More Bee Blocks

Sue's arrived, my mom made a block, and I finished three to bring the grand total to 16.  I decided to change the final ring around Kris' block so it was all the same (she ran out with less than 4 inches to go).  Her blocks were so neat, I felt a bit guilty.  But I decided to go with uniformity.  The two partial blocks need one more ring and then 11 of the little 2.5 inch blocks each.  Those are coming out a little wonky no matter how hard I try to sew them straight.  Perhaps I shouldn't try to get three layers in a 2.5 inch block.  Before today, the blocks seemed pretty blue but I think they're a bit more balanced now with the blues and greens.   Besides making the little ones, I think I need to add a few darker rings tomorrow.

Bee blocks so far

Here is a random arrangement of bee blocks that have made it back here so far.  It is pretty busy up close but I like it very much looking at it from across the room.  I'm curious how the other blocks will fit in and if I'll feel the need to add more solids in the additional blocks I plan to make to give the eyes places to rest.  After the zig zag quilt with lots of negative space, this is quite the contrast.  And it is just a bit outside my comfort zone since I tend to choose patterns with negative space.  Now back to cleaning up my sewing space so I might be able to use it this weekend.

A Valentine

While reading stories this evening, I looked at the HST on the pinwheel quilt and figured I could make a heart shape reasonably well.  Since my attempt to make a red scarf failed miserably, I made a different valentine gift.  Not sure if it will become a placemat, a doll blanket or something else.  Hopefully she'll like it.  I guess I could have done a better job of lining up ovals and paying attention to their direction.  I can start planning next year's project now.  It's quilted with little hearts on a vine.  

Zig finished

Some time ago, I asked my sister to trade me a knit hat for a baby quilt that she could give away.  She decided that she would prefer to be selfish and would like a quilt for herself.  I did plan on making her a quilt soon, and she's had quite a stressful past 6 months so I went ahead and made her a large, but simple, quilt.  It should live at the foot of her queen size bed as an oversized bed runner.  She chose the color scheme before Tangerine Tango was chosen as the color of the year.  So now I get to say she's a trendsetter.  I really like how the quilting stands out on the back of the quilt even though the pictures don't really show it.  

Finished size: 70x88"
quilted by me with zig zags
Fabric was lots of different oranges from Dear Stella, Mingle, PowerPop, Remix, Oval Elements, Lizzy House, Heather Bailey, American Jane, Chrysalis, Patrick Lose, and Kona School Bus and Tangerine.  Backing was a Key West Handprint that my grandma gave my mom 40 years ago and seemed perfect for this quilt.

Nearly straight lines

Yay!  The zig zag quilting turned out pretty well.  And from this distance, you can't tell that the quilting isn't perfectly straight.   Although wrestling the king size quilt makes a twin seem simple, I'm glad that I didn't make this a queen to cover her whole bed.  It'll be interesting how it washes since the back is pre-washed and the front is not.  Now to figure out the best way to square it up and decide on a binding.  Perhaps I should ask my sister since it will be hers....

Not quite two years and two finishes

I debated whether I could or should actually quilt a king size quilt on my machine.  In the end, I decided that it wouldn't quite seem like I made a king sized quilt myself if I sent it out.  It also was before I understood about bias edges and the importance of making things a little bit bigger and trimming down to size before piecing HST together.  I couldn't quite justify the cost to send it out for quilting for this particular quilt.  And I was a little scared that a long arm quilter might laugh at my imperfect piecing and pressing.  

I think my Viking has about a 6.5 inch throat and with lots of careful manipulation and an acceptance of less than perfectly straight pinwheels, it is finally done.  The resident quilt holder decided that he would be unable to hold it up himself for pictures so I currently only have a picture of it on the bed.  It's resided there since the quilting was completed even though the binding was not.  But now it is all done and washed.  

Since the first block of the Pinwheel Sampler was posted on February 20, 2010,  I barely squeaked this in under the two year mark.  And despite all the imperfections and all, I learned an awful lot with this quilt and am so happy to have it done, that it is usable and that I did it all myself (minus basting help).

Finish #2 is another Charm Square Baby Quilt from Oh Fransson.  This is destined for my nephew who hopefully won't be born for another month or month and a half.  Tomorrow is 33 weeks and hopefully he can stay in for at least 3 more weeks.  I quilted circles on the white sashing and then took the round zig zags from the owl chest for the quilting design on the charm squares.  Most of this is Metro Living and Urban Zoologie, with Bliss Flannel from Valori Wells on the back.  

Next up is the Big Zig quilt for my sister.  I have two trial zig zags quilted on the white part and hope to finish the quilting this week.  By the time I finish that quilt, I can start working on my Jewel Squares bee quilt.  I love all the blocks that are in the flickr group.  It's a bit weird to think that they are all coming back my way.  Guess that I am still not used to the idea of being in a bee and I can't wait until next month to make Alisa's block.  And if I can finish my bee quilt without starting another project, I will have no works in progress.  We'll see.  It is such a relief not to have the pinwheel quilt staring at me from the big clear unfinished bin.

Sew.Bee.Create February

Two sample blocks made for my month in Sew.Bee.Create.  Due to operator error on my part, the third is nearly done but not yet.  Lesson learned, always calibrate before cutting.  I picked out a selection of fabric to see how much fabric I needed to send.  Initial selection before errors might have made close to three blocks.  Oops.  Goal for the week is to package it all up in to bags and get them to the post office before the price increase next Sunday.

My inspiration mosaic for my Sew.Bee.Create quilt.

1. meredith block 2, 2. ATB rd 2 - from AJ., 3. ATB rd 2 - from AJ., 4. Jeweled squares for Helen, 5. Sew Buzzy March 2011 Block, 6. My lovely Kaffe Fassett quilt top, 7. Jewelled Squares., 8. IMG_8684, 9. Jewel Box Squares so far..., 10. French Botanical Top, 11. www.flickr.com/photos/madebymeredith/5419390654/in/faves-..., 12. Central Part of Red City Duo QAL Quilt Top

And by golly, if it is going to snow all day, it should be sticking to the roads.