May Quilt Bee Round Up.

Quilt bees are a funny thing. I love the challenge, but sometimes I pull my hair out (literally). That said, I loved everything about my May Quilt Bees. I hardly stressed at all other than trembling hands and shaking feet when Rita, queen of half-square-triangles, asked for HSTs and squares in assorted sizes.

For Around the Block, she sent the freshest pack of greens and blues with a hint of red and gold. The fabric soothed my fears and I set to work with these small blocks. I'm hoping to make her one slightly larger one now before the month is out now that my fear has eased.


For the Beehive, June sent out Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons in assorted colour packs. They were a new textile for me and quite nice to work with. Each solid has a subtle secondary colour to it giving your quilts texture without a busy print. I suspect the new Kaufman Linens will have a similar effect. I got the amazingly warm reds, purples, and oranges to work with. The challenge with shot cottons are that they are hard to photograph. IRL, this are mad stunners. Julie asked for off-center squares in squares with little surprises along the way.


Rounding out May were my blocks for the Three By Six Bee. This bee works a bit differently. You are assigned to a small hive of seven members. Each member requests their colour choices and a few minor notes about what they like and don't like (usually batiks and clowns are out) then you can set to work. In this bee, you choose your own block pattern and just make six of the same blocks. One for each member of the hive, in their colour choices.

I seriously auditioned three ideas for these blocks before I settled on buying a curved hexagon template and trying something new. I bought mine online from OzQuilts. If you live in Australia, you'll get extremely fast service.

Here's a handful of my blocks that I made. I also have an Red and Aqua side swap which I haven't photographed yet, but it's quite ace because I got to pull out my wacky japanese stash. You can see all of the blocks being made in the Three By Six pool including my some of my favourites from last round on flickr.







And rounding out the month is prepation for June! Sheridan and I swapped months in the Beehive, so I'm up for sending out fabrics. I fell in love with a mathematical bee block made for Digs&Bean for Common threads. So I've hijacked the idea with proper credit, of course. I've put together a nerdy inspiration gallery and am balancing the nerd factor with these stunners:


I'll be making a picnic blanket with the blocks. The special upper right hand corner appeared in my mailbox. A kind friend sent them. I melted. They came at the perfect time.

This colour combination is my absolutely favourite right now. Sour green, burnt orange, glowing orange, shades of red and a golden hint of sunshine. Yum.