Beatnik Bee

Blocks for Leanne

2010-06-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd liven the blog up and do a post! I just finished the blocks for Leanne. They were a lot of fun and I loved the fabrics! The others on the Flickr group look fantastic. Enjoy, Leanne!

May Blocks

2010-05-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

Hello there,

Your May blocks are on their way to you. You will be working with a combination of Timber fabrics and Essex cotton/linen in some sort of putty colour. I think I have put more than enough of everything in your envelopes but if this turns out not to be true, just let me know and I'll send more. Please know that I am not in any rush for these. Canadian mail is terribly slow when sending to and from the US (New Zealand and Australia are surprisingly quick, for some reason). I won't be putting anything together until sometime in the summer when I am away at our cabin and actually have 2 minutes to myself.

I have a gallery of the blocks to make on flickr but the lowdown goes something like this:

I chose 6 different blocks. Each of you has enough fabric for 2 different blocks. I mixed up the blocks and put them in the envelopes and then addressed them so I have no idea who is getting what. All of the fabric is prewashed - not something I usually do but on advice that linen really shrinks, I washed it all.

While the patterns themselves don't lend themselves to inprovisation, I have tried to put as much fabric as possible in your packets so that you could decide what fabric goes where. I have also put the instructions for the blocks in the envelopes but they are all, except for 2, found online.

The Sawtooth Star is at http://www.sewmamasew.com/store/media/blog/sawtoothstar.pdf

The Bee Imaginative block by Red Pepper Quilts is simply 2.5" squares sewn together.

The 1/2 Triangle block has instructions in the envelope (none online for the block but lots online for 1/2 sqaure triangles).

The Circle of Geese is a tutorial by the Sometimes Crafter http://sometimescrafter.blogspot.com/2009/08/tutorial-paper-piecing-block.html

The Scrapbuster block is a tutorial by Little Miss Shabby http://littlemissshabby.blogspot.com/2010/03/scrapbuster-block-tutorial.html

The Pinwheel in a Star block is a tutorial by Hanies http://haniesquilts.blogspot.com/2010/01/sampler-blocks-and-tutorial.html

I hope that you all have fun making the blocks. Whatever scraps you have left are yours to keep. And again, when you get to the block, you get to it. No worries whatsoever here. Thanks so much for doing my blocks.

Leanne

March Blocks for Katie

2010-04-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

adelaidelemonade had us make improv blocks for her in March. She sent all this luscious purple fabric. I had a hard time deciding on what to use. The quilt is going to be for her daughter.

Its not really obvious, but the light blue background flower fabric is actually folded to look like it has pleats in block with the window pane look.

HELP - I NEED YOU HONEST OPINION

2010-04-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

Ladies,

I was just trying to organize everything for my May blocks and I just wanted to check if my idea was still okay before I get all gung ho. I have put together 2 sets of inspiration galleries on flickr so that you have a better idea of Charley Harper and his work. I have also included some of his mosiac/tile work because I think it shows best how this may be done for a quilt.

That all being said, if people aren't up for it, ABSOLUTELY no worries. I have lots of other ideas and tons of fabric so I can put together another block and have it out asap so you have all of May to work on it.

Could you let me know? Again, if it seems too much, I am not offended in the least and would be happy to send out something a little more traditional.

Thanks so much for your help.

I suppose I should start preparing for April!

2010-03-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I really have been thinking a lot about my month. I have paid attention to the thoughts and comments and I am torn. I want to do the Antique Tile from Modify tradition, but I also would love to do a "free-for-all-choice" on your part. So, I'm going to take a vote...because I don't mind either way. Please let me know which you would prefer! Thanks. :)

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

2010-03-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

The Amish Quilt Block seemed easy enough and Tracy provided ample instruction on what fabrics she wanted where on the block.      How difficult could it be?

First, I didn't pre-plan the fussy cut flowers. Nope, I just started cutting.   They looked great---coming out identical---until I realized I wouldn't have enough fabric to cut all eight.   Tracy understands and sends more fabric.

Second, I didn't remove the blocks (waiting fabric ala mistake one) from my sewing table so while I was sewing a tunic for myself I get too happy with the rotary cutter.    You can just imagine.   I sliced right through the 6.5 x 6.5 center square.   Tracy understands and sends more fabric.

Third, I didn't ask Tracy to send a strip 6.5" wide and so cannot cut a 6.5 x 6.5 square with the second fabric.   Doesn't this block realize that resistance is futile?   It will be assimilated into this quilt!    I piece fabric to make the 6.5 x 6.5 center square and I finish the second block.

Here's a closer look.

I still plan to insure and track the package I mail to Tracy. Just in case. Hopefully Tracy has it in her to understand once more as these blocks will reach her two weeks late.

February's Amish Diamond

2010-02-06T07:02:00.000-08:00

Here is the link for the Amish D iamond
block for February. I wanted to post a couple of pictures of the cut fabric in case there are
any questions about the cutting.

I was able to fussy cut 8 of the 3.5 x 3.5 corner blocks so that the flower is centered. It worked perfectly from selvage to selvage.

Here is the fabric all cut. Notice the centered flowers.

Here is a finished block and.....

TWO BONUS blocks !!!!!
(tutorial here)

So if you don't mind sending back the little triangles that you cut off in the first step so I can make the bonus blocks for the back of the quilt.

OR, if you are feeling especially inspired and industrious, you can sew them together for me and send them back. :)

In under the wire

2010-01-31T08:20:00.000-08:00

I try to have my blocks done early in the month. However this month between a vacation to the sunny and warm south ( yippee!!) and then limited computer time due to my 7yr old discovering pixiehollow (yuk!) so I couldn't get to the tute, I finished at the last moment. Heidi's fabrics are beautiful!! It's been awhile since I followed specific cutting guidelines and I only made 1 wrong cut- one of the 4.5 x5 blocks I cut in half the wrong way. Luckily Heidi sent plenty of fabric!!! I think lined up most of the seams pretty well. The blocks are untrimmed as requested and packaged up to be in the post tomorrow!! Heidi- I think you are going to end up with one spectacular quilt!!

Churndash Blocks For Heidi

2010-01-24T20:58:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun doing up Heidi's Churndash blocks in black and Kiwi. Here they are. Hope you like them Heidi, they'll be in the mail for you tomorrow. I can't wait to see them altogether in a quilt!

Churn Dash block. Check.

2010-01-17T17:43:00.000-08:00

For me, one of the key motivations for joining a bee is to try new things without necessarily committing to a whole quilt. The Churn Dash block is a block I haven't yet pieced so I now can cross that one off my list. Here's the blocks created today for Heidi.

Along with a new block, I also pieced with black fabric for the first time as well as pieced with fabrics that were weighted differently. A few learnings for me: 1. Black isn't forgiving. Any speck of lint or dust or thread is evident. It's distracting for me and maybe a sign that I just can't seem to relax and let it be. I think black and I will just agree that we're not suited for each other. 2. You need to reduce the seam allowance to account for heavier fabrics if they're the fabric doing all the bending (ie, seam allowance is pressed in their direction). I noticed a different result in terms of the size of the block depending on which way I pressed the seam allowance. It made me realize that I tend to do a lot of "liberated" or "wonky" quilting so I don't need to worry about 2 + 2 = 3.5. If it's too small, add on. If it's too big, cut off. So just like black and I have reached an agreement, so have precision piecing and I.

Thanks Heidi for the opportunity to break out and try something new. Looking forward to seeing these blocks in a quilt.

February---bring it on!

February Block

2010-01-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

Ok- so I know we aren't even half way through January, and I
just got Heidi's fabric today, which by the way I L-O-V-E!!! But,
while I was checking out the Churn Dash tutorial at Modified Traditions,
I looked at the Amish Diamond square and fell head-over-heels.

So be prepared for that to be arriving in a couple of weeks. I am off to Hawthorne to shop for fabric now. I think that I am going to go for the Bridgewater collection.

Did I give you enough links? =)

Tracy

January 2010

2010-01-05T05:56:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Thanks so much for your patience this month. I am late getting stuff out to you all. But I am currently working on cutting up my fabric and shipping it out this week. I just started moving around this last weekend after being ill for 2 weeks. Sorry for the delay.

Photo courtesy of sonnetofthemoon from Modify Tradition

I am thinking about having you do a Churn Dash block for me using a Kona white and black solids and Kiwi from Timeless Treasures. I plan on having you make two blocks. One with the black or white solid for the background and the Kiwi as the main block pattern fabric. Then another one in reverse, i.e. using the print as the background and the solid for the main block pattern.

(fabric photos are from the Timeless Treasures website)

Block Tutorials

2009-12-11T07:14:00.001-08:00

***I will keep adding to this post as I find more

Allison Anderson: Strandz
Wonky Pinwheels or Whiligigs
Crazy Four Patch

Modify Tradition:
Bow Tie
Starflower
Skinny Nine Patch
Churn Dash

All Sorts:
Crazy Nine Patch

Quilter's Cache:
Blocks by Size - 12"

How to calculate yardage

2009-12-11T07:10:00.000-08:00

Crazymomquilts just posted today some examples of how to calculate yardage. It is a great post to reference if you are new to figuring out how much fabric to purchase or transforming an existing pattern into a larger (or smaller) quilt.

Blog Button

2009-11-29T17:25:00.000-08:00

To the members of the Beatnik Bee:

Feel free to add this button to the sidebar of your blog.

To add the button right click on it and Save As to your pictures, then add it to your sidebar as a picture and be sure to add the link to our flckr group.

Month Assignments

2009-11-26T21:50:00.000-08:00

2010 Monthly Assignments
Jan - heidielliott
Feb - bellaandmolly
Mar - adelaidelemonade
Apr - hardypartyof5
May - maripenquiltmom
Jun - highway.cottage
Jul - Lara's Theme
Aug - friedazzzzz
Sep - mrsvandergrijn
Oct - inwcohen
Nov - indigolimeblog
Dec - Be13cc

What is this?

2009-11-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

This is an online quilting bee where 12 members work over a year to make quilting blocks for one another. We wanted to stretch our design skills a little with this bee by taking traditional blocks and changing them to a little more modern in flavor. For example,

stretching traditional blocks to make them rectangles instead of perfectly square
or making them a bit larger, like a single block for the whole quilt.
or taking a modern painter and thinking up a way to design a block that is inspired by one of their paintings, like Franz_Kline.
or using modern fabrics for a traditional block.

Like I said, stretching our design hats. We are an off shoot of the Block Party Quilt Along group.