Quilting Bee

I did more than make those two quilts in January… I also kept up with my Bee obligations!  As of this month, I am now in FIVE active virtual quilting bees, which is a little insane.  One of them was on hold this month, though, so I only had four blocks to make.

For A Piece of Work B, Kyra sent batiks and white-on-white and asked for a Dutchman’s Puzzle block:

For the inaugural month of One Block Over, Michelle sent some Riley Blake fabrics and solids, as well as a pattern for a neat star block. I followed the directions very literally, though I rather like the blocks made by those who took more liberties with the instructions. Must remember not to always be so rigid…

It was also the first month for Scraptastic, which is my first time being the admin for a Bee. Jenna sent the pink Starling print and asked for improvisational log cabins. I wanted to make a second block, but just ran out of time. Would you believe EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the bee got their block done on time? So impressed!

And, finally, we also began our Charming Robin bee, which is a round-robin involving charm packs. The package was late in arriving, so I didn’t finish exactly on time, but it’s still early in February and it’s on its way to California for the next person. Sharon sent a charm pack of Clementine and a pattern for the “Basket of Flowers” block from Moda.

I was actually super on top of things this month, and got my two Bee blocks done quite a while ago.  Yay for me!

The first was for Wendy in our Bee Addicted 2 bee.  She plans on doing a bento-style quilt with vintage linens.  What that meant for us is that she basically sent three fabrics, already cut, with very clear instructions on what to do.

I’m sure it’s all going to look very cool when it comes together.  But it’s just not my cup of tea. Not just because vintage linens aren’t my thing, but because I kind of feel like the point of a Bee is to have people make things that you might not make, yourself.  I think if the instructions are too narrow, it starts to feel more like farming out busywork than getting some creative, interesting things.  I don’t say that to criticize anyone at all. I had no problem making the block, and I do think it’s going to be a very cool quilt.  It’s just not how I envision the process for myself.  More on that in a moment…

My second block for the month was for A Piece of Work B.  Jennie sent some Amy Butler Daisy Chain prints (plus white) and asked for any kind of log cabin.  I must have had Bento blocks on the brain, because I made a sort of quarter-log-cabin/Bento thing for her:

I was pretty happy with how it turned out.  More or less how I pictured it in my mind’s eye.  Yay!

And, finally, I sent off a whole bunch of envelopes last week, because November is MY month for A Piece Of Work B!  Here’s what I sent:

Yup.  That’s it.  A fat eighth of the Alexander Henry Starlings print in neutral, and a fat quarter of bleached muslin.  Two fabrics.

I asked for wonky stars with the starling print in the middle and the white as the main background fabric.  Star points come from people’s stashes.  I encouraged as liberal an interpretation of my “wonky star” request as people felt like taking.  A few have already come in, and they’re all different!  I may make one or two of my own tomorrow.

This is my first time sending out fabric (and instructions!) for a Bee, so I’m crossing my fingers an hoping for the best.  So far, very excited!