I’ve been a little direction-less in my sewing as of late.  For the first half or more of this year, I feel like I was really focused on a project or two (or three, I guess), and was working my butt off on each of them in turn.  Now? I don’t know.  I’m catching up from getting behind on a few bee blocks, I’m making my half-square triangles for Triangle Madness, but otherwise I’m feeling a little uninspired.

I decided to change my focus and attack my pile of blocks from three different Bees.  I pulled them out of their super-organized protective coverings ziploc bags, ironed them all, and took an inventory.  Out of nearly 50 total blocks, only three have had to be pulled out, either for some unfortunate construction issues, or for fabric choices that just don’t get along with the rest.  Not too shabby.

I set up my mobile cutting station (aka my kids’ plastic IKEA table) in front of the TV last night and trimmed them all down to 12.25″.  Some were closer to the requested 12.5″ than others (some were shockingly off), but this way they’re all neat and square and the same size.  A few were a bit smaller and need to be framed out to fit in the 12.25″ mold, but they were all “second” blocks that were welcome to be different sizes.

I need to make anywhere between one and five more blocks for each group, so they’ll add up to a nice-sized quilt top when I throw in a bit of sashing.  Speaking of which, I need to decide what color and how big to make the sashing.  Anyone have stylistic preference for narrow vs. wide sashing on Bee quilts?

Anyways, I’m hoping to start seeing some actual quilt tops come together in the near future.  Is it really “progress” to just have a bigger pile of flimsies? Maybe, maybe not.  But it’s what I’m in the mood for.

Oh, and this may all get derailed tomorrow.  Friday is ultrasound day, and I’m hoping to find out our new baby’s gender.  Think I’ll make it all the way to lunchtime before pulling fabrics?

I’m feeling a little twitchy. It’s been almost a week since I last sewed anything, since I last touched my rotary cutter or my iron.  And I won’t see my stash for another 11 days.

I’m in the middle of my annual trip to the Midwest, visiting family and friends all over Illinois and Wisconsin.  Normally I’d be sure to have a quilt (or three) with bindings attached, so I can do the hand-sewing while I’m here.  Alas, that didn’t work out this time.

The crazy circle quilt is basted and waiting to be quilted. I had hoped to do it before I left, but my machine went on the fritz (more on that later, ARGH), so no dice.

Thankfully, I had not given away or sold my old machine, so I was at least able to (mostly) catch up on Bee blocks before I left.

And, as I was getting ready to mail them out, I realized August is MY month for our Scraptastic Bee.  Since I won’t be back home until the very last day of July, I decided to cut up some fabric and send it early.  So everyone got a piece of Alexander Henry owls and I asked for wonky/funky square-in-square blocks.

The two Nicey Jane lake quilts were, obviously, a total pipe dream. Neither top is anywhere near complete.  Ah well, they can be my mom’s Christmas present!

A combination of heat/humidity and other life-gets-in-the-way things kept me from sewing as much as I had hoped before I left.  But my sewing space has been relocated away from my kids’ bedrooms and central air has been installed in my house, so hopefully August will be a pleasantly productive month.

What about you? Are you getting as much done this summer as you had hoped?

I did more than make those two quilts in January… I also kept up with my Bee obligations!  As of this month, I am now in FIVE active virtual quilting bees, which is a little insane.  One of them was on hold this month, though, so I only had four blocks to make.

For A Piece of Work B, Kyra sent batiks and white-on-white and asked for a Dutchman’s Puzzle block:

For the inaugural month of One Block Over, Michelle sent some Riley Blake fabrics and solids, as well as a pattern for a neat star block. I followed the directions very literally, though I rather like the blocks made by those who took more liberties with the instructions. Must remember not to always be so rigid…

It was also the first month for Scraptastic, which is my first time being the admin for a Bee. Jenna sent the pink Starling print and asked for improvisational log cabins. I wanted to make a second block, but just ran out of time. Would you believe EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the bee got their block done on time? So impressed!

And, finally, we also began our Charming Robin bee, which is a round-robin involving charm packs. The package was late in arriving, so I didn’t finish exactly on time, but it’s still early in February and it’s on its way to California for the next person. Sharon sent a charm pack of Clementine and a pattern for the “Basket of Flowers” block from Moda.

I was actually super on top of things this month, and got my two Bee blocks done quite a while ago.  Yay for me!

The first was for Wendy in our Bee Addicted 2 bee.  She plans on doing a bento-style quilt with vintage linens.  What that meant for us is that she basically sent three fabrics, already cut, with very clear instructions on what to do.

I’m sure it’s all going to look very cool when it comes together.  But it’s just not my cup of tea. Not just because vintage linens aren’t my thing, but because I kind of feel like the point of a Bee is to have people make things that you might not make, yourself.  I think if the instructions are too narrow, it starts to feel more like farming out busywork than getting some creative, interesting things.  I don’t say that to criticize anyone at all. I had no problem making the block, and I do think it’s going to be a very cool quilt.  It’s just not how I envision the process for myself.  More on that in a moment…

My second block for the month was for A Piece of Work B.  Jennie sent some Amy Butler Daisy Chain prints (plus white) and asked for any kind of log cabin.  I must have had Bento blocks on the brain, because I made a sort of quarter-log-cabin/Bento thing for her:

I was pretty happy with how it turned out.  More or less how I pictured it in my mind’s eye.  Yay!

And, finally, I sent off a whole bunch of envelopes last week, because November is MY month for A Piece Of Work B!  Here’s what I sent:

Yup.  That’s it.  A fat eighth of the Alexander Henry Starlings print in neutral, and a fat quarter of bleached muslin.  Two fabrics.

I asked for wonky stars with the starling print in the middle and the white as the main background fabric.  Star points come from people’s stashes.  I encouraged as liberal an interpretation of my “wonky star” request as people felt like taking.  A few have already come in, and they’re all different!  I may make one or two of my own tomorrow.

This is my first time sending out fabric (and instructions!) for a Bee, so I’m crossing my fingers an hoping for the best.  So far, very excited!