished blocks. The thinner (1") strips indicate residential roads; the thicker (up to 2"), highways.

I zeroed in on two separate neighborhoods on Mr. Von Worley's map, and attempted to recreate them to some degree, pulling from my scrap basket for all the colors. These were truly very enjoyable blocks to make, and seeing them with others on Instagram [#beesewcial] leaves no doubt that this is going to be a stunner of a quilt.

Next up was a piece for a Bee Sewcial swap [#beesewcialswap], and it has morphed into something quite unexpected...such as a recreation and possible tutorial. Yeah. So stay tuned....

Triangles, Repeating Patterns, and the Color Blue

Marci had a multi-faceted prompt for her Bee Sewcial blocks this month in regards to shape, pattern, and color, which was alot to think about. I really wanted to make improv triangles, though it was clear that this wasn't the time to go crazy. There needed to be some order to pull off the repetition.

One of the little extras in Marci's prompt was asking us to include dark navy or black in each block. Also, we were given the option to include other fabrics than plain solids, which made me happy since I found a blue/black shot cotton in my stash, and it made a perfect backdrop in block one.

I think I still had strings on my mind from last month when creating triangles for block two. The secondary goal for this block was to make it entirely from triangles, some plain, and some pieced, and that actually worked pretty well.

Both blocks are 12 1/2" unfinished. Do glance at both #beesewcial and #inspiredbybeesewcial for some really awesome blocks this month!

#inspiredbybeesewcial

There's a new hashtag over on Instagram!

If you hang around here much, you've probably seen my Bee Sewcial blocks. We're a quilting bee, yes, but a different kind of bee. And maybe, just maybe, you'd like to sew alongside us.

Here's all the scoop:
"About a year ago a unique sewing bee formed that asked each member to choose a monthly theme/inspirational source and color palette. 10 quilters would then go forth and make "blocks", blocks become a quilt, one for each month. In this process we bee members have gained new skills, explored different designs and close friendships have grown. Somewhere in this whole creative endeavor other talented people have observed our journey and have asked to participate.

Unable to keep a good thing to ourselves, we have created a companion community #inspiredbybeesewcial to sew right along with us. We will continue to post our monthly inspiration on IG with dual hashtags. We ask only that you use #inspiredbybeesewcial when you post your makings. This larger group #inspiredbybeesewcial is about being a respectful, supportive, creative, collaborative community and making ourselves better designers and sewists. If you would like to be part of this companion community, you may follow monthly "instructions" on our blogs and tag your pictures on IG with #inspiredbybeesewcial. You will find us commenting on all your creativity over in #inspiredbybeesewcial creative space.

So, are you ready? Hillary @entropyalwayswins is point for September. Look for her mission to us all in the last week of August. The other co-conspirators (and people you might want to follow just so you don't miss anything) are: Leanne @shecanquilt, Diane @ylmommyx4, Marci @marci_girl, Felicity @felicityquilts, Karen @capitolaquilter, Kari @quiltsforthemaking, Melissa @weshallsew, Stephanie @spontaneousthreads, and myself, right here at @aquilterstable."

So if you want to push your creative boundaries and enjoy working with solid fabrics, consider sewing along. Just remember that hashtag, #inspiredbybeesewcial, so we can cheer you along!