Bee Blocks

Yesterday I showed you several projects that I've been working on this week. Here's a couple more...

String block for Vicky using Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane.

String Me Along bee

This was my first string block. I've seen them before, but had never really been interested in making one. Now that I've had the opportunity to, I love them! It was so easy & seems to display a collection very nicely. :)

Confetti block for Sara

Fat Stash bee

She sent Denyse Schmidt's Fairgrounds Modern Texture in yellow for the frame & a bit of Anna Maria Horner's Loulouthi Summer Totem for some of the confetti. It was a fun block to make as well.

Blocks received so far from 3x6 & 4x5 bee. I requested coral & olive. Aren't they gorgeous?!

A few weeks ago I won a couple giveaways. And all the lovelies showed up on the same day last week. It was a great day to open the mailbox!

These cute charms came over from Australia. The lovely Kat sent them.

I love the turtle!

I also won some Tula Pink patterns from Jeanne's Charity Challenge. Be sure to stop by and enter her Aurifil thread giveaway which is going on now.

Also in the mailbox were these beautiful Veranda fat quarters by Amanda Murphy. I won them in a quiz show that Ryan Walsh was hosting on twitter earlier this summer.

I thought it was fate that the everything showed up on the same day. The fat quarters are going to be made into Tula Pink's Kiss Kiss pattern. I was lucky enough to find a coordinating teal blue at work for the background color. I still haven't decided what to do with the charms, but I'm considering modifying the Pancakes pattern for charm squares & making it a fun I Spy quilt. We'll see!

Thanks again for all the fabulous goodies!

Bee Blocks & Other Business

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. It took me a little while to recuperate from all the family time in May & then my grandfather ended up in the hospital on Memorial Day, after having a stroke. He did make it to his 94th birthday (June 7th), but they took his breathing tube out 2 days later and he passed away in the night.

I didn't get much done while he was in the hospital & since his passing I have been a sewing maniac trying to catch up on a few things!

Here's what I've been working on...

A picnic-y block for mommymae (Fat Stash Bee)

A Drunk Love/Square in Square Block for Elizabeth (String Me Along Bee)

My design wall the other day.

Cathedral Window block for Sara (MSQB)

Any block in pink, orange, & yellow for Johanna (MSQB)

For this block and my 3x6 blocks (below) I decided to use Amy Ellis' Blogger's Block-a-palooza block. Initially it looked like a difficult block, but I loved it so much that I thought I'd give it a shot. Well, I ended up making 8 total with this tutorial. Once all the cutting was done the block came together in no time. If you haven't tried this block yet I highly recommend it.

3x6 Sampler Quilt Mini Bee - Beehive 28

Blocks for Misfit Quilters DQS.

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Bee Blocks and Other Swaps

Here's what I've been working on this week...

MSQB April block

Lindseykron asked for a wonky star in rust, teal, and white. Although this block was quick & fun to make I never would have tried it on mine own. After making it, I'm looking forward to making many more of these block. :)

Fat Stash Bee April block

Jodi (jkae1989) asked for a modified bento box for a quilt for her teenage son. She sent that awesome grey & black vine-y fabric and asked for her block to be black, grey, white, and red.

String Me Along Bee April block

Franswimmer also asked for modified bento box using some lovely batiks.

I can also finally share a couple swaps that I sent off a couple weeks ago. Remember those gorgeous mermaid/octopus hoops I showed the other day? Well, the hoops below are my end of that swap.

This was for the Diptych Hoopla Swap on Craftster. Sadly, my end of the swap was sent out pretty late because my first plan failed and everything I tried to do to fix it just made it worse. I finally decided to take a new approach and stitch over some fun fantasy fabrics.

The large piece took a lot longer than expected, but I finally got it done.

The complimentary piece was a lot of fun because I got to get creative with the big white open space of the swan. I had a different pattern on its tail at first, but when I started to feather the neck I realized the feathering the whole body was the way to go. The 3 flowers were a lot of fun to make too. I learned a lot of new techniques making these pieces and I hope that my partner enjoys them.

I also recently participated in a mug rug swap. This is what showed up in my mailbox from Jessica, all the way from Australia. Aren't the cowboy silhouette and dresden plate sunrise amazing?

This is what Jessica received in return. She said her favorite fabric designers is Sweetwater so I decided to use the lovely Sunkissed fabrics.

I'm linking up to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday. Please head over there to see what everyone else is working on. Also please check out my Quilts for Smithville call for donations for tornado victims and see what we're giving away!