Bite Size: BeeSewcial Swap

BeeSewcial Swap

During our meet up at QuiltCon in Pasadena in February,  my BeeSewcial mates decided that having a swap would be fun.  We tossed around ideas like secret partners, a small item swap but then agreed to send everyone participating,  a bite size block and let the individuals determine what to make with the parts.

the process

To help unify the look, we chose a low volume background and a single pop of color.

initial pull

Ironically I went with purple thinking that it would be a stand out odd ball choice but instead it's the most common so far.  Stash scraps feel great to use and I really should do it more often - check out all scrappy goodness at Oh Scrap! linky party.

fussy for Debbie

Grape Popsicles are a shopping staple and with the onset of summer seemed like the perfect flavor of "bite" to send.  Personalizing the piece that I sent was especially fun.

So many seams 

The blocks are starting to roll in - here's the ones so far on the design wall.  I'm not exactly sure what I will make with them but have several thoughts.

Blocks for ME

Subconsciously purple was also on my mind from having taken an old quilt on the retreat and sharing this photo on IG.  I've been enjoying the iPhone app Snapseed for moody effects.

purple on my mind

The REALLY funny thing about this quilt is that I recently registered to attend an Empty Spools workshop taught by Cheryl Malkowski next year and did a google search on her name to familiarize myself with her work and her patterns - well guess what popped up - check it out!

Directions - BeeSewcial May

Directions Blocks for May

Blocks in the wild photo shoot was a must for both of them together.  I brought them to my SIL's garden - a perfect spot that I'm sure to use again.  The theme for BeeSewcial May was Directions and we were to "Channel our inner urban planner" this month.   I took the project with me on a retreat and thought I'd have to pause until I returned home for more background variety but thanks to the kindness of others I got to finish. 

construction zone

On her test block M-R said " It takes a bee to build a city. Like most cities, some neighbourhoods are grids, others partial grids and still others are all curves or some combination of all three. Different areas of a city are planned over time by different people, but they still work together. Applies well to a bee quilt, no? " You can read all about it on her blog post titled Let's Get Planning HERE - I especially loved that she included arial views flying over California. 

block one held by the Retreat Frog 

The town could be real or fictitious so I picked Capitola, California with a very loose interpretation  For my roads I chose Begonia colors to honor our annual festival and to depict the hill heading from well known Gayle's Bakery leading down to the village, a route I take on my way home from work to peak at the ocean.  

For block two, I kept with a sentimental approach in choosing what part of town to sew up.  Isn't the triangle shape on the map awesome?! 

Map Inspiration Source

I chose my childhood stomping ground which happily double dips because it's also where my local Modern Quilt Guild chapter holds their monthly guild meetings - shout out to the fabulous❤️Hart's Fabric. 

Focal Triangle

Roadwork Complete.  The residential streets around neighborhood have fond memories of riding my bike around during the summertime with my BFF who lived on one of them.  

finished block 12.5"x15.5"

Blue-Green Ocean colors because if you keep driving it'll take you straight to the beach. Hope it'll mix nicely with the blocks from mates for M-R to build her town quilt. 

put a bird on it - or - it on a bird!