Bee Blocks

After being away I have been catching up on blogging, bee blocks and blogging about bee blocks.

Jan/Feb was Amy's  turn in Bee Quilted and she requested these wonky Quilt As You Go blocks.  These were super quick and easy to make.

February was Justine's month in Fresh Modern Bee 2 and she chose Modified Bento Box Blocks based on the tutorial from Film in the Fridge.

The fabric was Amy Butler Love and some co-ordinating solids which really helped to frame the fabrics.  They are cut into quarters and then Justine will mix them all around.

Sunday Stash - the Vancouver edition

My husband thought he was safe from quilt shops on this holiday - we were going skiing.  There would be mountains and snow and fresh air.  There would be no quilt shops and no sewing machine.  The only sewing I would be doing was hand sewing hexagons in the evening (whilst watching the snow with a glass of wine).

But he forgot about the 3 days we were spending in Vancouver which I certainly had not forgotten.  In fact I had done my research well.  One short bus trip would take us to Spool of Thread.  I actually thought I was very restrained . . . .

Now I think I mentionned once or twice  before how much I love Momo Wonderland.  I may have also mentionned that I was done collecting it as I now have a little bit of each of the fabrics in the collection.  Well the new rule is that doesn't apply if I happen to walk into a shop and find 2 yards left of the pink scissors fabric.

And I bought this Central Park fabric just because I liked it!

Sunday Stash

Dots from Bliss by Moda's Bonnie & Camille 

My Fabric Diet is going well - I've lost 9lbs so far this year.  This is my first purchase this year as I am saving most of my money for the release of Sherbert Pips in April. But I couldn't resist these lovely dots on sale from Simply Solids.

A finish!

I started this sampler quilt in a 6 week class nearly a year ago.  The blocks were finished quickly, even the sashing was but I hit a mental block when it came to quilting it.  

Eventually I decided to outline quilt each block and the individual design.  It took forever but I am really pleased with it.

 The back is an Amy Butler design and is interior weight.  I found this kept it from moving too much when quilting.

 The binding is a Kaffe Fassett spot in purple and green.  This one is going to be a picnic quilt as its quite robust.

Sunday Stash - the Bee Quilted edition

I am a big fan of Amy Butler.  At first I wasn't so sure about her new collection Love and didn't buy any fabrics from the line.  And then I starting adding the odd fat quarter here and there and soon I had fallen hard.  I decided to use this fabric for my month in Bee Quilted and quickly collected up the fabricsI was missing from the collection.  

I have added a few fat quarters from her new Soul Blossoms line too.

The dots in this collection, as always, are my favourites.

But I did pull together this little collection of aquas, blues, pinks and tangerines too . . . .Luckily I still have some of each fabric left after sending out for my Bee!

Bee Blocks

I have been taking a break from blogging over the last 2 weeks and to be honest I haven't got much sewing done either.  Work has been really busy as I have been preparing for an office move, 2 weeks away from the office and some appeal cases in the Crown Court.  I do however have quite a few things I haven't blogged about starting with my Bee Blocks from December/January.

In Bee Quilted I made this block called Stir Crazy for Nursey Girl.

It's not my usual colour palette but I really like the way the coloured strips stand out against the dark green and it came together really easily.  I also did partial seams for the first time and was pleased with how they turned out.

January in Fresh Modern Bee 2 was all about circles reqeusted by Krista.  She sent us some linen and fabric in a colourway and asked for any size blocks.  The linen proved a real challenge for me and I stuck to a fairly simply snowball block for both of my blocks.  I love how the snowball block shows off the fabric and see a quilt of these in my future .. . . . .

Slow Quilting Progress

I have spent a lot of time in January working on one of my Unfinished quilts.  I finished this top in June last year but haven't been able to motivate myself to quilt it.  I had this Amy Butler print picked out months ago for the backing.

I decided to outline each ampler block 1/4 inch from the seamline and then outline some of the shapes in the quilt also a 1/4 from the seam line. 

This makes for very slow quilting, lots of turning and starting and finished and pulling threads through.  But the quilting is finished and the binding (purple and green fabric below) is ready to attach.  Hopefully my first finish of 2011 is not too far away.

I can't wait for Spring if only so I can take better photos of my quilts - any tips?