Bee Finished

Well, it isn't long now until the end of the year and I'm pleased to say that I kept my bee commitments and made 24 blocks (21 for other people) in two bees this year. That's it for me, at least for now. I've got four quilts (or parts of quilts) worth of bee blocks in my sewing room and I won't sign up for any more bees until I've done something with them!

To re-cap, here are the blocks (below) that I enjoyed making for the Stash Trad Bee. The idea behind this one, started by Lynne, was to make traditional blocks from our stash of modern fabrics, using a specific background colour decided by the 'person of the month'.  There were several personnel changes throughout this bee, but I enjoyed meeting a few new people and making blocks for some great flickr & blog friends.

The Pine Tree block in the bottom right corner is the one I made as an example for my own month. I am most excited about putting this quilt together. The Pine Tree block has always been one of my absolute favourite traditional blocks and I had everyone make a single colour scrappy tree for me. It's going to be a rainbow forest when it's together....of course I want to make six more blocks for a layout of 18 blocks sashed on point.  I hope to work on that over a weekend retreat with friends in early March.

The second bee was very different. The group was put together by Lynne again and for a few of us, the concept was a real stretch!  The Free Bee meant free-piecing, improvisational quilt blocks. Some members (myself included) showed a photo for inspiration and included colour suggestions, others used inspiring quilts made by other artists/quilters as a starting point, one person chose a theme of urban landscapes and another Provencal doors & windows.  It was a lot of fun! We made a triangle block, a curvy strip block, square blocks & rectangle blocks.  

Looking at the mosaic, I guess most people chose solid or hand dyed fabrics for their month. Improv piecing is exciting (you never know what you're going to end up with!), but also not as easy as it looks. Random can be rascally. And mixing a bunch of colours together is tricky for ye of little colour theory!

So, that's it. I bee done.

And now friends, I will share with you that this is post #499 for me. Yup, it's taken me three years to get here, but my next post will make it an even 500!! That calls for a giveaway and here's a hint: I'll share something I've recently made. It's been published. It's adorable. It should arrive at the winner's home just in time to add some holiday decor. Followers will get a second entry, so come back Monday for your chance to WIN!