Pink tic tac toe

I was having a little fun while I was trapped (LOL) in my sewing room upstairs today while my husband was sanding the front hall floor. I've made a wonky nine patch of wonky nine patch stars. No other plan yet, but just some summer fun.

Life is a field trip

I promised to show you this one when the letters were on and it was done. I made it for my sons' teacher, whose name is Sid. She teaches a multi-age class, so each boy had her for three years and overlapped one year, for a total of five. She was in tears when I gave this to her today on the last day of school, and thanked me repeatedly. I'm pleased with how it turned out -- the repetition is in the wonky stars and the nine patches, which are repeated on a smaller scale in the border. I was going for muted mediums, and used up many busy little prints from the 80s, as well as three versions of that Hoffman Painted Desert from waaaay back. The bottom says "Sid Star of 303" which is her room number and the way the class is referred to in the school. I hand quilted it diagonally across the nine patches and around the stars, using a combination of quilting thread and perle cotton. I used both because I found the bamboo batt and flannel backing hard to get through with a needle, so I went back and forth with different ones, trying to find the best thing to use. I also broke several chenille needles in the process, but did better with the betweens.
It's an eclectic, busy quilt, but somehow it works. And it is appreciated by the recipient, so my work here is done. Have a nice summer everyone.

completed bees

A little inspiration for those of you still thinking about your projects. I had a big burst of energy for this in March, quilted it in April, and finished the binding in early May. I'm liking what I'm seeing in this class and I think everyone is doing great.

A gold star for the teacher

Actually, they're purple and blue and black stars. Here's another repetition quilt I've been working on -- nine patches made with four-patches, and maverick or wonky stars. I deliberately went for the muted mediums in this project, and I used some some truly ugly light prints from the 80s. I wanted the stars to pop, and I think they do, plus the nine patches make a nice diagonal across the quilt. This is intended as a throw quilt for an amazing elementary school teacher we've had for the past five years, and I'm planning some words to go around the outside, and I'm going to back it with a nice cuddly flannelette so she can have a nice nap under it after a hard day at school.

Almost done with the b's and bees

We're having a winter/spring storm here, but my summer project is nearly finished. I'm done with the handquilting, and now I'm thinking about binding. I've pinned a strip of a measuring tape print along the bottom, and I think I like the yellow and black stripes it is creating. But I'm open to suggestions. Overall, I'm ambivalent about this quilt -- I like the letters and how they float around the perimeter, and the abundance of b's. I'm not a pink person, so the the centre of the quilt is a stretch for me. I've also had ambivalent reactions to this project, probably because of the asymetry (which I like and I did on purpose) and because people take time to read it and understand it. This is destined as a gift for my husband Bert, so I'm going to call it Bert's Bees.

Space to be

I've been floating my b's around the quilt and putting lots of space around the white background b's because, well, they just need space to be. The black ones were happy to be crowded together along the bottom. I'm deciding on borders now: what kind, and how wide. I still have a few b's left, but they may go on the back. Or maybe Tonya wants them?!

The Bees are buzzing

I've been sewing letters and words together and attaching them to my bees. I've still go another 20 or so to go, and I'm thinking of floating them around the edges. I'm thinking I'm going to tone down the pink with other colours in the borders.

can you read it?

I've been sewing letters for my word project while I think about the 2 bees quilt, and here's a problem I've encountered: the medium coloured, busy prints don't work well for letters. the pink print says Love and Hope with some hearts. anyone have ideas how to fix it? or do I rearrange the letters for another word, like "confuse"?

How many more bees?

I've been churning out the B's and variations of them. Now I'm figuring out how to arrange them. I've got three background colours: white, black, and the pink floral for the bumble bees.

I also made a partner for the first bumble bee. They're a bit cuter than the quilts I usually make, but I'm trying to be open to pushing myself. But now I'm wondering: make more letters, or start sewing them together into words and phrases to arrange them into a quilt top?

More bees

So I took Tonya's advice and made one bumble bee and I'm planning on sewing another. I've had fun making the letters so far, but I'm stuck in a couple of styles on how to make the capital B.

I love the enthusiasm on this blog. It seems like everyone is overflowing with ideas. I'm looking forward to watching your progress over the next few weeks.

Brenda with an existential question

Instead of my first idea of stars or exclamation marks, I decided to take another approach, and make a quilt celebrating the "B"s in my life. My husband's name also starts with B, hence the first attempt: And then there's Hamlet's question:
I'm going to have some fun with this: two bees, 2 Bs, too B, two B, and so on. One could also ask the question about colour: to be pink? or another colour. That's it for now. (Sorry about the blurry pix.)

Brenda here in wintery Winnipeg!

It's not nearly summer here, but perhaps a warm weather project will warm my spirits, if not my body. I want to make a quilt with a repetitive exclamatory feel. I've thought of asterisks, exclamation marks, or stars (how many ways could one do a free pieced star?) since I intend this to be a thank you gift for a longtime elementary school teacher who has been a wonderful influence in my children's lives for the past five years. I suppose I could go to the cliche of schoolhouses, but this teacher has taken our students out into the world instead of staying inside the classroom. That's my seed of an idea, and I'll plant it here for now. Thanks for doing this, Tonya. I learned lots from the last class and I'm sure this will be the same.