Bee Vintage {Spring Edition}

Hard to believe my Bee Vintage group is in it's third year as a virtual quilting bee.  Through this group I've meet a lot of really great quilters, as the core group of ladies hasn't really changed all that much over those three years.  It's been a great group to be involved in!

February brought the start another round of block-making for us.
Here's what we've been working up this year...  


Granny Squares for  Liz

Lady of the Lake for Linda

Triangles for Nikki

Garden Fence blocks for Pam

 

and Monica

 

And finally,

Trees for Jodie.

 

Here is the quilt I made during the first year of the group and the one from the second.  This year I'm working on woven blocks.

Pinterest Sampler

 I'll admit it... I'm sort of addicted to pinning quilt block ideas.
I think my pinterest board has over 150 pins (and counting...).  Obviously that is more blocks than I could tackle in a lifetime.  So rather than feel guilty about all the quilts I'm not making from my board I've decided to dive into it head first.

I'm planning on making a sampler-style quilt using as many block designs as possible.  Until I think of a more suitable name I'll be calling it my Pinterest Sampler Quilt.  Original, huh?  I've also decided to cut into my prized drawer of Denyse Schmidt fabrics.  I'm equally excited about that as I am about the block making.

What to join me?
No worries! It will be an informal sort of thing.
I'll post a block every week or so, you can sit back and watch or make a block, too.
Do you have your own pin board full of blocks?  Why don't you tackle yours as well.
We'll do it together.
Should be fun.

Come back next week for my first block!
#pinterestsamplerquilt

Blogging Via Text

We are headed into our last week of school this week! (Cue the Hallelujah Chorus)
I am so ready for our non-scheduled summer life to begin right about now.  But first, this afternoon I am headed to the 2nd grade field trip with my son.  Should be fun!

But, the randomness that is my life continues on...

Here's a little look at the past week as seen through the eyes of my camera phone and text messages...

 

"I bought a fan deck!" 
-sent to an interior designing cousin in preparation for some over-the-phone paint-making decisions.

"Do you like the big or the little coasters better?"

-sent to hubs during herb pot buying excursion.
 

"Who is the best wife ever??..."

-sent to hubs after spur of the moment mulch buying trip without him.  

BTW.. Got major wife bonus points for that one! :)

 

"Snake!"

-sent to my neighbor friend after finding this creature hanging out on my driveway. *shudder*

And finally, I'll leave you with a sewing related pic...

This morning I'm working on a wavy border that is kicking my tush. 
I know in the end it will be great, but I'm somewhat confused right now. 
Evidently math is not my strong suit...

Hopefully today you are both less confused and less busy than I am!
:)

...And Now a Top

My blocks have made it to the flimsy stage.  

 Yea!

Could it be possible that it will become an actual quilt before the end of the year? Or maybe even the end of summer?

 

Here's hoping...

In other news I finally finished my About Me page.  Click over if you want to see pictures of my family or find out what kind of pet I own.

:)

Linking up to Show and Tell Tuesday, Fabric Tuesday and Sew Cute Tuesday

Blocks for Boston

Here are the blocks I'm sending...

 a #scrappytripalong

and another one of these.

Quilts for Boston flickr group.

Linking to Show and Tell Tuesday

Fab Little Quilt Indeed

First off, the winners from the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Giveaway are: Julie C, the momma, and Blue.Ridge.Girl. You three should already have an email from me in your inbox. Congratulations! And a big Thanks to all who entered and left me such nice comments!
 
 Now onto other things...
I have been impatiently waiting for my FLiQS quilt to arrive for a few weeks now.  Seems I got the mail date a bit wrong, which means I was the first to send out my quilt and one of the last to receive one.  That was a hard wait. Thankfully my wait is over!

This beauty was made for me by Donna.  I was so blown away when I opened up my package that I might have even let out an audible gasp. She incorporated so many of the things I said I loved: orange peels, pluses, low volume, tiny piecing, Denyse Schmidt, and Heather Ross.

 

Each square is a mere 1" finished with the whole quilt measuring 24" square.
I love it SO much!
Even the back is cool.

She sent along some fab little extras as well.
I'm telling you she stalked me very well.  See those fabrics?  They are perfect for my new bee.

 

And chicken buttons!
She definitely did her homework.

Again, Thanks to Donna!  It is a treasure, for sure.
Next week I'll show my new additions hanging with their friends.

   

Woven

April was my month for my Bee Vintage Group.
 I chose this woven block from Sew Crafty Jess.

It's a fairly simple block to work up, though you have to pay attention to the cutting instructions in order to get the "weave" to look right. 

I think it could be a pretty block made up in scraps as well.

Block have been rolling in from my bee mates and my quilt is shaping up beautifully!

I'm pretty sure I'm just making a small throw size, but who knows...

:)

linking up to WIP Wednesday

Progress

Just wanted to pop in this morning for a quick hello.

  This week has been extremely busy on all fronts and today might be the day I finally lose my mind!  The kids must be picking up on my stress because this morning before school everyone was throwing tantrums and such.  It was all I could do to make sure everyone got out the door in time for the bus.  Ah, happy mornings... :(

Luckily I've been able to steal a few moments from the craziness of the week to sew.  I saw a funny quote on pinterest somewhere that went something like this:  "I Sew So I Don't Kill"  Yep, that pretty much sums it up... But, thankfully everyone is alive and well. Not happy, but well. :)

A few weeks ago I showed this stack of fabric that I've had pulled for 18 months or so.  Sometimes I post things like that in hopes that it motivates me to work on said project.  

Well, I've been working.

Here's where I'm at with it.

 (Forgive my hastily taken camera phone pic.  It's all I could manage today.)

I'm doing a small #scrappytripalong.  

While I'm not normally a band wagon jumper, I just needed to be done with this project.  The scrappy trip block seemed the perfect speedy block to help me end the misery of my poor fabrics.  

While I'm not swooning over it, I am SO HAPPY to be moving along.  I think I only have 8 or so blocks to go.  This particular quilt might just be one to test every ounce of my endurance, though.  Can I finish it without losing my mind?  Only time will tell...

 On a side note, don't forget you can still enter to win a copy of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks magazine.  It's a great resource for new block ideas.  Since my blog is new and my readership is still small the odds are in your favor!  You have until Monday.  

Lastly, my mom reads my blog (Hi Mom!!)  so I wanted to show off the nifty coffee mug I received from Quiltmaker for being part of #100blocks.  Cute, huh?  

 Look, Mom!  There's my block!  :)

Happy Friday!
  (It will be happy, right?)

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday

Quiltmaker 100 Blocks {Blog Tour}

*EDITED* 
 This giveaway is now closed.  Thanks for entering.  The winners are: 
Julie C., the momma, and blue.ridge.girl. Congrats to all!

Yea!  Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks (Vol. 7).

I was excited to have my block included in this edition. 

There I am, Block #652 on page 47.

Sorry about the confusion with the wrong blog name/address by my block.  When I submitted my block early last fall I was still blogging with my sisters and hadn't thought about that being an issue.  Oh, well. It all works out in the end, right?

Last year, while I was in the throngs of quilt club block making I came up with this design.  It's not anything innovative or ground-breaking, but sometimes a little tweak makes all the difference.

After making a block for one of my ladies I decided that it needed a little extra punch.  So I chopped it down, added the white skinny strip and then added the framing border.  I love the addition of the skinny white strip.  In my mind that gives it the extra pop it needs.

 

Here is a little mock up of my block in and edge to edge design. 

Pretty cool, huh? 

You could definitely make this design in a million different ways.  I sure did!  

Here it is in brown and pink

 And purple and yellow.

And here is the quilt I made out of my red blocks.

 

If you didn't know already, I LOVE red quilts!
I even have an entire pinterest board dedicated to them, so this is my nod to traditional red quilts.  All the blocks are made with the same layout, but as you can see value placement will changes the look of the block as well.

And now, for the fun stuff...

Would you like a chance to win a copy of the magazine??

I've got extra copies to send out! (And I might even throw in some fabric scraps as well.)  All you need to do is leave a comment on this post.  Maybe tell me what kind of scraps you'd be interested in.  I'll pick winners on Monday.  If you want more chances to win, become a follower and leave a 2nd comment telling me so.  Don't forget to stop by the Quiltmaker's Blog as well. They are doing a bunch of giveaway's all week.

Good Luck!