Time during the holidays

I finally got some productive, non-sick, music blaring, sewing time in for Christmas.  And officially I'm caught up with all of my bee's.  I was super late for some reason - but that's behind me now!

On Christmas day I was able to sew sew sew.  Oh my, it was so lovely!

This is what I finished.

Twice as Nice

Our November Queen Bee asked for a square in square blocks.  She sent fabric that I don't have a lick of in my own stash.  These colors remind me of something my auntie would like.  After I got over the color pallet these were super fun.  I am not sure I want these colors in my house but I would sure love use these colors again to make something for someone else. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I also had fabric from our December Queen Bee.  Thankfully there was only ONE bee that was sewing during this crazy month.  She asked for scrappy triangle block based off of this tutorial over at Film in the Fridge. I loved how QUICK these were to make.  Really it was a blink of an eye and these blocks were done.

Sew Modern Bee

The November Queen Bee send some awesome fabric and a pattern she was making up on her own.  The instructions were perfect.  I was struggling with these and used my seam ripper too many times.  I then realized that I should measure what I'm trying to sew together!  Ohhh these needed to be squared up!  That helped!  Sometimes I'm so slow!  But I did get them done.

Aqua & Orange

The lovely November Queen Bee pushing me beyond my limits again.  She sent one color per person and some foundational paper. 
 

The tutorial our Queen Bee made was super easy to follow!


Aqua and Red

The November Queen Bee send along some string blocks to put together.  These were fun to make.  Oh the combinations these could be put together seems endless. 

{Sew Bee It}

The November Queen Bee gave us the freedom of any block we could think of.  This takes me so much time to think of what will be good with the fabrics sent. 

I finally decided on this spider legs block from HST (Half Square Triangles). 

This second block was just from the leftovers.  I have to say that both of these looked great together!  I always love Lindsey's fabric choices!

~~~~
It feels grand to be caught up!  Love it!  I'm looking forward to finishing up my bee's in 2012.

Just keep swimming

I'm trying to just keep swimming along. 

Lately I've been overwhelmed. 

• I might have a bit much on my plate with the bee's I'm in.  I'm so thankful for the community these ladies provide!  I'm not going to be signing myself up for new bee's on these hives run their course.  I'm already freaking out how to stay part of this community. I've come to need these ladies around! 
• I might have a tween in the house.  Right now she's "his tween" and wow it's been an interesting time trying to balance life and whatever she's throwing out at us. 
• I might not even have Christmas planned for my fella.  We have "his tween" taken care of - oh SNAP!
• I might be lacking in joy for my job.
• I might not be happy about the travel my job sends me on. 
• I might have medical crapola going on. 

Well I haven't been able to find joy in sewing lately with all of the above mentioned mights going on in my life right now.  I did find a small spark this past Monday to get a few of my lacking bee blocks kicked out the door!  Yeah for a few hours of free time!  I have October blocks done! 

Twice as Nice

Our October queen bee had the group make her letters.  What a fun way to get different blocks!  I was really stuck on how to make these fun!  This is what I came up with.

The "N" isn't exactly what I had in mind.  But it's cute!  The Z is almost exactly what I wanted.  The rest of these are pretty rocking too!

{Sew Bee It}

Can you believe that I'm the Bee Mama for this group and I was late.  What a bad example I am!  Maybe I should be sent to my sewing room!  :)

Our Queen Bee wanted wonky frames.  She gave us just the right amount of fabric from the Cherry Fizz collection by Quilt Soup/Henry Glass& Co. She ordered wonky And this is what I came up with.  Oh I think I can wonk it up now!  I'm so proud of myself!

Aqua & Orange 

Improve blocks with solids.  Oh gads this was fun!  The orange block here was a bit difficult.  

This blue block just sings to ME!  I adore blue! I believe this block is perfect.

This solid challenge isn't too hard for me.  I'm in love with solids.  I am trying to learn to pair more patterns together.  I'm slowly getting there.

~~~~

Now to tackle all of the blocks due last month {insert tween eye roll here}  I'm thankful no one has openly been mean about me being SO late.  I want to have joy when I sew.  Something rushed or not fun is not good for me or the fabrics!  I usually totally mess things up when I push too hard!

But rest assured I found the "Yoga" station on Pandora the other day.  I've been doing a few yoga stretches. I get some quality time with my fella.

A few months back and a little this past weekend

I have a quilting day with a friend, Jovanna, this past weekend.  Yeah you wouldn't know I did anything by the meager 3 packages that went in the mail today.  Oh it is so disappointing to see I haven't made a big dent in my late  and almost late bee blocks.

But no more moping around!  What have I been doing?  It has been a lot. . .

I've finally completed all my September Bee Blocks (yes. . roll your eyes SEPTEMBER)

Sew Modern Quilt Bee

I finished these two blocks for Rachel I adore Sherbet Pips!  I also loved how quickly this came together.  Her directions were so clear.  She assigned us specific blocks for her to complete a The Lemon Squares Quilt is seen at Fresh Lemons

Aren't these FUN! 

Orange You Glad

Well this month's blocks were a joy to work with!  Yummy Heirloom prints from Joel Dewberry.  I made a  bow tie block (plus two more bows) for Nydia Kehnle Photography.

Twice as Nice

FUN!  auntem1 choose these rocking blocks.  Go check out the tutorial we used found here

I really like how I learned how to break up grey's.  I la-la-love greys but find it's so dark.  Well the light sashing helps! 

{Sew Bee It}

Yeah I was late even in the bee that I'm hosting.  Bad Bee Mama! 

But life hits! 

I made these lovely beauties for Jenna who blogs over at Sew Happy Geek. 

She even posted a tutorial for these beauties! 

This is the first time I've sewn with black.  OMG it's awesome. 

I just learn so much from everyone!

Aqua & Orange

This bee we made a Modern Mosaic block for domestiCass.  I seriously tried to channel any wonky I have in my body.  It's difficult!

But this is what I came up with. Oh the learning!  Look at some of these fabrics! I hang my head in shame as this is one of the blocks I mailed off today.  And I was the last person.

Red and Aqua

This is my two gals a month bee.  I was lucky one of the Queen Bee's for the month of September.

The other bee-mate that we all got to sew for is Karen and she wanted a block o' pinwheels.

This block is 12.5" square.  16 - 3" finished pinwheels. 

I used SO much starch in these beauties they are like paper!  And I have to show off the back view of my block.  Look at how grand.  These puppies are FLAT!  I followed the most awesome Tutorial found over at Why Not Sew?'s blog.



I'll dream of pinwheels for weeks to come.  All these little babies came from 2-3/8" HST's.  I needed TWO of these for each pinwheel creation.  It was Voila times 16.  :)  This was a lot of work but really fun. 

~~~~~

So I mailed the last of these off today.  And I completed a few October blocks but nothing that can wait for another post. 

Here's to getting more things done! 

I did a few of these things last weekend so I'm adding this to

Jenna's Manic Monday Linky

and

Megan's {Sew} Mondern Monday Linky

Go check out!

August ends and school begins

Well it's been a weird weather summer around here.  I haven't been driven inside crying because of the super hot days.  I've enjoyed a house with just my fella and I while his daughter goes and spends some much needed time with her mother. But all things change.  And here it is again.

We're preparing for school, dealing with purple hair (sigh), and adjusting to the old routine.  {Yes you must go to bed!}

Besides prepping for my month as queen bee in September.

I even got to sew a bit for myself with this block. . whoop.  This quilt will one day be a reality.--->

I've been sewing for my other bee-mates.  How super fun is this!  I totally made a dent in my commitments before August even started (previous post found here).

Here's the rest of my August bee blocks. Although many of them are considered late- sigh.


Threadheads

Jennifer that blogs over at Ellison Lane Quilts sent us the cutest package ever.  Not only did it have lovely fabric in it.. it was cut up and SO easy to put together!  The longest part was ironing the seams open as I usually press to one side.  {So go me!  I read the intructions before it was too late}

If you are interested in these block dearest Jennifer is having a quilt along for a whole quilt with these. . the results are a rocking!



Twice as Nice

Our lovely Queen bee in this group wanted blocks made from Joel Dewberry fabrics. . YUM!  She wanted to have us pick our blocks ahead of time. . this was an interesting concept. 






It actually took me awhile to motivate myself for these blocks although I chose them. :)  But here they are all shiny and pretty. 

The hexi block is a change of plans as I couldn't bring myself to do more flying geese. . and it doesn't help that I lost the pattern.  Le'sigh! 



{Modern 12}

Lindsey joined this group late with me.  She was so super busy last month that we extended the group one more month.  She asked for Liberated Cross Blocks.  Wow. . these were fun!











{Sew Bee It}

Sarah sent a yummy package of Joel Dewberry fabrics - love them!  This is a colorway I usually don't play with .  I've had SO much fun planning these for her.  ♥ I hope you love these as much as I do!

This block is called Girl's Favorite.  YUM!

This is the one block I've made.  Sarah know's I'm good even if I'm late.   I'll try to whip something else up before I post this after the holiday.  

 

WIP Wednesday 6.29.11

.

What a week, traveling to Portland, Oregon for work again. It always throws me for a loop. I wasn't pleased traveling again.  So I had to console myself with a trip to Fabric Depot. 

It was lovely, as always.  I picked up some Kona grey which one?  I don't remember!  It's the dark one.  :)

I promptly cut up for the Queen bee blocks I sent out.  Yep, that's what I've been doing.  Bee things.

Finished:

Sending out blocks for my month being Queen Bee
A few bee blocks

Like these two!

Anna wanted 1.5" postage stamp blocks.  She sent such lovely fabric.  I was happy to make these.  I was impressed my attention to seams made these two blocks go together so quickly.  My own postage stamp quilt is a WIP because my attention to detail wasn't as grand.

 

New Projects:

None. . what really?
I did buy the Farmers Wife book. . another QAL in my future

Works in Progress (WIP):

- Knitted sweater for 18 month old

I'm on the arms - finally.
Slowly I'm telling ya!

Things I would love to be working on but are on hold:

-Postage Stamp

-Mug Rug for Swap

- Quilty Gift for GF

- Arcadia quilt
- Sliced Coins Quilt
- Choose and cut fabrics for Dresden quilt
- Finish top for quilt for nephew

- Summer top for me

- PJ pants for fella

- Summer dress for friends little girl
- Pick fabrics and blocks for on-line quilt bee's - the other ones I'm in
- Birdie Sling bag
- "baby" quilt  
-Skill Builder Blocks
-Embrodery 101 blocks

I'm adding this post to be part of

I'm excited to join Lee at Freshly Pieced this week.  Go check her and many other great folks.

What they don't tell you about being a Queen Bee

.

All I have is corny musical tidbits in my head today . . . what's up with that? 

This morning it was Julie Andrews rendition of 'getting to know you. . getting to know all about you' as I'm trying to encourage conversations in my bee's I'm hosting.

And then later it was the tune from one of the 007 'secret agent man' when talking about a password protected post, Jenna talks about it here. 

But, right now for this post it's Mel Brooks proclaiming 'It's GOOD to be King' (From History of the World, Part I)

Well it IS good to be Queen Bee but it does come with some responsibility. Pfft what a dirty word. 

So beeing Queen Bee . . takes a lot

• Planning what you want made
• Having enough fabric
• Cutting fabric
• Organizing fabric
• Making piles of fabric
• Fretting about fabric piles and changing your mind
• Going and buying fabric at a craft store instead of the LQS because it's too far away and you need these out the door tomorrow instead of later in the week
• Undoing fabric piles. Replacing some 'crappy' fabric with the fabric you just bought
• Oh and because you can see the piles again you freak out and put in more fabric for variety for your bee-mates
• Folding the outrageous amounts of fabric into small enough rectangles to place in a sandwich size closeable bag
• Finding pre-bought envelopes - I bought these just for my bee's
• Find my bee-mates address (again)
• Realizing not only you have to put their address on the packages but mine too
• Finding decent sized labels to place inside the package for my bee-mates so my fabrics + blocks make their way home. This has made it So much easier for me . . so why not extend the love.
• Folding instructions and placing  the self-addressed labels  into the folded packet (you know around 12:15 a.m. when you gotta work the next day)
• Shoving all these items into the small envelope (lesson learned - bigger envelopes next time)
• Writing on the outside flap of the envelopes which bee this is for (some of us *like me* are in multiple bee's)
• Off to the post office to mail the envelopes only to find they have to be a different postal class because they are a wee bit thicker than a "regular" envelope (again lesson learned - bigger envelopes next time).
• Forgetting to include something about a siggy block - no worries I'll do something like Lindsey posted about self created labels.
• Fretting about the color choices - yes after I mailed these buggers
• Worried the free-form instructions won't be accepted by my bee-mates

Well it's done.  :)  Letting it go.  July will be an "off" for me (in this bee).  I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with. I'll be stalking the photos in the Twice as Nice bee flickr group.

May's nearing an end

Phew . . . I made it! 

May's coming to an end 

and

I finished all of my May bee blocks!

So, here we go ~

{Modern 12} Bee

gock's frocks asked for 

an awesome wonky string block.

She's put a tutorial up for anyone that's interested.

I didn't want to chance the red being perfectly matched so instead I made two centers for her.

I did add my own red as a backdrop to show the idea she has in store for these blocks. 

Threadheads 

JennyGoLightly asked for  

Oh Fransson Mod Mosaic block

I had a bit of trouble with this one.  I adore the smaller pieces in blocks and wanted to use this with the wonk.  I ran out of sashing.  No worries, she'll put these two pieces that I'm sending to make up one block.

Aqua & Orange Bee

breathe and sew asked for

whatever we want with the fabrics she sent.  Oh gads this one was hard.  Not only was this hard but I'm in two bee's with breathe and sew.  She did this for each group.  

What a grand idea.  Here's what I came up with. 

I based this on Lily's Quilts block 

and 

I also had to roll with it to actually make it big enough (only 10") since my HST's were SMALL!

Aqua and Red Block Bee

This is a great group.  It's a 6-month group with 12 gals.  

It's two blocks a month but we'll be done so much faster.  So, I like it a lot.  

First gal is breathe and sew 

She asked for whatever we wanted. . yep same gal as above.  Since I had SO many small HST's left I decided to make a few pinwheel's  I {heart} Why not Sew's tutorial and then filled the space with the fabric I had left.  

Crazy I know.

The second gal is whynotsew?  

So not only did I use her tutorial for a block from someone else, I get to sew for HER!

She asked for

a  wonky star block.  I learned from this tutorial a few months ago

I adore these colors!

Sew Modern Quilt Bee

FairlyMerry asked for

two confetti blocks.  

These blocks my mother {I think} would love.  These were fun to make.  

I even have a few scraps to send back with these blocks

GO ME

Twice as Nice

Kreated by Kari supplied us with enough fabric to make a Spiderweb block.  I mainly followed 

{House} of a la Mode's tutorial

I love the colors Kreated by Kari and it will make a great fall quilt.  

 I learned that I'm not a fan of the Spiderweb blocks. I don't really know what about them isn't fun.  Well at least I know now!  :) So, I'll glad it make it for other's but not myself.

There's the low down on May.  I'm so glad that I actually finished my blocks before the end of the month, but as well as before my next business trip.  Which I have no craft ideas to bring with me - yet!

Sunday Stash Report- Week 17 of 2011

This is the real week 17.  Apparently the counting got off somewhere.  It's May 1 and it really is the 17th week of the year.  How time flies.

You know what I did this this. . I didn't buy any fabric! GOLD STAR FOR ME!

 

I must admit, I did try.  I'm now enlisting my poor sister to go to JoAnn's in her state to find me more DS Quilts fabric.  My stupid stores, within a 2.5 hour radius of my house (aka local) don't carry more than the same 5 prints of this line.

So, I didn't add anything to my stash. I didn't sew anything from my stash. I did finish out my month for the few on-line flickr bee's I'm participating in.  Here's a run down of April

{Modern 12} - Yummy Kitchen Window blocks. This is from Elizabeth Hartman's inspiration, she blogs over at Oh, Fransson!  It's been fun to see the variations of this theme.  This is my block I made for the April queen bee.





Threadheads - Lindsey introduced me to a Dresden Plate. There were a few issues within the group talking about traditional and modern blocks. 

All in all, the Dresden Plate will always have a special place in my heart.  I think Lindsey is an amazing woman who I can learn from of how to handle a bad situation and make it something wonderful.

Look at these amazing colors.  The center block didn't fit on mine, but Lindsey said she'll fix that when it arrives at her house.  LOVE these blocks!

Okay not only do I love these blocks but my 11-year old step-daughter loves them too.  And while we've been out doing things or visiting folks, she's the one that points out these are all around us.  I'm impressed my own passion is something she is enjoying participating in, even in small ways. 



We used the Dresden Plates tutorial's on Sew Mama Sew. AND Lindsey also added some helpful information, some extra steps that Elizabeth didn't picture, on her own website through this mini-tutorial

Aqua &Orange Bee- wonky log cabins from Quilt Dad. I already blogged about these here (last month-hee hee).  Yeah for fun colors!

 Twice as Nice - We made ticker tape blocks.  We mostly used the tutorial created by Crazy Mom Quilts for Sew Mama Sew.  The colors we were sent made these blocks a lot of fun. 

The sewing of each piece of fabric did take some time but nothing that I couldn't accomplish for two blocks in one month.  I'm not sure if I could accomplish this on my own project without it sitting around forever. And I got these done before April finished! 





That's all for this month.  I did sign-up for two more bee's. I'm just crazy! Next month will be more blocks but since I already have some of the fabrics, it should be a nice paced for such a great time of year. I'm so happy to be using new growing talent to participate in a community of amazing women. 

On with the stash report. . .

Sunday Stash Report- Week 17 of 2011

FABRIC

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 7.3 yards
Added this Week:   0 yards
Added Year to Date: 170.8 yards
Net Used Added in 2011:  -163.5 yards (Negative = added to my stash)


YARN

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 867 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 655 yards
Net Used for 2011: 212 yards (Positive = used/sold from my stash. . YEAH)

Click on over to Patchwork Times to see how others are doing.