Bee Blocks

Today was bee block day for me.  I belong to the KC Scrappy Bee, our 2nd year and the BEE Neptune Bee on Flickr.

For the KC Scrappy Bee it was Caitlin's month and she wanted a spider web block.  She had a color range we needed to stay in but with my vast!! stash it was no problem.

For the BEE Neptune it is Yolanda's month.
She chose hexagons.  Since the hexagon skill eludes me, I made these pieced hexagon blocks!  Could have been better!! Could have been worse.  All in all I am pleased.


I keep saying that I need to stop this swap, Bee stuff!!  Will I never listen!

Garden Fence QAL

Caitlin is hosting a Quilt A Long on her blog here   http://mcintyregirl.blogspot.com/2011/07/lets-get-it-started-uh-huh.html

Have you seen the great Garden Fence quilts on Flickr??  What a great fun quilt block.

This is a mini quilt I made with mini charm square centers.  This is a 5 inch block.

This is a full size Garden Fence quilt that I put on the floor to tweek the layout.  These blocks are 11 inches square, made with charm square centers from the Moda Happy line.  It was so much fun pulling coordinating fabric from my stash for the block borders!  This quilt was made completely from stash.

I still need to add the white sashing and put it all together.

Join Caitlin for her Garden Fence QAL.  It will be lots of fun and you will end up with a great quilt at the end.

Small - Mini - Doll Quilts

I somehow was chosen to participate in the Flicker Doll Quilt Swap 11.  My first DQS was # 10 and lots of fun.  This round we are making a true doll quilt.  Minimum 6 blocks and no more than 18 inches square.

 Cool Blue Diamond

                                                  Red Hot Diamonds

Mini Garden Fence




Not sure what I will do yet, Mini spider web is a possibility!  Who knows.  I've got to get going, mail date is not too far off.

Blogger Slacker..............Life Slacker

I am a blogger slacker!  At the same time I seem to have been a life slacker also.  I am not certain of the cause but I am investigating.  Maybe a summer funk has come to live in my brain, I am not sure.  I have been sewing a bit but not the usual over the edge amount.  I have decided to wake up, shake it off and get busy.

I have done a couple of little things like this,

 a doll size take on Kaffe Fassett's Hot Diamonds,  It was quick colorful and bright,  A fast instant gratification.

This one got a little wonky in quilting but good enough for the girls to use for their dolls.








I have to get busy now.  Everything I have slacked on needs to be completed.

Tools of the trade...part 1

I have not contributed here in a while.  I have been working but don't feel like I am making progress.....just keep plugging away.  I still have several projects that need to be finished.

I wanted to talk about using the tools we have to make our quilting life a little easier.  There are so many of them.  When I started pulling together my quilting tools for this post I could not believe all the tools I have!

Cutting tools are such a necessity.  Every size of rotary cutter, blades, my precious circle cutter, a true necessity for me, and various scissors for various projects.  I use them all, not on every project but it's nice to know they are at hand when I need them.

Can you say rulers!

OK, I have a lot of rulers.  I have many specialty rulers.  I never met a ruler I didn't like.  I like to have the proper tool for my projects......Yep, I have too many rulers!  I have about 4 rulers I use everyday.

  One of the best tools ever is this rotating cutting mat that I can trim and square up blocks without moving the fabric.  This is a nice tool.

Those JoAnn's coupons feed this tool obsession of mine!!  Some specialty tools are not available there but you can almost always find the basics.

Thats it about tools so far.  I'll  talk about my favorite specialty tools next time.

Dig out those tools from their hiding places and find the treasures you have not been using that will make your quilting life so much easier.

I've been working...................

Although I have not had any photos to post lately, I have been working!  Here are some of the fruits of my labor.

Pictures will be forthcoming at some point in time!  This is a short post but I have got to get back to the sewing room!

Teaching a Class......Me???

I am going to have a new adventure this summer.  I am going to teach a quilt class at Harper's Fabric and Quilts in Downtown Overland Park, Kansas!  It is something I have thought about....some have made this suggestion to me but I just didn't think I would do it.  I love quilting...and I love quilters but it is a little intimidating to someone who is not often intimidated!

I am going to teach this quilt

Yes, Seeing Squares by Empty Bobbin.  I do love this quilt.  I love that you can make it out of any fabric, any color scheme that delights you.  I love that you can't really tell where the block is.  It is just a great quilt pattern.  I want to get another baby size done before class if I can.

I will prepare myself and share all the tips and tricks I know.  I am looking forward to it.  If you want to join me please do.  I will bring chocolate!