Work in Progress

Work in Progress
Originally uploaded by cilvee

Today I took a look at the blocks that I have received back from my fellow Ravishing in Red Bee members.  They all look so good!  My plan all along was for a bigger quilt, so I started making more blocks. My plan for this quilt includes a few yellow blocks that will be mixed in probably randomly, but we will see.

This picture only shows the blocks that would fit on my dining room table. There are about 8 more that are not pictured.

I really love how the red and white looks together, and am excited to get it finished.

Sew Modern Bee October

Well, I am a little late posting this as I sent the fabric packages out a week or so ago, but better late than never!

October was my month in the Sew Modern Bee, and I asked everyone to make asterisk blocks.

Here are the packages all ready to go:

And here are the two blocks I made:

As I mentioned above, I sent out the packages a few days ago so a few of the bee members have already finished up their blocks. 

You can see them here, here, here, and here.

I can't wait to see them all in person!

In the Nick of Time!

I don't really know what it was about September but it flew by.  Before I knew it, we were in the last few days of the month and I still had bee blocks to complete!  In my attempt to stay up-to-date, I've been really making an effort to finish all of my bee blocks as soon as they arrive but this month the packages arrived and went to the top of my to do pile.  The overwhelmed feeling I got when I realized I had less than a week left and so many blocks to do was a reminder to keep to my self imposed schedule!  May October be better!

Today I finished up the last of the September blocks, so here are some pictures:

Wonky Star Blocks - Sew Modern Bee

Square/Rectangle Blocks - Sew 2 Speak

Strip Block - Moody Blues Bee

Quatrefoil Blocks - Red & Aqua 2 Bee

Variable Star Block - Ravishing in Red Bee

Strippy Blocks - Pretty in Pink Bee

Finished, yay!

Love it all!

Swap package received
Originally uploaded by cilvee

Well, it took me awhile to get around to posting this but it was such a great swap package that I felt I couldn't skip posting about it!

My Modern Swappers partner turned out to be Kelly (Kelby30) from sunny Florida. She did such a great job at putting together my package and everything is so appreciated.

Since a picture says it all, I will just tell you what I got:

A beautiful sewing machine cover, a fabric basket, two pieces of "hoop" art, and 8 fat quarters in various lovely fabric.

After such a great experience with the first round, I am eager to get started with round 2 :)

Dear Swap Partner,

I apologize if your goodies arrive slightly squished.  Also, please keep your fingers crossed that customs doesn't open your package to check the contents...they might not be able to get it closed again.

Note to self, go with the bigger bubble mailer.

Progress!

I have been working today on finishing up my projects for Modern Swappers so that I can be ready to mail this week.  Since I live in Canada and my partner doesn't, I want to mail out as soon as I can, to make up for the delay going over the border.  So far I have finished the handmade item, picked out the fabric to send and am almost finished the mini-quilt I made as decoration for my partner's sewing room.  All I have left is to bind the mini-quilt and all is finished, woo-hoo!

Now, since this is a blind swap, I can't show the handmade item in its entirety because it would giveaway who is my partner, but I took some pictures as a little tease.

Last week I was also busy working on some other projects, for myself (gasp!).  Sometimes it feels like between all of the bees and projects I never have time to work on my own projects.  But, with all that I am learning from all of my fellow quilters, it really doesn't bother me at all!

I mentioned in a past post that I won a giveaway for a gift card for The Fat Quarter Shop, and with my win I purchased a charm pack of kona cotton solids (among other things) to make this quilt:

It was quite easy, but I think it is rather effective!  It doesn't have an intended recipient yet, but I think it makes a cute little baby quilt.  Might even help teach a child their colours!

Odds & Sods

Sew Modern Bee - August Blocks
Originally uploaded by cilvee

This month I was asked to make these pinwheel blocks for one of my bees. I love the colours in them, and I hope her son (the intended recipient) enjoys his quilt!

In other news, my garden is going crazy!  This summer marks our first year, in our first house.  One thing I was intent on having was a vegetable garden.  Well, it seems I went a little nuts (If you agree that 18 tomato plants is a little much!) and my garden is bursting at the seams.  We even have a renegade pumpkin vine that is taking over the nearby lilac bush.

This picture was taken last week, and since then, the pumpkin vine has reached the top of the bush/tree and is reaching for something else to grab onto.  For now, we are just curious to see how far it gets, but as soon as it starts moving in on my laundry line we might have to figure something else out.

Also last week, I harvested some carrots.  I picked up carrot seeds from The Cottage Gardener in the spring and am thrilled with the variety of colours that I got from the aptly named "Coloured Carrot Mix."  Who knew carrots came in anything other than orange!