Two (or Twelve) Heads are Better than One

Take a look at what my Live Piecefully group came up with! I'm beyond thrilled...its even better than I expected. I would never have come up with some of these blocks. It truly a unique and beautiful quilt.


It's a big one...about 80" square. I didn't have a big enough space in my apartment to take photos, so I had to go down to the park. People stared at me a little oddly, but I got the pictures taken :)


I had to order a bit more fabric for the backing, and when that comes in I can't wait to get it quilted. I've mostly been stippling smaller quilts lately, so this one's going to whip me back into shape!

New Tutorial!

I've made two of these Prairie Braid Blocks for virtual quilting bees, so I thought a tutorial might be in order. This is my favorite way to use up scraps and its so easy and fun! You can find the tutorial here!

Last time, people had trouble downloading the file, so I used a different program this time. Please let me know if there are any further issues.

To Err is Human, AKA June Quilting Bee Blocks (Part Two)

Sorry for the lack of posting. With moving, settling, etc, I've been preoccupied. Things are starting to establish themselves into a routine though, so posting and crafting should be more regular (in shah allah). But first, a bit of catch up...

Rachael had the month of June for Another Quilting Bee Two and she sent out some great fabrics. I have been dying to get my hands on Paula Prass' Flights of Fancy for some time now...ever since I discovered that it is full of medieval and Gothic elements. If I ever design a fabric line, I want it to be like that; a seamless blend of old influences and contemporary flair.

But I digress...suffice it to say that I couldn't wait to get started. For the first one, I made a modified log cabin block. Rachael had also requested that we incorporate a piece of ricrac, and I thought that this block would lend itself well to it. I also had a lot of coordinating fabrics in my scrap bin that I could add in to make a really scrappy looking block. The block turned out really well in the end, I love the result.


The second block posed much more of a problem. Rachael had mentioned that the butterfly fabric was her favorite, so I wanted to do something special with it. She had also mentioned that she loved the pink woodgrain I sent out with for Live Piecefully, so I wanted to work that in somehow. The block in my head excited me a bit more than its actualization does, but I've been assured that its not that bad, so I'm not going to wine about it anymore. I do like the placement of the ricrac, and I thik the little butterfly in the center is pretty cute.


I'll be back moderately soon with my final June Blocks post!

Ode to Virtual Quilting Bees, AKA June Quilting Bee Blocks (Part One)

June was my first month participating in three virtual quilting bees, and I found it so inspiring. Each block that I made presented a really interesting creative challenge. I had to present my creative vision through the filter of someone else's fabric choice and design limitations. Sometimes these limitations really push me out of my comfort zone and make me think a little differently. Some of my most creative work comes under limitations!

It was Mary's month at Live Piecefully Two and her fabrics really challenged me. I usually don't have too much trouble coming up with a design, but I mulled for a long time this month. Scraps of paper with half finished designs or scribbled out ideas were all over my room!


Finally though, I saw a picture of this quilt and knew that I had a winner. I decided to take advantage of the fact that many of the fabrics blended quite a bit, and use that quilt design to inspire my block.


This is what I came up with. Triangles aren't my forte, but I LOVE this block. It came out exactly as I envisioned it.


I used my leftover scraps to make this one. While the triangle block was meticulously planned, this one just grew organically. I wouldn't say its improv, but its improvizationally-inclined. I love it too. Eventually, this is going to grow into a quilt design.

I'll be back with "June Quilting Bee Blocks (Part 2)" early next week!

May Quilting Bee Blocks

May was Mary's block for Another Quilting Bee 2. She sent out a bunch of prints from Moda's Bistro line. I've been using a lot of under-saturated fabrics lately, so the richness of these prints was a pleasant departure from my norm.

Luckily, I've been spending a lot of time in coffee shops studying for finals and writing papers, so I came up with a design pretty quickly. I started by making modified crazy nine patch blocks. I only used five fabrics instead of the normal nine (due to fabric constraints) and I didn't bother to match up my corners. I thought the more haphazard style looked like coffee shop decor, and I liked that it looked more like a mosaic rather than a quilt block. I then sashed four of the blocks in a cream solid and put a big border around the entire thing. I LOVE it!


I had one crazy nine patch and quite a bit of excess fabric left over, so I started making a simple second block. I didn't have quite enough to finish, so hopefully Mary has a bit left over so she can complete it. I'm a fan of this one too.


I hope these will work for you Mary! I had fun making them.

Virtual Quilting Bee Update

WOW. I cannot believe the response that I got for Live Piecefully! There is definately a market for virtual quilting bees out there!
Right now, the initial group is full. I'm not opposed to having Live Piecefully 2, however, if there is enough interest. Follow the sign up rules in the proceeding post if you're interested, and I'll let you know if that group gets underway as well!

Live Piecefully Quilting Bee

I seem to be remarkably unlucky when it comes to signing up for quilting bees. I ALWAYS miss the cut off, or its already full by the time I find out about them...you get the picture. The solution, I have decided, is to start my own.

Anyone interested? 12 people, a block a month...you know the drill. I would imagine that this would be a suitable group for all skill levels, and I'm hoping for a lot of diversity. It will make the group even more inspiring and interesting!

Comment here or email me at smithie09@gmail.com if you want to join or just are interested in more info. Or check out my spectacularly underdeveloped flicker site.

***UPDATE***

I've had a lot of questions about the nuts and bolts of this bee. Sorry about the confusion folks! I'll try to lay it out a bit more clearly.

Live Piecefully is a twelve member group (one for each month of the year). Each member will be assigned a month to have his or her quilt worked on by the group at large. Lets say I assign myself June. I will decide on my fabrics and some general guidelines and mail out packets to the other eleven members of the group by the fifth of the month (in this hypothetical case, June). Each packet should have enough fabric to make at least one block, and any guidelines that I have. Each of the other members will them make me a 12.5 " square block from the fabrics that I picked out, and mail it back to me by the fifth of the following month (in this case July). I will then sew all the blocks together (and add some more of my own if necessary) and display my finished project with pride!

We will keep in touch via flickr (the group page is here). Its a good place to have discussion threads, and post pictures of the completed blocks so everyone in the group can enjoy them!

The best way to get an idea of what virtual quilting bees are like is to go look at some of the sites. I'm involved in this one, but you can also find links to a bunch of them here!

I hope this clarifies things a bit. If you are still interested in joining, please email me at smithie09@gmail.com with your name, mailing address, blog (if you have one) and month that you would prefer to be assigned (give me a couple options sil vous plait). If I have more than 12 interested people, will work it out, but for now lets stick with this method...

Another Quilting Bee 2...For Chen

April is Chen's month for AQB2 and she sent around lovely packages of Tanya Whelan's Barefoot Roses line. This is normally something that I would never think to buy. I'm not a terribly flowery girl, but I make an exception for these. They were beautiful and so much fun to work with. That's one of the best things about virtual quilting bees...they broaden your perspectives and make you think outside your norm.

I thought about these blocks for quite a while before actually starting. The fabrics are soft and feminine and pretty traditional, so I wanted to chose blocks that really complemented that. I eventually got the idea of a prairie braid stuck in my head, and I couldn't get it out. I thought it was perfect, traditional and feminine, but a little bit cockeyed, a little bit twisted.


This is the first one that I made. I knew that I wanted to feature the prairie braid in both blocks, but I wanted them both to have a very different feel. Chen had mentioned Shabby Chic as an inspiration, so I tried to mimic the flair of that. In this one, I was going for more of a repurposed vintage feel. I wanted a bit of whimsy and a bit of practicality and I wanted it to be something you couldn't quite categorize. I didn't want it to be traditional or modern, but rather something in between. I added brighter colors into the braid, to make it pop, but kept the borders pretty muted. I'm not entirely sure if I got that feeling across, but I love the way it looks.


The second one is traditional all the way. I cut really little strips of all the remaining fabrics and incorporated a few things from my stash for a more scrappy look. I then separated them with really thin white strips and left it at that. I think this block is so lovely, and it came out exactly as I envisioned it. Plus, I think it will blend perfectly with the other blocks that have been made so far.

I hope you like them Chen!