My Contributions - Stitch Tease Bee

I don't have great pictures of these blocks, mostly because I was down to the wire while making them and had to snap a pic quickly before getting them ready to mail out!! But here they are, none-the-less:

Di asked for words. I chose "read" because we like to talk about books we've read whenever we get together. The text is meant to look like typewriter font.




Annabella wanted something with curves. I'm awful with curves, so I appliquéd circles onto the block. They look a little like bubbles. I like it!

Dianne asked for pinwheels in pink and green. This block admittedly gave me some trouble. I don't like planning things out. I'd rather just go for it and that just wasn't working out with this block!! It turned out great, though, and her quilt top is beautiful!

Hadley had a laundry list of dos and don'ts, but basically she wanted squares and rectangles in bright colors and random white pieces interspersed. I loved this strip. It was easy for me to put these colors together and the finished product was great!

Katy gave us a fabric to base our appliquéd blocks on. I chose to do a little robot standing on a planet. I totally forgot to use my signature fabric on this block so I had to quickly add some buttons to the robot with my fabric!!





Susan asked for scrappy background with white stars. I didn't take a picture of my block alone since I put together her quilt top. I was lucky to have a playdate the day after I finished it so I had someone to hold it up for me!!



Helen asked for bright, wonky stars on a Kona Ash background. I LOVED this one too! I lost the pictures I took of this block, but here is the teaser picture I sent Helen. You can see the whole quilt top on her blog. It's pretty dreamy.

And that's it. I had so much fun getting to know these ladies over the past year. I'm sad I won't be able to continue with them onto round two, but I can't wait to see what they make!

It's kind of refreshing to show you all this! It's proof that all that time I was quite, I really was sewing!! I just couldn't show you.

The Big Reveal!

I am so excited to show you all my new quilt top! Over the past year or so, I have participated in Stitch Tease: An International Mystery Quilt Bee. Basically, we each made a block or strip for each of the other members based off our inspiration boards on Flickr.


I was already in a few bees when I agreed to join this one so I wanted to keep things easy for my bee mates. I asked for each member to make me their favorite blocks to put together in a strip for my ginormous quilt. My inspiration board was made up of my favorite techniques from Flickr from way back when we started this adventure.

We each chose a fabric to be our "signature" and we had to use it in each block we made. I chose this Cloud 9 organic Across the Pond print:


I started my quilt top with a row of appliqué, my favorite sunburst block and some scrappy butterfly blocks I made. Butterflies are my favorite.


Once I made my starter strip, I mailed it off to another bee mate. In order to keep costs low, we each created our blocks and mailed it to the person who would put all our creations together into one, cohesive quilt top to be mailed to the final recipient.

We were only allowed to share teasers of each block we made making the final project a complete surprise!

Here it is: my quilt top!!


I window stalked my poor mail lady everyday for weeks waiting for my quilt top to arrive. The day I opened my mailbox and saw a brown package inside, I squealed. Just a little. I couldn't hardly handle the short, 20 yard walk back into my house so I could cut it open. And then I opened up this beauty!! I was overwhelmed. My wonderful friends created a beautiful quilt top for me. I immediately hung it up on my Ikea curtain rod quilt rack I hung up in my room specifically for this quilt!

Here is a list of who made each row on my quilt, and as an added bonus, I've included a link to each of their blogs where they are each sharing their finished quilt tops today too!

Susan made the first row (top down). I love the bright colors and the awesome, inverted design. She incorporated lots of bits from my inspiration board.

Hadley made the second row. Um, freaking AMAZING FLYING GEESE?! I love the scrappiness. Plus, I've never made a Flying... Goose? Geese? Goosen? (Any Brian Regan fans will get that last one)

Di made the third row. I LOVE the polaroids! I've been infatuated with the design since I very first saw it, and what's better, she fussy cut images of some of her favorite things to make the blocks! Tea. Library. Flowers. It's just so special.

Helen made the fourth row. I have had this weird obsession with wonky stars lately. I make them all. the. time. So I love having this great wonky star row full of bright colors and solids. It's perfect!

Annabella made the fifth row. She has such a recognizable color palette and I knew this row was from her straight away! I love her use of Tula and AMH and that she made each block different. Her blocks have inspired me to try some new designs.

Katy made the sixth row. She chose a block I'd never seen before this quilt, but totally love! She used the same design for all her blocks, making one in each of six different colors. It's such a pretty row and I love the fabrics she chose.

Dianne made the seventh row. I was shocked when I saw those paper pieced stars! I was dying. For reals. I LOVE paper pieced blocks, but lack much confidence in my own paper piecing (not that I've actually ever had any issues with it). Again, I love that each block is different.

I made the eighth row.


I cannot express in words how much I appreciate my beemates for the work and love they put into each row of my quilt. It's funky and lovely and perfect. I couldn't have been more excited with how it turned out. Each row reminds me of each of them, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

I LOVE IT. I LOVE IT. I LOVE IT.

Stitch Tease Blocks

I'm catching up on some bee blocks so I can start working on a yummy new Valentine's Day project. These are all for Stitch Tease, my international mystery quilt bee. I have been slacking on getting these finished but with the new price increase on international shipping, I felt more motivation. :)

I'm not allowed to show you the full blocks, but here are some sneaky peeks.



Hadley



Katy



Dianne



Annabella

ANNNNNDDD.... I totally forgot to take a teaser picture of Di's block, so she gets to be super teased with no image!! Bwahaha!

Bee Blocks

Ok... so I'm still working on my Stitch Tease block, but I will have a teaser for you soon!



This is the Semi Truck block for Beejeebers. Sadly, this is my final block for this bee. It was loads of fun and this was an interesting block to go out on. I had fun figuring out how to put it together!



This is May's Stash Bee block. I really enjoyed making this one as it was quite relaxing. The whole wonk thing is really starting to grow on me as an artist. It's so liberating to not have to do math! And I really LOVE these colors. After seeing how pretty this block turned out, I am totally asking for Kona Charcoal for my month in Stash Bee.

Stitch Tease: An International Mystery Quilt Bee

I have been honored by being asked to join a new quilt bee called Stitch Tease: An International Mystery Quilt Bee.





The concept is fun. Each of us will purchase one yard of fabric (I've chosen Cloud 9 Across the Pond The Banks in Ocean. The same fabric I use to make my Metro Bag here) and use that yard of fabric in everyone's quilt. Each person will add on to the quilt until the very last person, who will add their block or strip, then piece the quilt top together. We will be sending super secret emails to each other so the owner of the quilt top has no idea what their top looks like! Fun, right?!



I have created this as my Stitch Tease inspiration board and I have asked each member to create a row/strip for my quilt. In their row, they can create anything they want! Stars? Do it! Log cabins and chevrons? More power to them! Since this is going to be such an eclectic quilt anyway, I wanted all the contributors to be able to share their favorite blocks and piecing techniques, so there you go! I can't wait to see what it looks like finished and we haven't even started yet!

First I have to get my strip together so I can show everyone what I am looking for. My quilt will be a modpodge, but some of the ladies are asking for more specific designs, like words, transportation, and lots and lots of stars, so having a sample row or block is going to be very important for all of us to know which direction to take the quilt top.

And why is it called "An INTERNATIONAL Mystery Quilt Bee", you ask? Well that would be because there are only two of us in the States and the rest of the contributors are spread out across the world! Yeah, postage is going to be a nightmare, but I think it will be all worth it in the end when I have a beautiful and unique quilt top that has seen more of the world than I have!

We will have about 6 weeks to complete each person's block or strip before sending it off to the next person in line and we will take some even more time in the summer and around the holidays. It's going to be laid back and relaxed, just my type!

Want to see who else is involved? Check them out!

Di: Random Thoughts Do or Di - California, USA
Annabella: Life's Rich Pattern - Marrakech, Morocco
Katy: The Littlest Thistle - Glasgow, Scotland
Hadley: Flying Blind on a Rocket Cycle - West Sussex, England
Dianne: Quiltova - Valtice, Czech Republic
Helen: Run Quilt Knit Write - Forch, Switzerland
Susan: Canadian Abroad - Northamptonshire, England

And that's it! Sounds pretty grand, right?! So how about you? Are you uber excited about something coming up?