A Bit of a Puzzle

It going to be a bit of a puzzle, putting together all of these amazing Free Bee Blocks. Since each of the blocks are so different and yet they all seem to work together....I've decided to Quilt As You Go (no surprise there, right). 

All the blocks are sandwiched, four are completely quilted, and several are partially quilted. 

 

 

I do believe I'm going to end up with one amazing quilt!!!! 

My Bags are Packed....

 I'm ready to go.......

ALMOST that is IS!!! 

Why do I leave these things to last minute????? It's 10:30 pm here and I have to leave for the airport at 4 am. 

But, I had a slight interruption ...that threw me off my game, which is not hard to do since I get fairly scattered the minute I start packing.

I've been working on a two part article for Machine Quilting Unlimited......and here it is. I took a few quick shots of the digital version.

I'm beside myself with excitement. I was a little stressed throughout the whole experience because it involved my own photography and writing...not like Circles for Paige where the magazine did the photography and writing.

And I did manage to do a little quilting this week....  Isn't Ethne's Free Bee Block amazing???

And now back to packing, before I miss my flight to Austin....See you at Quilt Con and if not, I hope to keep you updated.

Free Bee Quilt....Still Quilting

I've been wanting to quilt this fabulous block ever since Dan (Piece and Press) made it for me. I'm really happy with the straight lines and angles...so much fun. 

Here are Dan's and John's blocks all quilted and ready to go.....

Next under the needle is Ethne's fabulous block....
but as you can see not all is smooth sailing  (I  know , I know...I just couldn't resist).
My plan entails a little free motion for the water, but as you can see my seam ripper is hard at work.

I wasn't happy with my thread choice, the tension was off and I was off.

But, no worries....I'm off to spend a little happy time with the grand-kids and will take a different tack later.

Let The Quilting Begin

 The final, fabulous, Free Bee Block was placed in my hot little hands by Leanne from she can quilt, this week....and it's a beauty!!! 

Leanne based her block on a photo of City Hall, in our city, which makes it all the more special to me.  Thank you so much, Leanne.... I love it!!

Now that I have all these seriously spectacular blocks in my possession.......LET THE QUILTING BEGIN!!! 

So, just how does one go about putting together and quilting  such an exquisite collection of blocks?

Here's my thought process:

• I'm going to treat each block as a separate piece of art.
• Since I have no idea of the block placement yet, I've decided to use Quilt-As-You-Go, and save that lovely challenge for later.
• I chose a grey/taupe thread colour, in keeping with the industrial theme.
• There are so many lovely angles in the blocks, that  I want to emphasize them with fairly simple, straight, quilting lines.
• I'm hoping to add some depth and movement to the blocks.

I started with John's (Quilt Dad) Block....

And I'll see from there.

Free Bee August

I don't have a lot to show for last week, in the quilting world but it was one busy week. 

Three birthday parties for various friends...lots of grandchildren time and on and on. Real life does have a way of taking over sometimes. 

Next week doesn't look much better. My kids from Montreal arrive for a week on Tuesday...yippee and a new little granddaughter is due on Labor  day....how appropriate.

I did manage to spend a little time working on my Free Bee block for Leanne

As much as I'm liking this block, I think the neutrals are looking to busy for what  Leanne asked. So back to the cutting board.

 So here is the finished block....a little more neutralized 

Free Bee July 2012

It's been hot all week....so not a lot of sewing going on around here.


 I did enjoy finishing up my July Free Bee block for Stacey. 
I dipped into my Colourbox from Oakshott and came up with this. 

This looks much more complex than it actually is. 

• Sew a strip set (random widths)
• Cross cut into strips (random widths)
• Sew a log cabin block, with the strips

Stress free and lots of fun.

Insomnia Induced Colour Craze

What does a quilter do when they can't sleep??  


Produce slightly off colour  colour crazy blocks. 

 I couldn't sleep so I thought I would start my Free Bee Block for July. After seeing Lynne's spectacular block here.....I was all hyped up for this months block.....so I guess it's Lynne's fault that I'm up at 3:30 in the morning.


Maybe I'll like the colours better in daylight.....whoops that could be anytime soon.

Free Bee June 2012

The Free Bee block for June has a limited palette, which is unusual for me.  Lynne asked us to make a twelve inch block, in black and white, with a pop of red. No other restrictions...I'm not used to restricting my colours, so a bit of a challenge there.

I hope you like it Lynne.

Help...I forgot my shot cottons

I'm back on the West Coast...without my shot cottons. I was planning to grab a handful, for the June Free Bee block, on my way out the door, but got distracted.

Here is what I managed to dig up, from my stash out here. It's a start and it's already nearing the end of June...yikes when did that happen??

Better Late than Never

I'm so happy to finish my April block, for the Free Bee.


 I was a month behind..... for some strange reason I made the May blocks before the April block. 


I plead crazy creative mood swings....or something like that.

I hope you like it Ethne.

Free Bee Update

My fellow Free Bees, have by far exceeded my expectations. Although one of the blocks is still on the way...and it's a beauty, I couldn't resist playing a little. Just  a couple of collages here and there and the creative juices are starting to flow. The wonder of this project is that each block is work of art on it's own. I want to do each of these fabulous blocks justice. Once the last block arrives I'll link back to each individual, wonderfully, talented quilter.

No matter how I arrange them...they're fabulous.  I'm itching to start on this amazing project.

Free Bee for May 2012

Since I'm up to my armpits in shott cottons anyway, it's a good thing I can use them for my April and May Free Bee blocks, as well. True to my erratic quilting ways, I threw myself in to May's block for John without finishing starting Ethne's block for April. It was just the mood I was in....what more can I say.

John has us making totem pole type blocks inspired by Erin Wilson...well worth checking out. 

 

March Block for Free Bee/High Impact with Minimal Difficulty

For the month of March, Krista of Spotted Stones  asked us to make a curvy strip, made up of wedges, using Sherri Lynn Wood's amazing tutorial, for her Mod Mood Quilt. 

Trust me, these blocks are highly addictive. Putting these curvy strips together is really quite simple...yet so very effective. 

My strip grew very quickly.

Before I knew it, I was starting another one.

The ease of the project, probably ends here.....putting all these curvy strips together  probably comes with it's share of challenges. 

I'll leave that to Krista, since these curvy strips will be mailed out for her to deal with.

I really enjoyed making these and I'm sure there will be a project or two, using this method, in the near future.

Block Detail 

Block Detail

Look What's On My Design Wall/Free Bee Blocks

Almost all of the Free Bee blocks for February have arrived. 


Going to the mailbox on a daily basis has been rather exciting (remember this is my first bee, ever). 

Are you seeing a theme here? Have you ever seen so much talent on one design wall?

They are hanging right above my sewing machine, so I can look gaze at them, as I'm working on other projects.  I'm letting them simmer so to speak.

The blocks are spectacular! I'm so thankful for all the work everyone has put into their block.

Now, off to make my March block for Krista.

Back in the Prairies....But Look What Came In The Mail

Although I had to leave my beloved West Coast behind......I came home with great anticipation. 


So what did the mail man leave me??

Some Free Bee Blocks....more are coming. 
I'm so looking forward to putting them all together!! 

And some beautiful Oakshott Cottons thanks to Lynne of Lily's Quilts, courtesy of Michael Oakshott. 

The Beauty of Improvising....is Just That

There is a lot of freedom in improvisational type quilting, if you can get over the initial fear of "making a mistake".  Sometimes "mistakes" bring the most wonderful surprises.

I do a fair bit of improvising in my quilting, but this project is the first time, that I've just put an inspiration photo, in front of me and just started cutting and sewing. My goal is not to make an exact copy but a sort of "free form" copy if you will.

There's the photo.....from the Montreal Metro on my ipad

A little cutting and sewing......

and here we are.

The beauty of this method is there are no drawings to make,  free hand or otherwise, no paper piecing (to finicky for me), no templates, just cutting and sewing . It's sort of like jumping into the deep end, of the pool, if you don't drown you actually swim. 

Since it's only fabric....just how dangerous can it be!!

Free Bee Block for February Finished

A little applique and I finished my Free Block for February.  

 February is my month in the bee. We are all working from our own fabrics and I'm going with an urban, industrial type theme.

Here is my block, based on a photo, I took in the Montreal Metro



Ethne of Flaming Stitches made me the most fabulous block...her work is amazing.


Here is a peek of the block she made for me.

All of the blocks will be different and I'll have the lovely challenge, of putting them all together, in one fabulous quilt. I'll keep you posted, as more of the blocks are made.