Bee Love!

hi guys!

can you believe that it's been two weeks since i last posted? where did they go? i could've sworn it was only a few days ago!

however, i HAVE been accused of having "no concept of time" on multiple occasions. and i gotta tell ya, i'm starting to think it might be true (shh, don't tell!). considering the TWO parking tickets that i've gotten recently were both for misjudging how long i'd spend in a store buying crafty stuff....

seriously, who puts parking meters outside the craft store? that is simultaneously a bastardly thing to do and a brilliant fundraising scheme. unfortunately (for them), it's also a big deterrent for me. michaels is overpriced enough even without paying $2 per 20 minutes! $6 an hour! and it's not even downtown!

wait, where was i? i got distracted. this is just proving the point further, isn't it?


last week! so last week was partially about my inability to accurately judge how long things will take, but my propensity for procrastination definitely played a role as well. i got it into my head that i would get a ton of things done for the VMQG meeting, and that resulted in me having a whole bunch of things in progress, and basically nothing accomplished. i'm still planning on finishing the examples though, so watch for those.

(propensity for procrastination? that should totally be my new motto. truthful AND alliterative!)


in other news, i have bee blocks to show you!

these ones aren't from the Unscripted Bee that you've seen me talk about, but from a whole new bee. very exciting!!! a few months ago the amazing Cynthia asked me to be part of a bee that she was organizing. how could i resist, really? the new bee is called the Fab Bee, and it's full of incredibly talented folks. we're mostly all locals, either members of the FVMQG or the VMQG, but we have two members further away as well.



Cynthia's vision was an "awesome bee full of original styles of modern blocks- no patterns (other than your own) allowed." it's okay to be influenced by another quilter's work or ideas, but we must put our own original spin on it. the idea is super creative!

and to get the party started, Cynthia was our first queen bee! her theme was hearts, hearts and more hearts!

(i couldn't resist the link! that was 10 years ago dude! how did that happen? earlier point proven again!)

the finished quilt is for her hubby Norm, and he directed the fabric choices, and will lay out the finished quilt. we were asked to make scrappy hearts of any kind, with piecing methods, design, size, etc left up to us. the fabrics were all greys, greens and blacks with a bit of white, and we all received several "special" pieces of fabric - fabric designed by Cynthia herself!

i actually uploaded "hint" photos to show before Cynthia actually got the blocks, but... i didn't get around to blogging them. though they are good close ups! so how about i post them too? you can just pretend to be surprised as you scroll down, kay?

 

 


do you see how the fabric isn't white? grr!! i love Best Press, it's like magic, but the non-staining claims are not true!

 


and now for the actual blocks!



because i adore them, i was determined to make an anatomical heart! the heart is made up of 7 grey and black prints, and Cynthia's Doodle Hearts fabric. it's freezer paper appliqued, with lots and lots of very very tiny stitches holding it on to the background. i know that the finished quilt is going to be used and loved, so i was really conscious of securing it well! i forget how large i cut the grey background, but the heart itself is 5" tall and about 3.5" wide.


this one has a paperpieced background that i drafted out on copy paper, so it's 8.5"x8.5" square. the centre heart was freezer paper applique, using Cynthia's Doodle Words fabric. i hadn't intended for it to look like a union jack, but apparently it does anyway!


this is a HUGE block. holy crap! i was determined to use up all of the fabric scraps, so i just kept making hearts! after i ran out of the grey from Cynthia i added black and white from my stash for the backgrounds. i used several different techniques for the hearts, based on the size of each of the fabric scraps. the block includes both of Cynthia's Doodle fabrics, and even a little bit of her Paris Peonies. i wish i could tell you how large this is - i KNOW i wrote down the sizes of the blocks, but darned if i can find that slip of paper now! i'm thinking that Cynthia should use this one on the back, though i also told her to feel free to cut it up!


these were so much fun to do, and everyone in the bee has done fabulous work. this is going to be an INCREDIBLE quilt! i can't wait to see all of the blocks together!




(if you're wondering, hey amy, what's the dealio with that giveaway, i don't blame you at all! i haven't heard back from the winner! i'm going to try to contact her one more time, and then i'll redraw if necessary, cause i let it slide a little last week. don't fear, i'll post the winner soon!)