March Bee Blocks

The month started out with some butterfly blocks using this tutorial from MLE Knits. Each of us in FAITH Circle are making 8 - 6 /12" blocks so they can be arranged however Melissa/~Me1issa wishes.

 

In That Stash Bee, Whitney/whitney (the peacock tree) chose Simply Woven, a block (and quilt) shared on the Moda Bake Shop by SewCraftyJess. They were really fun blocks to put together.

 

The Always Bee Learning bee decided to do a charity quilt this month with Leanne/shecanquilt leading the way. She chose the Octagonal Orb block by Elizabeth Hartman, which I confess at first kind of intimidated me. But other than a bit of thoughtful prep cutting, this block really did go together very smoothly. And I love all 17" of it!

Meanwhile, blocks are arriving from my bee-mates in the Mid-Century Modern bee, and what beauties they are! It's my month, and if you missed seeing my Hugs and Kisses block, I shared it here.

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday.

September Bee Blocks

Time and energy for sewing this last week has been very slim, but in brief fits of productivity, I did get this month's bee blocks done.

First were a rainbow of butterflies for ~Me1issa and the FAITH circle of do.Good Stitches, using this tutorial. I really like the layout she's planning on using!

For the Modern Blocks Bee, Leanne/shecanquilt asked for Stonehenge blocks made up in Tula Pink's new  The Birds and the Bees.  The pattern is by Amy Ellis and was very straightforward to cut and piece together. I'm anxious to see blocks made up in the other fabrics in the line.

And then, the most challenging bee blocks of all, two New York Beauty blocks for Watch Meesh Run in the Always Bee Learning bee. And yes, I gulped when I saw her thread on flickr about this month's "assignment". But in reality, I had done enough paper-piecing that these weren't half as difficult as they look! I was assigned block patterns #9 and #4 from Sew Sweetness' New York Beauty quilt along earlier this year.

So it's good to have these taken care of so I can focus on the quilts in the line up!

Linking up with TNT Thursday.

W.i.P. Wednesday

W.i.P. Wednesday seems to find us where we are, doesn't it? And it finds me barely gearing up again with some new projects. 

Completed projects
Zakka Style Sew-Along project #24: Nested Boxes - This project wrapped up the sew along; there's a full post here about them and a farewell to Zakka here.

FAITH Circle Butterfly blocks and Always Bee Learning New York Beauty blocks - one more bee block for September and I'll share about them all together.

Ongoing projects
Modern Crosses quilt - My curio by basicgrey arrived this week, along with the background and backing fabrics. Just to figure things out, I did get one block made. I'm looking forward to seeing this come together.

Mod Pop Quiltalong - Fabric squares are cut, and templates arrived!

Christmas quilt - nothing to share yet, but I did find inspiration for this one finally and have begun cutting fabric.

Dresden project - same as above - inspiration found and some trimming done, but no real progress.

Upcoming projects
* Modern Blocks Bee Stonehenge block NEW
* nametag for Sewing Summit NEW
* scrappy Metrolink
* another frame purse - another sew-in, or shall I tempt fate with a glue-in?
* use Polaroid blocks NEW
* placemats? NEW
* Binary quilt using blocks from Modern Blocks Bee NEW

Linking up with W.i.P. Wednesday.

52 lists in 52 weeks//weeks 49 & 50 and another do.Good Finish

There are two week's of lists to share today, but I don't want to bore you to tears. So we'll have a little quilty "commercial" between them and show off a brand new finish by the FAITH circle of do.Good Stitches.

List 49: 5 things I know at 25
Ok, so I was 25 like 30 years ago . . . It didn't take me long mulling over this assignment before it dawned on me - rather than trying to remember what I knew at 25, how about listing what I know at 56. So here are 5 things:

1. Feeling 'in love' is great, but committing to love makes it last.
2. There are always new things to discover, to learn, to master.
3. It's true that time heals, even though nothing is ever the same again.
4. Sometimes it's hard to face life's next stage, but delight can be found at each new turn.
5. Riding on a merry-go-round is as fun at 56 as it was at 6.

The latest finish for the FAITH circle was a butterfly quilt finished by Des of Taffy Talk. Each member of the circle contributed four butterfly blocks using this tutorial. Here are the blocks I sent in:

 

And here is Des's beautiful finish!

The colors are so fun together and I love the quilting she did and the scalloped edges. So fun!

Click on either photo to see more in Des' photostream

And now for the next list . . .

List 50: 10 things I learned from my mom

1. "do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
2. how to set a proper place setting at the table
3. help your kids do their chores; "do it with them"
4. writing thank you notes
5. how to sew on a button
6. love no matter what
7. how to be a nurturer
8. how to hoola hoop
9. that catching hail in a bucket is fun
10. all about prayer

Only two weeks left in the 52 lists in 52 weeks project!  If you have a chance, check out some entries at the Bloggers' Quilt Festival! I'm still hoping to get my current project bound up before the deadline!

The End of the Beginning and Bee Blocks

I seriously hope I haven't bored you to tears yet over my job transition. I just couldn't help but show you the modern cross quilt now hanging in my office {see here and here}. The week has gone well - my replacement is adjusting nicely, coworkers are finding me, my cross quilt has only been called a blanket once (ouch), and I finally have a phone that works (good news, bad news!). A few of you have asked if I've hung any other quilts, and the answer is yes!

You'll notice QWERTY there by my nameplate, and straight ahead is Sister Pairs, which I blogged about here. I'll show it off again since you haven't seen it in a while . . .

Sadly, it had been folded up in a pile of quilts for a few months, but now has found a happy home in my office, seen from clear down the hallway as people approach.

Anyway, thanks for sharing this step in my journey. It's meant alot to have you alongside.

Meanwhile, I finally got into the sewing room last night and was able to finish up my March bee blocks. First, some butterflies for Des for do.Good Stitches Faith Circle's current project. (tutorial found at Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts)

And this month for the Modern Blocks Bee, Krista/kritta22 send us solid black and light blue fabric, and told us we could choose any block in the book to make for her, and were free to add blue prints from our stash! She was so generous with the fabrics she sent, that I was able to make two blocks for her . . .

 The first is Blue Lagoon by Pat Sloan; the second is Fussy Cut by Susanne Woods.

Whew! What a relief to get these done, and also fun to try new blocks from Modern Blocks.