April Bee Blocks

These past few weeks have been full of catching up on my sewing bees. I really enjoy participating in sewing bees because it gives me a chance to create something I might not have otherwise created. If you haven't participated in a sewing bee, I highly recommend it as a way to stretch your creativity and make some new friends!

Cancer Bee:

For the cancer bee this past month, Nancy asked for some Ohio Star blocks. I've never made these before, but I enjoyed working on this more traditional block. Everything about this block was a bit of a stretch for me, including the color choice...blues and yellows. I learned that my stash needs to include more yellow for sure! =)  But I can't wait to see her quilt all completed.

Do. Good Stitches Bee

For April, Evelyn asked us to make cross blocks with bright primary colors. These blocks were a breeze to put together and I can't believe I had not made them before. I think this cheerful and colorful quilt with brighten up a child's day for sure.

Sew Bee Blissful

For April Caroline sent out a stack of gorgeous and calming fabrics that she asked to be made into these blocks featuring half square triangles. This is one of my favorite blocks of all time and I need to add it to my list of quilts to make.  

Liebster Award

Wow do I feel special, my lovely friend Elle gave me this awesome blog award...and to say that I've been slacking on the blogging front would be a severe understatement. So thank you Elle! Go visit her fun blog and leave her some congrats because she's getting hitched in a few days. =)

In fun Liebster Fashion, I'm supposed to pass on the award to 5 of my favorite blogs with under 200 readers/followers. You know me -- I don't always follow the rules (so sue me if one or two have more than 200 followers...) but here are my top 5 (in no particular order of course.)

1. Melissa of Sew BitterSweet Design. I first "met" Melissa when we both joined the Sew Bee Blissful Quilting Bee on flickr. She is awesome and one of my favorite quilting people. (Yes I used the word awesome again. Deal with it.) Her blog is full of quilty inspiration and pattern goodness. In fact, she is even the process of writing a few patterns of her own (I hope that isn't a secret...)

2. Teje of Nero's Post and Patch. She participated in my Stockings for Kids drive and I love her blog -- not only does she talk about quilting (hello, love) but also traveling (she just went to Finland!!) and her dog (who doesn't like dogs?!)

3. Marta of From Marta With Love. Marta is a very giving person -- she participates in a variety of charity sewing projects including the Quilting for Cancer Bee I'm a part of - and her blog is gorgeous. I love her photography, the fabrics she uses in her quilts, and of course reading about her sewing adventures. Her blog is a daily dose of creative inspiration!

4. Deb of Pieces to Love. Deb's blog has a lot of quilting inspiration but she also shares recipes (quite good ones if you ask me!) and even her non-quilting sewing projects. I love her quilting style and she too participated in my Stockings for Kids drive.

5. Lily of A Literate Life. Okay so her blog has nothing to do with quilts. But it has lots to do with books.   And I love books. She is also my sister so it goes without saying that I love her too. (I didn't pick her just because she was my sister...I really do enjoy reading her blog)

Do me a favor and check out these awesome blogs -- and do you have a favorite blog that you read? Share in the comments so we can all add some new blogs to our google reader.

Lone Star Blocks...or how long it takes to paper piece 8 blocks

It takes about 3 days of sewing, in case you were wondering.

So during the time of my sewing hiatus, I put off a lot of my sewing obligations. So this past week I've been super busy finishing up some bee blocks from last month for the do.good stitches bee. Luckily Holly was super understanding about me being a bit late on my blocks. Anyway, she asked for everyone to make these awesome lone star blocks (pattern from Anna at Six White Horses). When I saw these blocks, I fell in love and decided to make them for my hive of the 3x6 bee.

I hadn't actually tried making one when I decided this. The first block took me longer than I'm willing to admit. I think it is because there are something like 58 pieces per block. But anyway, I persevered. And then with the help of my lovely husband settled on an assembly line piecing method, which either gave the illusion of speed or helped me not go crazy paper piecing.

I actually caught up on my tv watching while I was sewing so yay for that...what shows do you watch while quilting?

3x6 Bee Hive 2 Paper Pieced blocks

Do.good.stitches blocks

Christmas in Spring

Back before my sewing hiatus I took the curves class from Rachel over at Stitched in Color. It was fantastic -- she did an excellent job of teaching and had a variety of projects to choose from. I didn't get to finish all the projects before I took my little sewing break...but I fully intend to finish them now! So keep an eye out for some curvy posts in the future.

'Til then, here's one of the first projects I worked on - the top to a christmas wall hanging. I still need to quilt and bind it, but I'm trying to decide what  kind of thread to use...I'm thinking perhaps some silver thread with a bit of shine to it.

Sewing Summit 2012

**edited to add: Sewing Summit sold out the 1st day! Can't wait to meet everyone who signed up!**

Have you heard about the Sewing Summit?

It's a sewing/blogging conference in Salt Lake City, Utah October 11-13. There will be classes by all sorts of excellent teachers on sewing/blogging topics and of course a chance to meet all your favorite sewing people. There also will be a shop hop and it's bound to be tons of fun. Sadly I had to miss out last year due to timing issues but I know that everyone had a blast.

Also, did you know I used to live in the Salt Lake City area? If you've never been there this is a great excuse -- the mountains really are beautiful and there are a ton of quilt shops. What more could you ask for?! =)

Oh and it's being held at Little America, which is where my family stayed when I got married back in the day...and they have, according to my sister, the best waffles ever. If that's not a reason to go then I don't know what is.

Needless to say, I registered for Sewing Summit this morning. I'm super excited to go. Will you be there?