Bee Rothko

For October, it was Felicity's @felicityquilts turn to choose our Bee Sewcial @beesewcial prompt, and she asked us to make one large block inspired by the work of American painter Mark Rothko.

If, like me, you aren't really familiar with Rothko's work, check out this post from breathing.art. For Felicity's purpose, we were asked to create a piece with at least two colours, with the colour(s) being the maker’s choice. "When you compose your block, please use at least two close values of the same colour for each stripe to give a bit of texture." I thought that was very clever, and really added to the fun of creating my block for her. Once complete, my block measures roughly 14" x 23", and yes, it's a little funky with that wider edge on the upper right. But I figured Felicity could trim as she saw fit, rather than me trimming everything 'square.' Some Bee Sewcial prompts are super challenging, some super easy; this one was just right.

No Rest for the Weary

Huuuuge sigh of relief, my friends. It always feels monumental when a Bee Sewcial quilt gets finished, and maybe even more so with this result from my Courthouse Steps prompt. At 64" square, I know it's busy, busy, with little space for the eye to rest, but I love it. Meet No Rest for the Weary.

I struggled a while deciding on a layout, knowing that, if possible, I'd like to add a bit more black and white to play off the centers of my bee mates' blocks. And once I came up with an idea, I felt pretty good about it, finicky as it was to create and work in amongst the blocks.

The center of the quilt back was made entirely from scrap, but I'd pretty much run out by that time, so I added stash to bring it to size, while trying to create a big ole courthouse steps design.

For quilting, I was inspired by a design I got from the AQS blog a couple of years ago: 25 Nine Patch Quilting Designs. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be there any more. But here's a diagram of it:

I've been calling it a zig zag grid, but honestly, before I'd even stitched all the lines, if felt like enough. I began with a 3" grid, then stitched at a 45-degree angle, followed by a 60-degree angle. It felt like a LOT of stitching! With so many colors in the quilt, I wasn't sold on any particular thread color, but finally settled on 

Aurifil 50wt 5006 [Light Turquoise], which worked well enough.

To finish, I decided on a faced edge. using the tutorial by Audrey Esaray @cottonandbourbon, and I'm glad I did. This is my 12th(!) quilt with Bee Sewcial, and I'm more than happy to add No Rest for the Weary to the collection.

Many thanks to my Bee Sewcial bee mates for their wonderful responses to my prompt. Leanne Chahley @shecanquilt, Stephanie Ruyle @spontaneousthreads, Felicity Ronaghan @felicityquilts, Karen Foster 

@capitolaquilter, M-R Charbonneau @quiltmatters, Tia Curtis @tiacurtisquilts, Emilie Trahan @mili.tra, and Kitty Wilkin @nightquilter all contributed blocks.

Linking up with Quilting JETgirl's Favorite Quilt Finish {October 2026} linky.

Stripes Stripes Stripes

Émilie's @mili.tra Bee Sewcial prompt for September was stripes stripes stripes. Her goal for us was to create a pseudo-repeating pattern using a minimum of four colors in total: one light, one dark, one bright, and one muted. We could add more colors to each category if we wished, but the idea was then to avoid mixing two colors from the same category within a single stripe—for example, no pairing two light colors together. But I just used the initial four I chose, so that wasn't an issue.

Above is my first block, roughly 15" x 19". The second block, below, would be approximately 10" x 18" if trimmed, and could be kind of angular, or not.

Stripes are almost always fun to create, and these were definitely as expected. They'll be heading off to Émilie soon to join those of my bee mates.

Ocean + Light

Kitty @nightquilter got to choose the Bee Sewcial @beesewcial this month, and she asked us to make a block or blocks inspired by how Ocean or Water + Light play together. "Whether the sparkle of sunlight on ocean, or the view from below, with the sun beams coming down through the water. Colors are a range of blues you might find in an ocean, anywhere from dark true blue to turquoise, with white to yellow/gold as the base for the light."

Luckily, many of the blues  - and the white - I used in my block were part of the solid restock I told you about in my June Fabric Usage post. Improv-pieced, if I trimmed it 'square,' it would measure 17" x 19", but Kitty asked me to leave it untrimmed, so I'll do that. Though I was kind of overwhelmed at the thought of responding to this prompt, once I actually faced it, it flowed pretty well.

All the Courthouse Steps Blocks

It feels like much longer, but it's only been about six weeks since I gave my Bee Sewcial mates my latest prompt, improv Courthouse Steps blocks. I don't have them all quite yet, but I've seen photos of them all, and I'm pretty excited.

As a reminder, here's my block. Which honestly, I plan to make remake. I intentionally made mine quite simple, and once I have all of the other blocks up on the design wall, I'll evaluate colors etc., and see what I think. But for now, here it is, 18" square.

And here are the other blocks, makers noted beneath each photo....

Leanne @shecanquilt

Tia @tiacurtisquilts

Stephanie @spontaneousthreads

Felicity @felicityquilts

Kitty @nightquilter

Karen @capitolaquilter

M-R @quiltmatters

Émilie @mili.tran

Pretty cool, right? I have a few ideas about how to put them all together, but that, of course, needs to wait until I actually have them. So until then....

Courthouse Steps

Well, it's my turn to choose our Beesewcial @beesewcial prompt for June 2026. After last year's very personal, small block, black-and-white prompt in Ode to Joy, I decided to go with something on a larger scale this time, with a lot more color; still personal, but in a completely different way. 

I'm asking my beemates to create one large - at least 18" square - improvisational Courthouse Steps block. Untrimmed is great as long as I can trim to an 18" square if I choose to. Some specific guidelines:

• Begin with a pieced black-and-white center of any size and shape
• Construct the logs in cool colors vs. warm colors. Each quadrant can be its own color story, or the same as the one across from it, as long as opposite sides are both either cool or warm.
• Incorporate in your style of improv however you can. For example, my sample block was primarily cut ruler-free and includes some angled seams, pieced logs, and fine-line piecing. Make it your own while still obviously being a courthouse steps block. 
• No applique, please. Machine-washable fabrics only.

I've added to a :: Courthouse Steps :: pin board for ages, and it can be used for inspiration, though not specific details necessarily. I'll ask my beemates to use the guidelines listed above while realizing that Courthouse Steps can be constructed in a myriad of ways. They should definitely do what feels fun and freeing within my limited guidelines.

Lastly, I made the block shown as an example, but reserve the right to make another as my final block for the quilt. I'll decide as we move through the month. Meanwhile, I can't wait to see what they do with this modern-traditional prompt.

Cloud Composition

Stephanie @spontaneousthreads got to choose our Bee Sewcial @beesewcial prompt this month, and she chose Clouds. Actually, compositions that include clouds. We were asked to choose one of four photos that Stephanie took that included clouds. I chose one of the front range of the Rocky Mountains at sunset.

From our chosen photo, we were to select a vertical strip, top to bottom, to be the inspiration for our pieced strip, approximately 8" x 40".

A bit of a challenge, right? I kept my photo close by as I began to compose my composition in fabric.

Honestly, it took me bits of time over several days to complete my entire strip. It was hard to keep everything totally 'straight,' and my strip finally felt done at 9"-13" wide and roughly 48" long.

Of course, I told Stephanie I'd be happy to shorten it, but as I expected, she asked me not to. I have no doubt she'll work her magic once she has all our strips. I know she will.

Leaf Study

This month's Bee Sewcial @beesewcial prompt came from Karen @capitolaquilter - Leaf Study. She asked for abstract, whimsical leaves, in the spirit of her previous Fantastical Flowers prompt (see my response here). For a palette, she chose a throwback to her very first prompt, Reflections, based on the Capitola Venetians.

Karen said she was fine with our blocks being on the larger side, which is a good thing, as both of mine definitely were. The first was inspired by a ginkgo leaf, and measures approximately 13" x 21".

Then the second block, inspired by a broad, tropical leaf, ended up measuring 12" x 24", but obviously has a lot of room for trimming. 

Karen is fine with untrimmed blocks, so I'll leave both of these as shown, and get them mailed off soon.

Log Cabined Circles

With the start of February, Bee Sewcial received a new prompt, this time from Tia @tiacurtisquilts. She asked for log cabined circles in saturated tones. 

These were a little challenging for me, even with Tia's demo video. But I managed!

We were supposed to make the equivalent of two 12.5" blocks, but it was ok to leave them untrimmed. My first was about 15" square-ish, with plenty of room to trim. The second definitely allowed for a 12.5" block, but a little less obviously so, thus I left it not trimmed at all. Tia said she likes the puzzle of making our blocks fit together, so I'm confident this pair will be good additions for her challenge.

Bee Sewcial Swap

A time or two before, the members of Bee Sewcial @beesewcial have had a celebratory secret swap, as a fun way to gather together online, and we enjoyed our latest last week. I had gotten Felicity's @felicityquilts name to make a gift for, and I made her a Pop Open Pouch, pattern by Aneela Hoey.

This is one of my favorite pouches to make, and I was so happy with the fabrics (and that zip!) I was able to find in my stash for it.

 

And yes, I put it in a hand-made lined drawstring bag, using the tutorial by @sotakhandmade.

Leanne @shecanquilt made me a gift - a lovely patchwork bullet journal sleeve, complete with journal and a pretty pen slipped into the back zipper pocket. The patchwork was done with beautiful Essex linens, and the lining our own Bee Sewcial fabric designed by our former beemate, Kari Yates.

I love it, and it will definitely be put to good use! 

Collection/Mosaic

Our first Bee Sewcial @beesewcial prompt of the year came from Leanne @shecanquilt, with Collection/Mosaic, and she provided a pin board for inspiration. She requested saturated colors, and a very dark background if one was used at all. I used my cookbook collection as inspiration for my first block, which turned out approximately (slightly larger) 12" x 16".

Next, my Aurifil thread collection was used as inspiration, and I created this block, which if trimmed square, would be 11".

What a fun prompt! And I enjoyed playing with the colorful scraps already on my cutting board. Can't beat that!

Bee Sewcial Round-Up 2025

It's been a very busy year with Bee Sewcial @beesewcial, the improv and solids-only bee I've been in since its inception in 2015 by Leanne Chahley @shecanquilt and Stephanie Ruyle 
@spontaneousthreads. It continues to be a welcome challenge each month as I respond to the prompts set out by my beemates. In 2025, I created 37 blocks for our group quilts and two finished quilts!

January: Lace for Leanne @shecanquilt

For this prompt, I made three blocks to equal our normal contribution - the first inspired by the edging of a lacy shawl in Leanne's inspiration pin board, approximately 8" x 11", it was constructed ruler free. The second block was the most challenging, and would be about 11" x 14" if in more of a rectangular shape. And then the final improv Lace block was 8.5" x 10.5".

February: Bee Still My Heart for Stephanie @spontaneousthreads

Inspired by the work of Clyfford Still, my block for Stephanie, if trimmed into a rectangle, would measure 15.5" x 25", so there's plenty of room for Stephanie to trim. And that blue line? It represents the lifeline from my right palm, per Stephanie's request.

March: Kintsugi for M-R @quiltmatters

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing pottery with lacquer and gold or silver dust, and we each incorporated bits of retroreflective fabric into our blocks, courtesy of Stephanie @spontaneousthreads. My first block measured 9.5" x 15", and I found working with the retroreflective fabric a bit tricky. You can't iron it, so finger-pressing it is, and even then, it didn't seem to want to lay completely flat. Thus, with my second block, 11" X 17.5", I stuck with more straight lines which seemed to help.

May: Ode to Joy for me @aquilterstable

Basically, I asked for six to eight mostly black and white-ish 6.5" blocks representing things that brought my bee mates joy. I made eight blocks - a fork, a cup, a quilt, a tree, a block representing my circle of family, a table, clouds, and a roller bag to represent my joy found in travel.

Happily, I got all the Ode to Joy blocks made into a finished quilt, 57.5" x 80"!

June: Embrace for Emilie @mili.tra

I think this may have been the most challenging prompt for me this year! Emilie introduced us to the Zorn Palette, while we responded to her Embrace prompt. My first block, 14" x 15", was very representative of my own style, but with the second, 12" x 14", and third, 7" x 8", blocks, I tried to make them softer, while still having some relation to the first. Another aspect of the challenge was the request to create blocks that were not square or rectangular, but rather blocks that didn't have any sharp dents or concavity. Do click over and see Emilie's amazing quilt top!

July: You, Me, We for Jen @jen.broemel

Jen asked us to "make two 13” x 13” blocks in your signature style or how you most enjoy making." Fun, right? Then we were to cut our 13" x 13” blocks into quarters so that Jen would have eight square(ish) blocks that she could quilt and embroider upon (her signature style).

September: Fantastical Flowers for Karen @capitolaquilter

My first flower block was both fun and challenging, and ended up at 16" x 17" with room to trim. Echinacea is a favorite, and I obviously took inspiration there. Karen gave us the option to make a pollinator instead of a flower for one of our blocks, so I tried my hand at a hummingbird, 12" x 12".

October: Inside/Outside for Felicity @felicityquilts

Such a unique prompt! Most seams sewn with black or charcoal thread + at least one seam sewn with neon thread + at least one seam sewn on the front of the block with raw edges showing + (this is a biggie!) added texture on the front through a small section of fabric manipulation. On my first block, 12" x 13", I created some diamond pin tucks. My second block, 13" square, contains a few twisted pin tucks in addition to the black/neon threads and exposed raw seams.

November: pretty petals for Tia @tiacurtisquilts

Tia asked us to help her make a wild and wonky orange peel quilt. Here are my improv petals, each approximately 6.5" square.

AND, as I shared yesterday, I just finished another Bee Sewcial quilt - from my Minimal Shapes prompt in 2024. Spare, 76" x 76", was so named due to its minimalistic elements.

So wow! That added up to a lot of collaborative improv. Can't wait to see more of the quilts that result.