Rectangles for Rebekah

My resolution for the new year is to get my bee blocks done on time. I'm hoping that if I write it publicly it might really happen. Thanks for the fab fabrics to work with Rebekah. I sure had fun with this block.

a butterfly for Rebekah

Rebekah's request for embroidery inspired me! I freezer-paper-stenciled the butterfly on, then just did the tiniest little bit of embroidery as an accent. I could have posted it sooner, but I wanted her to be surprised. She e-mailed me today to say that she'd gotten it (and apparently she DOES like it!), so I can now safely post these photos.Thanks for the fun fabric and fun assignment, Rebekah!

Squares for Amy

I made six blocks for Amy this morning. Yes, thankyouverymuch, I know that it is almost the end of November. I think there is a reason I tend to make (purposely) crooked blocks... I'm not so good at straight ones. :)

These are my favorite two. The first is 12.5" & the second is 6.5".

blocks for rossie and amy (finally!)

first, since she's been waiting longer, here are my squares for amy. i had lots of fun working with the fabrics she sent and adding in my own pieces as well. i especially love the center block featured above with the center of the flower. oh, and the tiny blocks were surprisingly challenging! who knew it would be so hard to sew a small block? fun, nevertheless! here's another shot where you can see all five blocks i made:
tonight i finally finished rossie's blocks!

my phrase is "be peace" which are the same words printed on my favorite necklace. they are also a shortened version of gandhi's suggestion that we should all "be the peace you want to see in the world." my quote has lots of letter "e's" and i struggled with the code's instructions to leave them as blank squares--how can you then tell the difference between a space and an "e"? so i outlined my e-blocks with a thin red line. which may end up disappearing after the seams are created that incorporate the phrase into the quilt. oh well. lovely rich over-dyed fabrics, rossie!

Rebekah's blocks for November

I mailed out the fabric for my month this evening, so here are the directions for the blocks.

I'd like you to make a 15" block that features squares and rectangles, but is not made with nesting squares or log cabins. Here's a mosaic of quilt inspiration.



I included 5 different prints and 2-3 solid fabrics in each package. One of the solids is a large piece, so if you could make the large piece that you receive the predominant color, that would be great. I'm going to be putting the blocks together with a grey solid once I receive them all.

If you want to add some embroidery or machine stitching to the block, I would love it, but a "plain" block is great too.

If you have any questions or need more fabric, let me know!

Blocks for Amy and Rossie

I got down to business yesterday and made these blocks for Amy and Rossie.


Three blocks for Amy (12.5, 6.5 and 3.5)



And one long strip for Rossie. I was wracking my brain trying to come up with the perfect quote and I even browsed the Yale Book of Quotations, but I couldn't find any good short phrases. I think my cats were trying to give me some hints because they were climbing on my lap and sewing machine while I was trying to come up with a quote. So, the blocks say their names: "Shinji" and "NukuNuku." They are japanese names, so I thought they'd work with a quilt by a japanese designer. I sewed the two names together and the blocks are 3.5" tall, but they are a little longer than 2 feet wide, so you might need to rip them apart if they're too long, Rossie.

October for Rossie

It was deciding on a phrase that stumped me on this one, but Halloween night as I was staring at the fabric it came to me. Common Threads. So here you go. I didn't put it together because it's longer than you requested. Actually, much longer. I thought maybe you could put them like this to make the phrase. My mistake...i thought...two word phrase...I can make the blocks 6 inches. I hope you can use them like they are.

Pura Vida

I finished up Rossie's blocks today:

Aloha...

and Pura Vida....

(I had to fold this phrase up to fit in the picture)

I made 5" blocks for Aloha and 4" for Pura Vida - this was so fun Rossie!

I can't wait to see your quilt!

Finished Blocks

I finished up Amy's blocks yesterday...

I love this quilt pattern and can't wait to see it all put together.

I made 2 each of the 2", 3 1/2" and 6 1/2" blocks...

and one 12 1/2" block.

opposites for Amy

These are set to be mailed off to Amy later this week.

I opted for the largest size block (12.5") and the smallest (2"). I'm always surprised at how quickly a large log cabin style block will use up fabric. It's easy to forget that those sides get longer fast. That little one with the center dot makes me smile though.

Amy, I hope these get you a little bit closer to a finished quilt top!

Ready for October!

Here are your blocks Amy. I had fun making them again. I made blocks until I ran out of fabric. No big one this time. I can't wait to see this quilt come together!

I think I forgot to post Amber's block from August...oops! Love those tiny shrooms and as usual, great colors, great fabrics!

October is upon us!

Yay! It’s my turn! I am making a quilt like this:


That's a Yoshiko Jinzenji quilt from her book “Simple Quilts.” Genius, huh? I'm making one for my bed. What I need help making are blocks like this:

The trick is, these blocks spell out words using a code! I will mail the fabric out in the morning; included are more detailed instructions and the code.

I hope you enjoy making these: they look more difficult to construct than they are—you just have to dive in! The fabrics are Kona Cottons, which I've over-dyed just a smidgen for a richer, more organic look.

(that says WILD) your blocks will look like this, except longer.

I can't wait to see what you make!
-Rossie

Kaffe blocks for Amy

I had a backlog of podcasts to listen to, so I may have gone overboard when I made five blocks for Amy. What can I say? These were really fun and easy to make.


I had some pre-cuts from the Neptune line in my scrap pile, so I mixed those in with Amy's choices.

Amy, I hope you like them; my favorite is the one on the top of this pile. My least favorite is that big one...I wish I had thrown a warm fabric in there somewhere. Oh well!


October is my month; fabrics will go out this weekend!


-Rossie

Half & half

I've been enamored with this quilt ever since I saw it on Flickr a while ago. Needless to say, I was excited to see it included in Amber's inspirational pictures for her block this month.

This is the first block I've ever made for a virtual quilting bee. I'm sorry it's a little late. I hope you like it!

Amber's Block

I can't believe round one is over. Here's my start for round two:

I love how Amber puts so many prints together. She forces me to look at fabric in a different way and I'm always happy with what comes out in the end. I went with a wonky log cabin, but this time forced myself to mix it up a little more with varying log sizes and piecing logs together. I also left my rotary cutter alone until it was time to square the final block. I have to admit that I wasn't able to completely abandon my need to plan all of this, but I did go with the flow. When that bottom row didn't quite work out like I wanted, I just added to it with what I had left of another color. Surprise, the world did not come to an end ; )

*Don't worry Amber, that little dot on the blue fabric is just a droplet of dew, not a stain.

farewell, round one; hello, round two!

Here is the last block for round one--Lisa's block! i chose to feature the butterfly in mine.
And since I had the fabric for both, I decided to do them both at the same time.they turned out oddly similar somehow... something about it doesn't feel quite right to me, so if you decide to change it up a little, Amber, I won't be offended. :)

thanks for letting us play with the mushroom print!

mushroom in the middle

Here's my block for you, Amber! I love the fabrics you chose.


I put a mushroom in the middle and a few nearby to keep it company.


I hope you like it! Any tips for how I should package this thing so it arrives safely? I've never mailed a quilting block.

-Rossie

new blocks

Here are two blocks I made for Lisa and Amber...

First up is my monkey block for Lisa. This block is a lot larger than 12". Lisa, you can just trim it down to the size you like and go off center or centered when you get the block.



And here's Amber's block. I tried to get the fabric piece as close to the center as I could, but I was having too much fun playing around with stripes, so it's a little off kilter.



And, the close-up shot...

Another Squirrel

I guess it's fitting that the last block for Common Threads (1) was the most challenging for me. I'm not sure if it was a trying to keep things symmetrical or the variety of weights in the fabrics, or a combination, but this block gave me a really hard time. I sent a ton of fabrics back with this block, so hopefully if you don't like it you can add some more strips! The squirrel does seem happy to be in the center though.

I have too many commitments to continue on with Common Threads 2, so thank you to everyone for this past year. I have learned so much and am constantly amazed by all the blocks made by this group! Have fun with the next round.

monkey block

Here's my block for Lisa:



It was oddly challenging for me - I kept wanting to make it asymmetrical. I hope you like it, Lisa!

So I've opted out of round 2, so I'd like to just say thanks to everyone for a great year of quilt block fun! I love the blocks you've made for me, and I've really enjoyed making the blocks the other months.

A Little Squirrely

I got the squirrel. I think he's totally cute nibbling on the flowers. I'm not sure I achieved symmetry, but I hope it works for you anyway.
Totally looking forward to round 2!

Round 2?

Is everyone ready? Or almost ready?

I am sending out the fabric this weekend and have made a mosaic on Flikr to give you some ideas but I am open to your creativity too.

I am sending a small square of this fabulous fabric that I would like for you to use in the center of each block (or sorta center) and how do 12" x 12" blocks sound?

You can feel free to add in any other fabrics you want and if you need more of any of the fabrics I send just let me know.

Can't wait to see what you guys create!