Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Hive #2 February Block

Hello Hive #2!
I am excited to get this hive started.

I would love to make a rainbow quilt using stripped blocks.  I would like you to make me one or two 8.5" blocks in red, blue, green, orange, yellow, or purple.  Each block should be made in one color, using fabrics that read as that color.  Look at the block above to see what I mean.  I would prefer no solids if you can avoid them.  You can use different values of the colors, but please keep the values the same within a block.  In other words, don't put pink in with the reds, or light blue in with the dark blues.  I would also prefer that the size of the strips are varied in width. 

I also like crooked lines and curves, if you are so inclined.

If you cut gentle curves, it is easy to sew them without pins.


If you want to square your block, please square it at 8.5".  If you would rather send it untrimmed, that is also fine.
I hope I have made this stash friendly enough for you.  I look forward to seeing what you all come up with.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Sunni's block! YaY!

Why you ask do I "YaY!"?  This post  will explain it!  So without further ado here is the block I made for Sunni.


So now my only question is, shall I have the spouse put it in the mail on his way to work or do ya wanna meet up for lunch again?

I am no longer a "working woman" so if you want to meet for lunch just let me know when and where and if you want me to mail it I can do that to!

Hope you like it.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Trees for Sunni

This weekend I finally sat down and took the plunge!
This is the first tree I made for Sunni.
I had an idea for this one all along.

The second tree just came as I went along.  I really had no
idea how this tree was going to turn out!
I hope that you like this one Sunni,as I didn't get your
approval on this one before hand.

This is my improv Siggy block.

All three blocks.

This block really made me get out of my box!  Which is a
good thing,but also a little scary at first :)
But then I think that is one of the great things about Bee's,you
get to learn new things and try things you normally would not.

Will get these sent out sometime this week.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

A 'green' tree.....

Here is my tree for Sunni.



And my signature block.

It's hard to tell from the photo but i used some of my favourite fabric with little eco-friendly messages written all over it.... so it's a 'green' tree - get it?

Anyway, I know that in contrast to some of the fab trees that have already been posted on this blog, mine is a bit simple.  But I have totally loved making it, and I already have a wonderful vision in my mind for how all these beautiful trees will look together on the final quilt, can't wait to see it.

Plus, I have actually struggled more with getting to grips with Flickr and the stash bee blog more than the sewing - so I am pleased, and getting excited to see what next month's block will be  x

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Starflower tree

I started by making a trunk with some batik scraps I'd used for treetrunks before, then added slender branches. Then it was a matter of how to add leaves; leaf-shapes wasn't quite going to work on these branches with multicoloured scraps, but flowers? Aha. Lots and lots and lots of fusing, a whole set of freehand stars (ow scissors: some of the stars are less than half an inch across) and some variegated embroidery thread later...
If you look up close, it is a rather fantastical tree!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Sunni’s Blocks

Here are my blocks ready for mailing

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I made what I hope is okay for a signature block

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Luckily I got the year right!  I can’t say that about all the checks I’ve written since the new year—lol!

I normally use this label on any quilts lap-sized or bigger

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I had them printed at Spoonflower and love them.  There is a momma bee with three little ones (I have three daughters).  And my oldest daughter is named Bea, hence my love for bees!

I had fun making the blocks for this month and can’t wait to see what is in store for next month!

I got this book from the library after the new year

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I leafed through it a few times but I had already had to pick the block I wanted for my month in another bee I joined since I was January.  (Strangely enough, I asked for either house or tree blocks to make a quilt called “Wonkytown” so I’ve made quite a few trees in the past two weeks!)  Once I had time to really look through it, I decided I liked it enough to buy and ordered it on Amazon a few days ago.  I like how each of the quilters wrote about what they liked about doing bees and I felt like a lot of what they said resonated with why I wanted to join a bee.  I have decided that for my month in Stash Bee I want to make a quilt similar to this one

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I really love the way it looks and am hoping each of you has a little purple in your stashSmile

Have a great week!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

A Scrappy Dresden Tree for Sunni

I kept seeing these beautiful tree blocks being posted that were made for Sunni and I'm thinking this block is way over my comfort zone.  So last night, I searched flickr and Pinterest for hours to get inspiration for my tree.  It is amazing what you can find out on the web.  I hope you like it Sunni!

Sunni - the picture looks like I didn't give you 1/4" seem all around but I did. :)

Now I'm looking forward to next months block!


Happy Quilting!








Saturday, January 14, 2012

A Tree for Sunni


For my tree, I wanted to make something that reminded me of my trip to California last summer.  I took a drive along the coast with my best friend, and we saw beautiful, windblown cypress trees.  I made this interpretation with batiks off my shelves.  I drew different parts freehand, then used a light fusible and machine button-hole stitch.  I hope it works for you, Sunni.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Here's one for Sunni

I made your block Sunni. This is a pattern I have used on several occasions. I really like the looks of this tree. It is not my design, I had found it in a magazine several years back and do not remember which one, sorry I can't credit where credit it due.
From what others and yourself did I went out on a limb and guessed your a bright girl.

Tah dah


Hope you like.
I made a tutorial on the method I used. This done on my sewing machine but gives the look of being hand done.

So if you are interested in learning/knowing how just jump over to my place Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm
This is fun seeing all the different blocks from some very creative quilters.
Till next time
Kat
=^..^=

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Sunni's Tree Blocks

Here are my tree blocks for Sunni. It was a long process. I have never done anything like this before and the applique was a big learning curve. The lines are not all straight on the applique and I have never done a wonky block either... this is all new to me!! I am glad she requested these blocks though, if she hadn't I would have probably not tried this on my own!

The first block is just a wonky block with a trunk...

The second one is a weeping willow tree and started like this...
But I forgot to flip the pattern so it ended up like this...

I really hope Sunnie likes them!

Visit me at the-twisted-sister to see more of my learning experiences!


The Hexi Tree of Life

Here is my contribution to Sunni's Tree of Life quilt


Apologies for the poor picture quality, I really must learn to wait until morning! But I am very proud! This is my first go at Hexi's and paper piecing. I LOVE it! I can see a lot more in the future. I decided to go for cute little 1.5" hexagons and a free machine embroidered trunk with an excerpt from the poem 'The Tree of Life' by Mia Ocean.

It will be in the post this week with the signature block, coming all the way from England!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

free motion tree for Sunni




So after some emails back and forth Sunni seemed open to an embroidered tree in her quilt, however given the longevity of hand embroidery on a quilt I thought I'd better pull out the big guns and try my hand at making pretty patterns with thread on a sewing machine. I've had the pattern knocking about for ages so transferred it onto the background fabric (yes it is white but my iPhone's white balance didn't want to play) threw some light weight interfacing on the back then went at it as I would free motion quilting....if I were ever to free motion quilt a really densely quilted tree. After a glass of red and a life long love of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman this is how my 1st tree looks



I'm going to try and get a better photo once the suns up tomorrow promise!

Ok I'm off to hunt for the paper piecing tree pattern I have somewhere to make the 2nd tree.

Hope you like the 1st one Sunni :)

Sunni's Blocks

Here are my blocks for Sunni:

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I did a scrappy offset tree with a modern feel accented with some hand stitching. What's funny is that I put I <3 SB on the tree for I <3 Stash Bee but when I went to mail it today I realized that Sunni's last ititial starts with a B as well. So it works both ways. :)

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Hope you like it Sunni! They both went in the mail today along with some scraps for you!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Two trees

 

I just finished up two blocks to send to Sunni.

The first is a log cabin with a fussy cut bird:

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The second one is an applique tree.  I saw one on the blog Needle Little Balance that was inspired by one on Cluck Cluck Sew.  So I freehanded the trunk and then used some leaves I cut out to make the “Little Leaves” quilt from Elizabeth Hartman’s Practical Guide to Patchwork.  I only had one charm pack of Domestic Bliss, so I had to add lots of fabric from my stash to make up the extra leaves, so there are a few other fabrics thrown in for good measure.

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Here they are together:

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Hope you like them, Sunni!  I will have them in the mail to you this week.

Sunni's Block

Ta-da! Here's Sunni's block!


All finished! Here's Sunni's block!


I found the inspiration for this on Pinterest (like everything else in my life!) I took lots of pics to show you all exactly how I made it. If you don't care, you can skip it. My feelings won't be hurt!

First, I drew a picture of what I wanted the block to look like.


Draw it out!


Then I traced each piece of the block onto fusible webbing.


Trace block pieces onto fusible webbing


Next, I cut out each piece and the fabric to correspond. I laid it all out so I could make sure I didn't have too much of one color in one area.


Cut fabric and lay out


Iron the webbing onto the fabric and cut out each piece.


Cut out your leaves



Pull paper off


Pull the paper off and arrange on your block.

Take a break. Drink a limeade. :)


Break time!


Iron on your appliqués.


Iron on appliqués


Stitch them down!


All stitched down!


Embroider a cute heart!


Hand stitched heart


ANNNNNNNNNNNNNDDD DONE.


All finished! Here's Sunni's block!


Cute right?

I'll be posting this over at my blog, Mommy For Reals, in a couple days. Stop by to see my sometime!

Danny

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Sunni's Ruffle Tree

Hi ladies!  I want to warn you that I do not own a camera so I have to take all my pictures from my cell phone.  I love my blackberry but the camera just stinks.  Also, this is my very first applique block.  So with that in mind here's a look at what I've come up with for Sunni!


I thought about it for a while and ok'd it with Sunni to make the foliage out of ruffles!  I think its kinda cute!