Create along with BeeSewcial

I will be taking pictures of the blocks that I've received as Queen Bee this month very soon I promise.  There are 14 so far and they are all uniquely fabulous interpretations of the REFLECTION.   Or you can sneak a peak on Instagram with #BeeSewcial  

You may have already seen the posts about #inspiredbybeesewcial on your IG fee today but I wanted to give a shout out here too: 

About a year ago a unique sewing bee formed that asked each member to choose a monthly theme/inspirational source and color palette. 10 quilters would then go forth and make "blocks", blocks become a quilt, one for each month. In this process we bee members have gained new skills, explored different designs and close friendships have grown. Somewhere in this whole creative endeavor other talented people have observed our journey and have asked to participate.

Unable to keep a good thing to ourselves, we have created a companion community #inspiredbybeesewcial to sew right along with us. We will continue to post our monthly inspiration on IG with dual hashtags. We ask only that you use #inspiredbybeesewcial when you post your makings. This larger group #inspiredbybeeswecial is about being a respectful, supportive, creative, collaborative community and making ourselves better designers and sewists. If you would like to be part of this companion community, you may follow monthly "instructions" on our blogs and tag your pictures on IG with #inspiredbybeesewcial. You will find us commenting on all your creativity over in #inspiredbybeesewical creative space.

So, are you ready? Hillary @entropyalwayswins is point for September. Look for her mission to us all in the last week of August. The other co-conspirators (and people you might want to follow just so you don't miss anything) are: Leanne @shecanquilt, Debbie @aquilterstable, Diane @ylmommyx4, Marci @marci_girl, Felicity @felicityquilts, Karen @capitolaquilter (that's me), Kari @quiltsforthemaking, Melissa @weshallsew and Stephanie @spontaneousthreads.

I joined a the bee a bit after things got rolling but you can read about the block inspiration for January on Stephanie's blog here.

Here are the blocks that I've made for my bee mates: 

February: Poster block for Kari

March: Transparency for Melissa

April: Curves and Circles for Di

May: Little Houses for Marci

June: Mid-Century Modern for Debbie

I'm looking forward to making the blocks for Hillary, Felicity and Leanne and feel very fortunate and honored to be among such an amazing group of quilters in this bee.  I'm looking forward to seeing what shows up in the #inspiredbybeesewcial IG feed aren't you?

Today I will be busy with my local MQG chapter South Bay Area Quilt Guild putting together our 2016 QuiltCon West Charity challenge quilt at a special all day sew day.  Packing up to go always takes longer than I think it will so I'd better sign off and load the car- Happy Stitching, Karen

QDADiversary - 1 year

A few of my favorite Quilt Design A Day designs.  It's funny how emotionally attached I can get to some and how certain concepts are still trying to materialize.  I've added a QDAD page to the blog.

On the topic of Design, have you been following Anne's new series Color Clinic at PlayCrafts?  With so little time to keep track of blogs I've signed up to receive her newsletter by email just like I recently subscribed to Scrap Basket on Debbie's blog A Quilter's Table - check them both out!

Mid Century Mod Free Form - BeeSewcial

Last Call 9"x9" and 9"x12"

These four blocks are from the Mid-Century Modern challenge for Debbie A Quilters Table who was our queen for BeeSewcial in June.  They aren't tardy - I just found my partially written draft and realized that I never actually published it.  You may recognize them from my IG and flickr but I wanted to follow up on this earlier post with the extra inspiration of the mural.  I pretty much came home that day and started creating. 

16"x10.5"

12.75x15.5"

I used the same fabric in both with two different blues for the accent element.  Hopefully having the option of placing blocks that are directly related in more than one area of her bee quilt might be helpful with the layout.  I've seen on other swaps that some people get possessive about what they send but I'm happy to say that how - or if - the blocks are incorporated into the final vision is totally up to the queen and I'm good with that. 

A note about my process: I finished the two mustard/rust/blue blocks and could have shipped them off right then.  They met the criteria and incorporated design elements from her Pinterest board. But because I hadn't worked through all of my ideas and concepts they felt incomplete.   I kept going and made the two shown at the top of the page.   The martini glass is my favorite despite the olives and glass stem taking on a bendy-straw life of their own.  The other started out as a shot glass and became a filing cabinet drawer - which is perfect for time period I think.  

Lots of auditioning of fabric placement and shape options went on- that so much fun.

Next up will be the sharing of the BeeSewcial blocks that I've received as queen - they are amazing. 

QDAD Milestones

Vista View Glam Pic 08.11.2015

Finally a finish. A very first QDAD brought to life or as Anne so cleverly dubbed the event #QDAD2REALITY, a hashtag I plan to use again soon.   

QDAD2REALITY

Collaboritve projects hold a soft spot in my heart and they are worth the extra time and effort of juggling schedules and hauling supplies back and forth.  This one was started at the first of the year with my friend Sue.

We wanted to sew an original pattern and thumbed through my QDAD (quilt design a day) folder on the computer and chose this one - a simple sashed nine patch, right?

We auditioned fabric from my batik stash and began strip piecing.  In my head, it was going to be a slice and insert method that wasn't time consuming or confusing.  

Progress on Pi Day 03.14.15

In reality, we had a lot of laughs (mostly at ourselves) because diagonal alignment is a bit more challenging when you factor in seam allowance and the spacing from the sash let alone the bridge from one square to the next.

Puzzle pieces 05.31.2015

The final block layout as you can see from the original was swapped around but the overall essence of the design rings true.  The FMQ was laborious and I'll just say it - frustrating.  Fortunately the texture even before it's washed was worth it.

For the longest time this project was my ALYoF goal rolling over month to month.   On Monday I brought it to the UFO show and tell at PVQA's guild meeting where about 30 members who had pledged to finish and share did just that.  A really inspiring parade of talent and stories.  Linking up to Finish it Up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts.

Keep an eye on the blog tabs because I plan to celebrate my one year QDADiversary by adding a gallery of favorite designs to help motivate me to bring more of them to life.

Travel Handmade To Be

What I've been up to lately - clearly it hasn't been blogging!

My 3 in 1 Betsy Bag

Fortunately it has been sewing.  Some secret and some not.  I'm loving the progress on my 3 in 1 Betsy Bag.  The kraft tex has been really easy to work with.  The process has been slow and I've decided to alter the pattern to include a recessed zipper closure instead of the drawstring.  I just couldn't stand the idea of squishing my bugs!

Bee Sewcial July - REFLECTION

EEKK! it's my month to be queen for BeeSewcial and I'm so excited. Ever since I made the block for Di in April the design concept of Reflection has stuck with me and I'm looking forward to having my bee mates help me work though it.

my Block for Di

Although the Pinterest Board includes identifiable mirror and shadow images - that's NOT really what I'm after.   your block does not HAVE to be literal, but it CAN be.  It's as much about the relationship of colors and/or shapes within the block.  A change of value or scale from top to bottom or side to side. An exaggeration or distortion that the word Reflection evokes.  The transition doesn't have to be in the middle or a hard horizon but there should be some design element that varies within the composition. 

Sample blocks are purposely missing from the guidelines to start out. I will sew some up but I'd like to give members a chance to explore their interpretation of the concept without influence.  

Palette: the cover of the book Print & Pattern Geometric is spot on as well as many of the pictures inside.  The mosaic shown above includes recent items that inspired me, one of my QDADs (quilt design a day) from the Stay Tuned Lyrics challenge on May 30, my Perspective quilt and a poster I saw at my sisters last week.  I've asked them to lean more towards crisp/clear than pastel but feel free to mix.  I loved Kari's poster colors from February.  The block that I made her also falls along the lines of what has sparked my decision of what to ask for. 

my Block for Kari

Hopefully Di and Kari consider imitation the highest form of flattery.

More Details:
Construction: Ruler-free improvisational as well as traditional HST, circles, diamond, etc. I prefer to have pieced blocks but some needle turn appliqué is OK. 
Size and quantity: Equivalent to two 12.5 blocks

As the blocks roll in I'll be sure to share.  It also occurs to me that I didn't post the ones I made for Debbie in June in case you didn't see them on my IG and flickr feed. As I've said before  I'm thrilled and honored to be part of this amazing bee.  Being queen of it is kind of crazy - in a good way!