Bee blocks done!

For Helen. Tricky little things...there were 5 but only 3 would lie flat!

For Brenda. No prints, sorry, only had batiks in the specified colours...hope they're OK.

Quilt Bee Blocks for Brenda

Of all the bee blocks made during the last 12 months,

I think I enjoyed doing these the most!

Hope they work for you, Brenda.

You said 12" or longer ... how about 24 & 26 ?

Hey, I didn't want to stop!

July Quilt Bee Blocks for Mary

Mary, I think that

the inspiration quilt

you posted is beautiful ...

I hope that you are able

to achieve a similar look.

May blocks for Shelly...just!

Hope these are wonky enough, Shelly, and haven't held up your progress too much!

Quilt Bee Blocks for Shelly

This morning I mailed off my 12x12 mini

(so if you're looking for one check your mailbox in 2-3 days)

and

tomorrow I will mail off two May bee blocks to Shelly.

Sewing these strips together turned out

to be a terrific stress reducer ... who knew?!

It's My Turn!

I'm participating in the 15 Minutes Play Monthly Bee, and it's finally my turn to say what I want to get from everyone!

Believe it or not, I'm actually ready and have made a decision . . .

I'm going with blocks that read as one color, made of strips and strings. Here are the ones I've made for myself so far.

Here's a closer look at them, individually.

As you can see, the strips can be pieced from shorter strips, they do not have to be even widths or the same widths or any particular widths, or even straight. Just grab from your scraps and sew!

All I'm asking is that the block "read" as one color . . . any color . . . and the more colors I get, the happier I'll be.

OK, so that's not really ALL I'm asking. I'm also asking that the strips "read" as all going one direction, and that the blocks be at least 12" square. That doesn't complicate things too much more, does it? You can send me one or two of these, whatever you feel like whipping up.

I'm a bit annoyed that some of mine came out so "linear", but that was the nature of my scraps and strings.

I think I like my brown one the best because it's the most crooked!

I have plans to make more for myself, starting with a yellow one, and an orange one, and another pink one, and . . . I'm a bit addicted to them already.

I'm also cooking up a plan as to what I'm going to do with these, and while I'm waiting for my blocks to roll in, I'll be experimenting to see if what I'm dreaming up will actually work . . . which remains to be seen . . .

JUST TO CLARIFY: I'm NOT putting these together plain! I'm just collecting colored blocks of fabric made from strips (and your strips can be made from pieces, and I like them crooked) so that I can cut them up and do something else with them. But since I haven't decided exactly how I'm cutting them up just yet (don't know if I want them all the same or different, PLUS I need more colors so that I can mix and match) I'm not doing the cutting until I've collected all my blocks. I know . . . boring for you . . . just sewing strips together, but it's what I need to complete my idea! I'll post more later as I get started with the cutting and mixing . . .

Everyone have fun with this. (Give me lots of colors!) I can't wait to see what you do! Eeeee!!

BEE Blocks Top

Have made some progress Organizing Chaos ...

and harder than I thought it would be!

Have a few ideas about using black/gray plus a solid

to quiet it some ...

but would love to hear any ideas you might have

regarding what to do next.

April Bee Blocks for Beth

Mega Geese Flying to West Coast!

Loved this play, Beth ...

Not as easy as it looks

(for me, anyhow).

:-)

Catch up!

Giant geese flying to Beth from the UK!

March blocks for Margaret (just!) Sorry, Margaret!

Margaret's March Block

Well ... my month is almost here ... very exciting as this is my first Bee ever!

Please create a mono-color rectangle from your scraps using Victoria's

"Make Fabric: How To" tutorial.

(Any color is fine - warm/cool/bright/pastel - but not a white or a black block.)

Slice your block from top to bottom & insert a 1 and 1/4 inch strip in a contrasting color.

(This need not be a solid color strip but should read as a solid.)

Then slice your block again from side to side and insert a second 1 and 1/4 inch strip using the same fabric as the first strip.

Voila! you have just made me a block & I'm very happy!

I am looking for different size blocks & however many you are inclined to make.

Thanks!

Busy Bee

I'm all caught up, but that won't last long.

I made a house for Lynn . . .It's a replica of our little ranch shack, and it's actually pretty true to life, complete with cows in the yard!

I made some blocks for Sujata . . .
These were a blast to make. My first one (on the left) came out a bit "dull", so I tried to liven up the second one, but it's still a bit dull, too. But that's what was in the bag I was using!

I also have a plan for what I'm gonna ask for when it's my turn for Bee Blocks, so that is some relief for me.

+ one for Sujata

Instead of heading to the gym this morning b/c of all the snow here in NY

I headed to my sewing machine & tried to achieve the look of Sujata's block.

This time I cut everything by hand

but I still feel it's not quite there & maybe it's my fabric.

Has anyone ever bought scraps on line?

Blocks for Sujata

Thoroughly enjoyed making these!

Think I will put together one more before mailing ...

No dragons will trouble Lynn...

With the flag of St. George flying!

Hot and Cold

And I hope Glen isn't finished with HER quilt, because I just now got her blocks done.
But, wow! were they fun!
I whipped them out in no time.
I got started and couldn't stop.
They almost ended up being way bigger than they are.
(I have a lot of scraps to use up!)
One hot and one cold. I can't wait to see what she does with all of these.
For all I know, she's already shown us, and I just haven't seen it!

And now, I'm off to make some houses for Lynn . . .

Catching Up

I could provide the myriad of excuses as to why I got behind on my Bee Blocks, but I'll spare you all the boring details and get right to the fun stuff . . .

I got Nifty's blocks done!
I started them last night, and told myself, I'll just start one, and then finish them tomorrow. Well, I got to playing, and couldn't stop, and before you know it, it was midnight, and I had them both finished and wanted to keep on going. My Cowboy had to remind me that I probably shouldn't stay up all night since I wanted to get a lot done today as well!

It didn't hurt anything that my favorite color is red! For the first block, I pieced the fabric from littler pieces before whacking it up. Then I alternated the slashes before putting in the strips, first a horizontal, then the vertical, then the last horizontal. For the second one, I used larger hunks of red and made the horizontal slashes before adding the vertical slash.

My Cowboy looked at the first one and said: Yer yeller stripe don't zackly match up there, Mildred. Think ya otta take that out and start over?

I just gave him the "You don't understand" glare, and told him "NO!".

I hope they're OK, Lee Ann. I'm putting them in the mail to you as soon as we can dig our way out from under all the snow and make it to town to the post office.

Half timbered home for Lynn!

As I'm from the UK it seemed right to make a typically English house for Lynn.

You can see that as it's the last house in the bee to be completed, it's getting late and there's the beginning of a sunset!

Just one more

I had to try making just one more house.  Just  a small one.  It took only a few more than 15 minutes.  

And that is all ~ for now.

The Neighborhood Is Growing

As I was making these house blocks today I wondered, " Why are these so much fun to do?"

Any thoughts?

(For me I think it reminds me of those summers long, long ago

when I used to amuse myself by designing clothes for paper dolls!)

Prefabs

Some fabrics suggest windows and doors, cutting down on labor and construction.

These houses took less than 15 minutes each!