bee blocks
Showing posts with label bee blocks. Show all posts
Catherine's Wheel
Well I don't know what she's going to call her quilt but it definitely is starting to look like a Catherine Wheel to me! Here are the bee blocks I made for Catherine:
This is the Fireworks Block by Marcia Hohn, the pattern can be found here. I have to say I struggled with it a little bit - it made more sense when I read each page and the fabric requirements are at the end! I also had a hard time printing out the templates for the larger triangles, I'm not sure if it was my printer or A4 paper?! Anyway I got there in the end. I used fabrics from my scraps, Catherine asked for jewel toned colours and my first pull was more of a rainbow but I was drawn to these firey colours and I think it evokes a firework really well.
Next was a simple triangle using 2.5" strips of grey and 1.5" strips of colour. They are so effective when you start to put them all together, I think this quilt is going to be incredible!
Tomorrow is my birthday so I'm looking forward to a night out with my husband. I really like birthdays and I'm thinking that 37 will be excellent. Having my age go along with the years is so helpful (if I can remember the year!) ;)
Hope you're all having a good week!
scrap love
I had so much fun making these Bee A Brit Stingy blocks for Di. This year we started with a hexagon, a triangle and a square, every 2 months we are making each other triangles and squares. You can see my starter blocks in this blog post. It's such a great design, I love Di's colour scheme and matched it as best I could from my stash:
So here's how her quilt looks so far:
I've also been working here and there on my Green Tea and Sweet Beans quilt. I've finished section 2:
Tonight I'm hosting the Saturday Night Craft Along, so if you're on instagram come and join in the party! Just tag me @charmaboutyou and add #saturdaynightcraftalong to your picture.
dear deer and a bee garden
At the beginning of the week my daughter went to a birthday party and I wanted to make her friend one of these cute Secret Pocket Envelope Clutches by Michelle Patterns. I have made the pattern before and it's a fun project to sew.
I used this sweet print, Deer and Cherries, 30's Collection by Atsuko Matsuyama, and the position of the deer worked fortuitously well!
I filled it with some stationery goodies because I know she likes to craft! Happily she loved it :)
This is finish #2 off my FAL Q2 list ✓
I also managed to finish my first blocks for this years Bee A Brit Stingy round robin and I'm really pleased with them. We are starting with a central hexagon, triangle and square, then every two months we make a triangle and square block for our bee mate based on their original.
I was inspired by Jen Kingwell's book Quilt Lovely and used two of her patterns in the blocks. I hand pieced some 'Daisy Do' blocks and machine appliquéd them to six triangles that I had sewn into a hexagon. The square is a larger version of the 'Bonnie Lass' block. I chose triangles for the triangle after seeing Sheila's beautiful version. I hope she doesn't mind me copying!
The background is The Big One in Pepper, Carkai by Carolyn Friedlander - which I got from Patchfinders. I think it makes it so striking without being too overpowering. This is going to be my 'Concrete Garden' quilt.
I was too busy this week to get them sent off but they will be on their way at the start of next week. I'm really excited to work on all the other bees blocks this year! This was a bit of a mathematical challenge for me but I had help from the lovely Helen and Sheila to work it out. Thank you again friends!
linking up:
The background is The Big One in Pepper, Carkai by Carolyn Friedlander - which I got from Patchfinders. I think it makes it so striking without being too overpowering. This is going to be my 'Concrete Garden' quilt.
I was too busy this week to get them sent off but they will be on their way at the start of next week. I'm really excited to work on all the other bees blocks this year! This was a bit of a mathematical challenge for me but I had help from the lovely Helen and Sheila to work it out. Thank you again friends!
linking up:
The Complete Quilter
Having already enjoyed Jessica Alexandrakis' first book Quilting On The Go!, I knew that The Complete Quilter would be just as brilliant. It is a thorough guide to quilting, packed full of how to's and really useful tips and tricks. While it is a perfect book for beginners it is also fabulous for anyone wanting to try a different style of patchwork.
The book contains so many techniques, which Jess demonstrates in a variety of quilt blocks that culminate in this clever sampler quilt.
There are easy to follow guides and it's so informative, covering everything you need to know about patchwork and quilting. What I really love though are all Jess' handy tips and the advice she offers from her unique approach and experience.
She also gives tutorials for some really nice projects and all throughout the book offers amazing inspiration and ideas!
Looking through the book I was inspired to make a row for Sheila for our quilt bee, Bee A Brit Stingy. I chose to make four Economy Block Variation blocks and I am super pleased with the neat points!
The Complete Quilter would make a great gift for someone interested in or new to patchwork and quilting and also as a great reference for anyone excited by interesting quilt blocks and designs.
run down
**be sure to enter my Cotton + Steel bundle giveaway HERE**
It's that time of year when things get a little crazy, the to do list is never ending and it seems everything has to be done yesterday...
Or should have been done last month, like these ridiculously late bee blocks I finally sent to Helen today:
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So sorry they are late Helen and I do hope I pressed them correctly!
Today I woke up feeling totally yucky and really run down. No fun at all but I listened to my body and slowed down a bit, which meant lots of snuggles and reading time with the little one:
She loves picking out books and wearing her crazy cardigan (knitted by my mother-in-law's friend). She adores the hello kitty buttons and I love that she looks like a little chick ;)
Today I got the cutest stickers that I ordered from The Reset Girl Shop, perfect timing to keep me motivated and organised.
They are gorgeous quality and so well made that I may have just placed another order, I can't help myself! The stickers are a matte finish, which I really like and they do plain ones for you to write on yourself (yes some of those were in my new order). She also sends them in the cutest packaging that now has me wanting some personalised stationery!
I'm going to go chug some Lucozade and gather the strength to cook tea.
Happy Monday lovelies :)
blocks and blocks
So despite all the blah feelings of late and the fact I've got lots of other things I should be doing, I have managed to make some progress on my hand pieced Green Tea and Sweet Beans quilt.
Here are my 2 Lozengers blocks:
Not sure why I jumped ahead to do those but I'm going to do the blocks in order as they appear in the pattern book because I think it will help me keep track of where I'm up to.
I've got lots more of these to do but here's my first 3 Propellar blocks:
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Those of you familiar with the pattern will notice the block on the left is wrong, yes I didn't keep my template the right way up - despite clear instructions in the pattern to do just that!! I'm not re-doing it though, this will be one of those cute quilty errors.
Here's my progress so far, I'm loving it:
I also managed to (belatedly) get my October bee blocks sent off to Catherine. I love log cabins and this was just the fun kind of machine sewing I needed :) I hope you like them Catherine!
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And if you haven't already heard the Fat Quarter Shop currently has a fabulous offer of 20% off all Art Gallery Fabrics with code AG2014. There's loads of gorgeous collections but I'm a huge fan of Arizona, Gramercy and Littlest, grab some while it's on offer!
working and progressing
I'm feeling like a good girl today because I finished off Janet's Bee A Brit Stingy blocks and got them in the post:
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Why is it I never spot those rogue threads before I actually take a picture??
I also had time for a play today and got on with preparing some more green tea and sweet beans blocks, even cutting into this gorgeous Cracking Codes print. I absolutely love the colours, the rectangles are really vibrant in real life and I love that simple pattern.
Tonight it's on with some hand quilting and serious chill time!
Back tomorrow with a slightly different giveaway :)
Nordic bee blocks
Nicky was queen bee of Bee a Brit Stingy last month and asked us for Nordic inspired blocks for her mostly red and white quilt. I had lots of ideas but not lots of time. I knew my blocks would be a little late but I still wanted to do something special for Nicky. They aren't the most adventurous blocks but I enjoyed doing them and think they'll work well with the blocks she already has.
The one at the top is a 6" block called Pentagon Flower by Brioni Greenberg from the book Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters
. You are supposed to enlarge the templates by 200% to make a 12" block but I hate enlarging and thought it works well as a small block as is! It is English Paper Pieced and then machine appliquéd onto the background fabric.
. You are supposed to enlarge the templates by 200% to make a 12" block but I hate enlarging and thought it works well as a small block as is! It is English Paper Pieced and then machine appliquéd onto the background fabric.
The two smaller 3" blocks are Cross Stitch blocks, made using this great tutorial by Pile O'Fabric. I have wanted to make them since she did the first tutorial and I love them so much I will definitely make more! Thrilled that the crosses line up too, phew!
I hope you like them Nicky :)
It seems to be turning into a last minute panic each month but since I've had two months to prepare you think I would have started my 'era' project by now wouldn't you?! But no, I haven't. You've got seven days before the Le Challenge link opens, this month you could randomly win a $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop and a 10 FQ bundle from Mary! She's also offering a 15% discount code to her shop until 15th September, read her post here. Find out all about le challenge and how to join in here!
Better get cracking on my project now!
quick Wednesday
Karen's Bee A Brit Stingy blocks - just need to write on the siggy block and I'm too scared to trim them so I'll leave that to you Karen!
Still working on my embroidery of Jodi's poem, using a single strand of embroidery thread and just two verses to go:
I'm babysitting for my friend's four month old son today so that's all I've got time to show you! I've already changed his nappy 3 times, I forgot how much little ones poop!!
why not add more to my WIP list?!
Just like the delightful Susan I took a break from the projects I was supposed to be doing to have a play with scraps for another basket.
I did manage to finish Sheila's tiny (less than 4") bee blocks for Bee a Brit Stingy this week and got them sent off today. Her Princess and the Pea project is going to be so cute!
I also got some work done on a playmat and should have this finished by the end of the week - just needs the binding bit done and some appliqué.
I have also decided to join in the English Country Garden block of the month over at PennyDog Patchwork.
Kerry has designed 12 beautiful appliqué flower blocks on pieced backgrounds and is offering free downloads of each pattern on Craftsy (for one month only and then they'll be $1.50 each). She's covering different machine appliqué methods and you can needle turn if you want, you can get all the info here! She's starting with that lovely daisy - my favourite flower and the others sound exciting too!
stitching and beeing
I've finally started my S is for Stitch blocks and trying to catch up with the ABC BOW, they are on 'O' now. Although I will probably try to overtake them since it's going to be for a baby due late this month.
I've had issues with my bee blocks from December. I actually finished these Scrap Jar Stars last month and thought I'd posted them but found them today. So sorry Janet, the good news is I'd forgotten the siggy so I did that today and they'll be in the post tomorrow!
I also had endless problems with my Simply Solids bee block, cut some bad snowflakes, then ironed the fusible web to the wrong fabric, then ran out of fusible web. All my silly mistakes, anyway it's done now Jo, I hope you like it!
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