Raspberry Kiss Block Swap

I recently participated in a Raspberry Kiss block swap on Instagram. Just wanted to share the blocks I received from ladies all over the world! Aren’t they lovely? I think I need to sew up at least 10 more to finish it off.

Also, funny story. The day I recieved these I didn’t check the mail until after dark. I decided to try and photograph them in my living room but had to stand on a chair to (barely) get them all in the picture. I ended up balanced half on a chair and half on my couch when a storm caused our power to go out! Yikes!! It was rather precarious but I didn’t break anything!

Stash Bee – May Queen

Oh, I just can’t wait to be Queen!!

I know, I was already queen in January but I’m in – are you ready for this- four (four!) quilting bees this year. I know, I have a problem!

Anyway, I’m May Queen for Stash Bee, Hive 4! I’ve selected Converging Corners as my quilt block. The rest of this post will be directed to my hive members but feel free to check it out and look into the great tutorial I’ve linked!

Here’s a link to a tutorial on how to do this block from Film in the Fridge. When I first began quilting a few years ago I was very much drawn to a few converging corners quilts. I’ve always wanted to make one and have never managed to get around to it! I decided to use this bee as a chance to get a good start on one!

I’m requesting a wee bit of a change, mostly in block size, for my bee block but also allowing quite a few adaptations to make this a teensy bit more improv. Following the instructions from the link, I would like a block that measures 16″ instead of 12.5″. I’ll discuss the adaptations when I get to sample blocks and such. This tutorial is excellent though and gives great instructions on constructing this block!

 The colors I’m asking for are purples of all kind along with peach, coral and a teensy bit of gray. Here is the photo and color scheme that really inspired my choices.

 

I’ve also put together a pinterest inspiration board with lots of fun pictures to get you all in the color mood for this block! I adore making pinterest inspiration boards! I would like the background fabric to be a low volume print in either white or cream. Fun fact – last year I selected colors in the orange family and purple family as colors to build in my stash. They were sadly underrepresented in my stash and while remedying that, I fell in love with these colors individually and now love how nicely they play together!

 Now lets talk fabric! I especially love text prints, pin dots, maps, music notes, and graphic designs in black or gray for my low volume background prints but it can certainly vary from that a bit.  If you look at the low volume selection in my Fizzy quilt you can see the variety of prints and how well they work together. I’d just rather not have a low volume with a lot of color in it. (You will notice at least one low volume with aqua and brown – it’s not a huge contrast so that is fine. I had another fabric in this same quilt with brown writing. It looked nice in the end. I’d rather not have a white print with lots of bright red hearts, or orange suns, etc.)

 As far as the colored fabrics, I’m mostly drawn to modern prints and love Cotton + Steel, Zen Chic, Alison Glass, Denise Schmidt, Moda Grunge, Caronlyn Friedlander, Karen Lewis Textiles but as your strips will be small, please use what you think looks good. I’m not a fan of batiks or reproduction prints (at least for this quilt) so if you could leave those out that would be lovely.

Here is my fabric pull. First the colors! I cannot think of any shade of purple that would not work for this. My range varies from pastel lavender to a dark, royal purple with everything plum and purple in between! I would like for the corals and peaches to not veer too far into the primary orange category but I know those are colors that people see differently. I promise, if you think it looks nice I will love it! I’d rather the grays (which are optional and need to be used sparingly) to be in the light to mid range. I do not want it to appear black at all. I’m good with prints and/or solids for the colored bits of this quilt!

 Now the low volumes! I’m such a huge fan of low volumes! I’d really rather the low volumes be a print instead of a solid. White on white prints are fine and as you see, anything with black or gray print is great (and makes me so happy!!) Once again, in the fabrics pictured I do have a low volume that has some color (the Caroline Friedlander Architexiture print) and I think it totally works!! I’m really not as picky as I sound…

 Now for my sample blocks! I sometimes get carried away making sample blocks. I may have made a few…or five! I wanted you to see the variety of middles I’m cool with as well as how it all looks in repeat!

Block one –

I  used a combination of wider and skinnier logs to frame the block. I added a tiny sliver of gray in with my purple logs. On this block I framed a coral square (2.5 inches) with a 1″ purple frame. This is not necessary and I’ll have other centers to show you other options in a bit. I just wanted you to know you could play around with the centers as far as design and size! I would like all coral/peach strips to be in one corner and all purple (with occasional gray) in the opposite corner. Logs can vary from 1″ all the way up to 3″. Center blocks can be any size you like – just make sure you leave enough room to have some logs with colors in the corner!

Block two –

You can see I began with a much larger, single fabric square in the center. I believe it was 8″. I also used larger logs for the strips so this block went together much faster than the others. Totally feel free to do this if you are pressed for time or making more than one block and want to do a quick one!

Block three –

Here’s another single fabric square but it is medium sized. I believe it is 3.5″. I make a larger, low volume first row around it and a mix of smaller, larger logs with the colored ends. I also used some solids in the colored section on this block.

Block four –

For this block I totally skipped the colored center! See? These blocks can be as complicated or simple as you choose!

Block five –

For this block, I pieced a purple and a peach square for the center. I also added a tiny bit of gray in with the purple. I did two low volume rings around the center instead of one.

Obviously, you can see I’m good with a myriad of variations. If you want to make me a fun center, in my chosen colors, go for it. If you’d rather start with a charm square (or smaller, or larger!) of a single fabric, that is fine. If you want to skip out on a colored center all together, be my guest! I am looking forward to a variety of individual blocks that inspire you!  Also, if it’s easier for you to send the block a little big, I’m happy to trim it down myself!

And so you see how these are coming together, here is a picture of all the blocks I have so far.

 I’m still playing around with layout – I cannot decide if I want purple only or coral only circles or if I want them mixed as in this picture. I’m sure I’ll enjoy playing around with it when I get your blocks in.

Thank you so much for helping me make this lovely quilt! I’m very much looking forward to your lovely blocks!

 

 

 

 

April Bee Blocks

Here are the bee blocks I created for all the Queens of April!

 

Our Stash Bee Queen wanted squares in squares of varying sizes and color!  These were fast and simple to create! (I actually made a third right before I mailed it and it didn’t get photographed before it was mailed.

Our Blossom Heart Beehive Queen requested the Star Plus block!

I accidentally made the first one of these the wrong size so now I have a mug rug!

The Queen of Rockin’ Block Beehive wanted a scrappy bear paw block. I’m now in love with this block and really want to make a scrappy bear paw quilt now!!

I also sent this queen a few half square triangles to go in another quilt she is working on.

And finally, in our Bonnie and Camille Beehive, I made my first Swoon block. Ummmm…I love this block so much!!

I’m starting May’s blocks today in the hopes of getting a head start for the month. Oh, I’m also May Queen for one group so a few less blocks to make this month!

Paper Pieced Projects

Honestly, this post is a bit of a filler just to kinda keep me in the habit of blogging. I never have shared my journey into paper piecing and I do love some of my paper pieced projects!

I began paper piecing while I was pregnant with the current 17 month old child. It was a bit crazy as I tried to figure it out without reading the instructions….oooopppsssss!

I did, however, fall in love with the process of paper piecing. I haven’t done any large projects, although I have my eye on the elephant abstractions quilt by Violet Craft.  I mean, how cool is that??? It’s a project for another day though – although hopefully not too far down the road.

Here are some paper pieced projects I have worked on though.

Here’s my Pi potholder! Pattern here. My son loves this potholder so much!! He’s a bit of a math geek.

Here is a paper pieced Union Jack pillow. I used this pattern here. I also used this pattern reduced by 50% to make a zipper pouch. Both were gifts for my Brittish loving sister-in-law! I never did get a picture of the pouch, sadly.

Here are some pin cushions in various stages of completion. You can find the pattern here. The one on the right is my first ever paper piecing project and it’s my current pin cushion. The cushion on the left went to a different sister-in-law for Christmas (I have a bunch of sister-in-laws!) and the one in the bottom picture was part of a Sneaky Santa gift at my local quilt shop’s Girls Night Out. I did finish it first though…

Decided to put one of those cute spools in one of my Dwell Blocks as well – I think it was a good decision!

And a favorite project – a mini quilt with the cutest butterflies ever!! This was for a quilt swap and I really need to make myself a copy of this cause I just love it so much! You can find these butterfly patterns here.

All of these are pretty simple and small paper pieced projects. I’ve done a few paper pieced quilt blocks for bee blocks as well.

And finally, here is my quilt that is my only large paper pieced project. Admittedly, it was a pretty simple paper piecing project. I do like the outcome though and it was a Christmas gift for my (at the time) nine year daughter.

 

 

Blue Quatrefoil Quilt – A Finished Quilt

Finally got around to basting and quilting this quilt. I’m also happy to announce that this is Quilt Finish #6 for 2017! Woohoo!

It finished at 60″x 72″ so it’s a nice sized throw quilt and perfect for wrapping up on the couch with. I’m pretty happy with it, I must say! It is the result of my January Blossom Heart Bee Hive so I have 2 blocks each from 11 lovely ladies as well as 8 of my own in this quilt. I had hoped to have this finished in March but alas, March was such a busy month and I was unable to get around to completing it.

I spent two full days of my spring break working on this so that I could have it finished in April. Here are some more shots…

And, quilts look best with cute kids in the pictures, don’t you think? I happen to think this particular kiddo is one of the cutest ever!

 

 

Bee Blocks

Well, I went a little beehive crazy this year and ended up in FOUR hives! It’s a total blast, even if it is keeping me on my toes, making that many blocks every month. I have to say, I’m in some hives with some rock stars that have gorgeous block ideas so now I’m wanting to copy pretty much every idea for each block I’ve made for my hives this year.

Originally, I had the great idea that I’d post a monthly post, showcasing each block I made. It doesn’t look like that is going to happen though so I’m going to settle for just sharing a bunch of the blocks I’ve made so far! Here are most of the blocks I made for the months January-March. I’m missing one January block though as I forgot to get a good photograph of it.

January Stash Bee Block

January Rockin’ Bee Block

Febraury Rockin’ Bee Block, a block for a friend that needed one more to finish last years bee quilt and February’s Stash Bee blocks…

February’s Bonnie and Camille Bee block

February’s Blossom Heart bee blocks

March’s Stash Bee Blocks

March’s Rockin’ Bee block (I love this strawberry so much!!!)

March’s Blossom Heart Bee blocks

March’s Bonnie and Camille bee block

So, yeah. That’s a lot of blocks. It’s been fun, I’ve made some blocks that I’m not certain I would have made before and have learned a lot! Boy though, it’s going to be a busy year of block making for sure!

Tic Tac Toe – A Quilt for Baby Violet

Here’s a quilt for the newest addition to my family, my niece, Violet. She should be making her appearance very soon! I’m super excited about having another niece (I only have one niece but 10 nephews!!)

I used the blocks I made/received during my month as Queen Bee, June 2016. I selected the tic tac toe block and 11 wonderful ladies made 12 blocks in the colors I selected. I made the first 8 blocks myself. This is my first March finish but Finish #5 for 2017! I’m getting these WIP’s done!

The quilt finishes as 48’x 60′ – just perfect for a baby quilt!

I selected this Carousel fabric from Dear Stella designs for the back. It uses several of the colors from the front of the quilt but I just had to have the carousels when I decided to make this a baby blanket. I’ve hoarded this fabric from back before I even made quilts! As you can see, I had to piece the back so I used a navy pin dot to go along with it.

I used some of my favorite Blueberry Park marine fabric for the binding. I love how this quilt looks girly without being your traditional baby girl colors. I think that’s going to be right down my sister-in-law’s alley!

And look at this sweet photo bomber!!

I outline quilted each row of blocks for a simple grid pattern.

Here’s a close up of some of the fabrics…

Gotta love those low volumes as a background. I’m obsessed with this look!!

Now I’m just sitting back and waiting on the call that Miss Violet has arrived! I cannot wait to meet her!

 

One Monthly Goal – March

I’m going to join in Elem Street One Monthly Goal! I’ve linked up with monthly goal setting before and it was a great way to motivate me to finish a project every month!

So, here’s the plan for March. I want my January beehive quilt done!

I had plans to quilt it over Mardi Gras break but I did not have enough backing fabric so I quilted my Fizzy Quilt instead! Now it’s time to get this one done. I have the fabric I need so I have no excuse!

I’m excited about getting this one done!

Check out other goals for March at the march link up here!

 

Fizzy Quilt – A Finished Quilt

So back in the spring of 2016 I decided I would finally sew some curved blocks. I intended to just do enough for a pillow – curves were intimidating!! I made the fizzy block ( a variation of a drunkard’s path) from Blossom Heart Quilts. As you can see, mine didn’t line up perfectly but it was my first curved block so I’m cutting myself a bit of slack.

I was going to sew it up into a pillow but thought, “The repeat for this block is amazing…maybe make four blocks and make a large pillow.” I ended up making six.

And I decided, what the heck…make a quilt! I’m so glad I decided to! Almost a year later, I have 30 blocks and I finally finished!

Some of my circles lined up better than others for sure. I love how making the circles one color (instead of two – which is also amazing) makes the block look like a flower with a purple center.

I am very fond of using low volume fabrics for the background fabric in a quilt. I think I had a pretty good mix of low volumes in this one. I keep joking that in years to come, the low volume background is going to be a way to date our quilts. I can just hear my grand-kids saying, “I wonder why grandma used all these prints with text on it??”

I also used the very last bits of one of my favorite low volume prints ever…this print with the words to Starlight, Star Bright on it. It’s leftover bits from back in my children’s clothing sewing days! I used it on an apron dress that was just adorable!

Backing and binding are Moda Grunge fabrics I got on sale this week at my local quilt shop. The backing is a wide back and my very first time using wide back. Oh my goodness…love not piecing the back! I really loved the deep purple grunge for the binding as well!

Here’s a bunch more pictures to show the fabrics…

Oh, this is also my first quilt finish for February. Quilt #4 for 2017 (which means I’ve now made more quilts in 2017 than I did in 2016!)

I love how this quilt turned out. I also love all the purples in it. At the beginning of 2016 I noticed I had very little orange or purple in my stash. I intentionally tried to build those colors in my stash so I now have a pretty decent selection of purples! It was fun to put them in this quilt! (Now I need to work on yellows and reds!)

The final measurements of the quilt are 60″ x 72″, so it’s a nice sized throw quilt. Each block was 12.5″ unfinished and 12″ finished.

And one last look!

 

 

Quilt in Progress

Just wanted to share this gorgeous quilt top I’m getting ready to baste and quilt. I just need my local quilt shop to open up on Wednesday so I can get some backing fabric!!

This quilt top is the result of being Queen Bee in the Blossom Heart Quilting bee! Eleven lovely ladies sent me two blocks each and I made an additional eight blocks. Each block is 12.5 inches so the finished quilt is 60 inches x 72 inches – perfect for a throw quilt on the couch! I’m super pleased with how this turned out and cannot wait to get it quilted!

Hopefully, I’ll post this as a completed quilt soon!