Bee Block Bonanza

Okay maybe bonanza is a bit overkill but I have been working really hard to try and get all of my bee blocks caught up. I've finished 3 sets in the last few days with many more to go but since I haven't updated in a while I thought I'd give you all a peek at what I've been working on. First up for the Spider Web Bee Becca asked for Liberated Spider Webs. These were different from what we've been doing in the group and so it was a nice change of pace.

She asked us not to trim them up so she could square everything up to the same size. I have to admitted I have these all finished except for the corners some time ago. I just wasn't sure about those corners but now they are done and I can check them off the list and get these in the mail. Good thing seeing as how they were June's blocks and it is almost August.

The next blocks I worked on were for the Fussy Cut Bee and Donna asked us to make wonky stars. These aren't technically done yet because I have to take them apart to fix the middles. We were suppose to use a specific fabric for the middle and lets just say I somehow missed that step in the instructions. So I guess these don't really count but they were done, and if I hadn't reread the instructions looking for an address they would be going out wrong. I guess it was a good catch and hopefully a small mistake that won't take to long to correct.



And last but not least Kim asked for pinwheel blocks. I have to admit I was a bit intimidated by this at first. Don't get me wrong I love making pinwheel blocks but having just finished up the pinwheel quilt along with Rachel I was a little afraid I wouldn't be able to come up with something creative. I was browsing through flickr for inspiration and came across a block I really liked that was actually in Rachel's original quilt. I followed the link and found another block I liked but it was paper pieced. Well I don't paper piece. I'm scared of it and I have a block I have to do for a bee that I've been putting off FOREVER because of it. In my mind it was easier to do the math and rework the block a little than try to paper piece. That's where the blue and green block came from. The other block came about much in the same way but I'm not sure where the inspiration for that one came from. Kim sent along so many beautiful fabrics and a ton of them so I am planning to make a few more blocks for her.

Too Hot

Last weekend was a super busy weekend which left no time for sewing. Friday night we went to a Toby Keith concert and didn't get home until after midnight. Followed up on Saturday with dinner at a new friends house. I made black bean and corn salsa and this banana pudding.

I've been trying to watch what I eat so since I don't like bananas this was not tempting to me but it is one of my husbands favorites so it was a win win. And yes I made the custard and all from scratch even though I thought it would never thicken up it got good reviews so I must not have done to bad. Then on Sunday we took a trip to the local zoo with a different set of friends and their kids. Not all that impressive. I forgot how few animals the Norfolk Zoo actually has and the layout makes it almost impossible to get a good view when they are hiding out on super hot days like we've been having here.

And since it has been a while since I posted you guys missed out on my fishing trip on the Monday after July 4th. The husband and I went but I have to say I caught the monster that day. Sorry for the bad iphone photo but here's a look at my second catch of the day.

That heat has had me struggling for the last few weeks to do any sewing at all. I have however been continuing progress on the hexagons and I have just under 500 of them done. I haven't started sewing them together yet because I haven't decided on a layout. I'm thinking I'd like to just keep it totally random but I'm not sure if my desire for controlled chaos will allow me to do such a thing. What about you, is it to hot to sew? I'd love to hear about the projects you are currently working on. Okay well while I have a little momentum I'm gonna go spend some time cutting for my next project. Happy summer everyone.

Cast your Vote

Okay I don't usually tell you guys about things I run across online that I vote on or enter to win but my friend Melanie entered her fabric in the contest going on at Spoonflower this week. Check out her print, designed specifically for those hexagon obsessed folks like me. Then again I wouldn't be on this train if not for Melanie, humm. Anyway here's a peak at her fabric, if you like it as much as I do follow the link and give her a vote.



When you click on her design, a green box will appear around it. Then, you have to click through to the last page and click the box to cast your vote. If you don't click the cast your vote button on the last page, your vote won't count.

The Devil's in the Details

Why is it always the little projects that go awry and take F-O-R-E-V-E-R to finish. When I signed up for the scrappy pincushion swap a few weeks ago I thought the short turn around time would be no big deal because I thought it would be an easy swap and something small should be pretty fun and quick to finish, right? Boy was I wrong. My partner doesn't have the pincushion yet so I don't want to give to much away but she/he asked for a Heather Bailey type pincushion in either red and aqua or pink and they really wanted it stuffed with Lizard Litter. Here's what I came up with:

















At first I was really stumped by how I was going to get pink to go together with red and aqua but then I figured out I could just make it reversible. On days when you want red and aqua you can have that side up and when you get tired of it or want to mix it up a bit flip it over to the pink side. I personally like the red and aqua side better but I think it's because my hand stitching is on the pink side and I think the ribbon is a little tight on one corner of the pink side and makes it a little bunchy. I used gray for the sides because well if you've been by here before you know I love gray. I was considering white for that part originally but I thought with the white ribbon it might be to much so I decided to throw just a tad bit of me in there and go for the gray. I used lizard litter for the stuffing which is really just crushed walnut shells. My only question on that is the smallest bag I could find was 9lbs and well it took less that 1/2 of 1 to fill this little pincushion. What am I going to do with almost 9lbs of crushed walnut shells? And no I'm not going to get a lizard. The fabric is Bliss by Camille and it is my new favorite. Of course the fabric won't be available until September but if you can't wait like me there is a small sampling of it in Moda's new Candy Bar. That's where I got mine, the other 1/2 will be made into hexagons of course. Okay so a few more things I learned along the way, Lizard Litter leaves a brownish dust on anything it touches so I had to take a damp cloth to the finished pincushion. Ribbon is not the easiest thing to sew with. I broke three doll makers needles trying to put that ribbon through the pincushion. Okay one was a tapestry needle but still. It was difficult to say the least. This little guy is going in the mail tomorrow and hopefully my partner will enjoy it.

Something in the Middle

I've been sewing a lot this weekend and yet it seems like I have nothing to show for it. Everything I tried to work on broke. First I was going to do the June blocks for the Fussy Cut Bee but I ran out of materials so they are going back unfinished. I hate when that happens. Then I started making flying geese and I tried out a new tool. The first set of 4 worked great the next set not at all. Then I tried again and still nope. I had this problem once before and I think I might have warped the fabric when ironing so I will take that apart and try again a little later. Up next I worked on July Blocks for Bee Stitched. Lynette sent along some Lantern Bloom fabric and asked for wonky stars. She left it up to us to make a little something special in the middle. Humm there's that creative improv thing again. This time though I am very happy with the results. First I decided since I have become boarder line obsessed with these paper pieced hexagons (that's why I haven't seen my machine in awhile) that was the obvious choice for my fist block.

The one thing I would have done differently is removing the basting stitches and papers sooner. I was hard to take it out after the block was together but I was afraid I was going to take them out to soon and the hexagons I had cut would loose their shape.

For the second block I had planned to make a pinwheel for the middle, but when I was laying out the pieces and saw the diamond in the middle it reminded me of this block which is a favorite of mine. And no I don't know why it reminds me of it since I realize they are nothing alike but it does. So I thought maybe it was meant to be and left it as a diamond. Overall I think that gave a good effect because now it looks like some of those points are really extended. I hope Lynette likes them. I think overall these might be some of my favorite blocks I have made to date for my quilting bees. They are getting harder as the time goes on and everyone is becoming more confident in what can be accomplished but I think that might be a good challenge.

Fried Mayo

Well I'm back from Omaha and while the trip was a lot of work it was not without it's moments of fun as well. I didn't have a lot of down time as the convention kept me really busy but on Friday night I did get to have dinner with some amazing women. I had the opportunity to meet up with another online quilting friend, Debbie and her daughter Keira. My boss thought it was a little strange to meet people I hadn't even talked to on the phone but that didn't keep her from tagging along. I love to meet the friends I make through our online quilting community in person. It may seem strange to everyone else but I feel like I do know all you guys. I mean lets face it we share our experiences with quilting regardless of if they turn out great or need some improvement which is a risky thing to do, we share the joys and the sorrows of each others lives in the safety of our online bees and groups, we know some really important stuff that is going on in each others lives, why not meet in person if you ever have the chance? They were wonderful to meet and we had a great time. Since it was so late when we were able to get together Debbie took me to the only fabric place in town that was still open, Mangelsen's, which is a lot like a really big Michael's Craft Store. There was a small cafe attached to the store and while we were browsing through the fabric the sales lady proceeded to tell us about all of the things we should try. I couldn't believe she was telling us that we should be sure to try the deep fat fried pickles. Well we did eat at this little cafe and while I skipped the pickles I did take her up on the other recommendation for no other reason then to be able to say I ate fried mayo. What you don't believe me, lucky for you I brought the menu home and here is the exact description of my dinner in the menu:

"Cheesiest of Frenchees Basket: 3 thick slabs of deli cheese and

mayonnaise on thick slices of freshly backed FarmHouse bread,
dipped in our special recipe batter, coated in flakes and fried."

I had mine with Sun Stix which are sweet potato french fries. It was actually really good. So what about you, any strange local favorite foods that anyone else would think was nuts? While in Omaha I also got to check out the pedestrian bridge so I can also say that I walked to Iowa. I know that sounds impressive right. Really it is just a short bridge across the river and while there is a park and river walk on the Nebraska side when you get to Iowa there is nothing. Development coming soon I am sure.


I am glad to be home and looking forward to getting some rest this morning before heading back to work this afternoon. So that I can get back to my sewing machine soon.

Can you Remember?

Can you remember when sewing was a therapeutic thing you did to relax after a long day of work? Or something fun you looked forward to doing on the weekends in between chores and all of the hustle and bustle of life? Recently I noticed that my to do list wasn't getting any shorter and that I was starting to get stressed out about sewing. Remember the crazy list of to-do's from last weekend. I happen to have today off because I am going to Omaha next weekend for the GFWC convention for work and this morning I missed out on sleeping in because of the dogs so I thought I would sew for a little bit. The laundry was started and the dishes are drying in the rack and I thought of all the other chores I needed to do and realized that I had put sewing on that list. Maybe it is because when I decided to join a bee I joined 5, maybe it is because when I see a new quilt a long I like I sign up, maybe it is because I join in swaps, maybe it is because my list of I want to try that is longer than the number of days I have. But whatever the reason I realized that sewing wasn't all that much fun anymore. So I sat down at my machine to work on the next chore on my list and I picked up the easiest bee block that I had, a double pinwheel for Heather. I made a stupid mistake at the start and ended up having to take it apart. I found myself frustrated and I got up and walked away for a minute thinking why did I make a commitment to so many groups. I sat back down and started over after giving myself a time out the block went together like a dream. The fabric was super soft, it didn't warp when I ironed it, the seams all laid flat, it lined up like I wanted. Now the block isn't perfect I'm sure but I was happy with it and it reminded me that I do like sewing. I joined the bees because I wanted to try new things. I love quilt alongs and swaps because of the amazing people I've gotten to meet. I would never have meet such wonderful friends who send me such wonderful gifts and listen to me talk about my frustrations not just with sewing but life in general if I didn't. So next time you find you have put sewing on the chore list instead of the fun things to do list take a minute and remember why you do it.

One of those amazing friends I met is Corey, look at these amazing hexagons she sent me. If you haven't checked her blog out by now you are missing out on some amazing talent. Be sure to head over there and see what she is up to.