The first I joined I also started, the Bee Seam Piecing Downunder Bee. I wanted to join a Bee but after trying to join one I saw on a blog I follow and not hearing back for about a week (in the end I got an email to say that others had been chosen) I thought I'd start one that was locally based. I'm not all that patient you see and the thought of waiting for packages from overseas seemed like a special kind of frustration.
The joke was on me in the end though because it took about a month to have the 12 people needed to start. I found out towards the end of this planning time from another Australian based bee moderator that this is a normal-ish amount of time for the development of an Australian bee.
The following pictures are the blocks that I have made for the first month of this Bee for Bec. She sent 6 fabric squares (that totaled about 1.5 fat quarters in all) and asked for two blocks that when completed measured either 8.5, 10.5 or 12.5 inches. She also said that Log Cabin and Stars were her favourite but she was keen on any traditional blocks.
My second exercise arrived with the package, on the day I left for a two week holiday to visit my family in Perth... meaning that I had to find a sewing machine to borrow to complete them there or wait until I cam home. I really wanted to do them there but didn't want to have to get to know my mum's new machine with someone else's fabric. So I waited until I got home and completed them both yesterday evening.
The log cabin block measures 8.5inches and in based on a block I saw in the Sampler Quilt I slept under at Mum and Dad's house on my trip. That quilt was my Mum's first and was completed in a class. The block is made up from 4 smaller blocks with a mix of lighter coloured fabrics in the centre and the darker fabric on the outside.
I knew I wanted to make a star for the second block and was keen to make a block in one of the larger sizes requested. Initially I was keen on a Friendship Star block but in the end the choice was determined by the amount of fabric and the size of the pieces I had.
This is made from three different fabrics and most are half square triangles. I'm a little disappointed that both blocks have ended up being the smallest requested size but with the heavy piecing in both blocks (all those 1/4 seams add up!)it was all the fabric I had left!
The second Bee I joined while I was waiting for the first to fill up. Internationally based in the Bee (A Little Bit) Japanese bee we make blocks that feature some Japanese (preferably Cotton/Linen blend) prints.
I made these spiderweb blocks a few weeks ago now. More detailed description of next months blocks for this Bee in a later post!
What blocks would you ask for in an online bee?
(I joined both bees using the Quilting Bee Blocks group on Flickr)
1 comment:
I love both style of blocks... but the japanese-y spider web block is my favourite. So fresh... and I love linen.
I haven't done any quilting and only ever done a small seminole strip for a towel in terms of piecing... so I can't really comment about what blocks I would do. I can say, however, that the quilting/piecing itch is really starting to get to me... I might have to scratch soon and make a quilt!
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