Unscripted Bee Catch-up

I haven't been getting much sewing in since this back to school business robbed me of my life *sob*...yes, I do like to be dramatic....

I have, however, managed to keep up with the Unscripted Bee that Sara and I are hosting. I'm really glad we started this bee since it's the only thing that is allowing me to call myself a quilter, these days!

My month was first and I asked for tilty coin blocks, inspired by a quilt I sew in Block Party. I asked for exceptionally large blocks, in hopes of getting enough to make a queen size quilt (maybe for my sister's Christmas gift, sssh!). The bee members totally delivered - here are a handful of them together - (my youngest daughter is being Vanna) - up on my design wall (built by my husband for my birthday - good man, hey?). It's gonna be a great quilt!

Here are the blocks I've had the joy of making for others:

July was Holly's month. She sent out some awesome Echino prints mixed up with other lovely prints, and some punch bright solids. I made this one:

August was Tara's month. She was making a quilt for her step-daughter and sent out some lovely blues and greens. We were asked to make a block in any size and any shape. I admit I didn't stretch myself much during this one, as school had already gotten a bit hairy by the time I got around to making this! But I loved the colours and it felt SOO good to plop myself down in front of the sewing machine to whip this one up. I'm sure that the quilt is going to be beautiful.


Next up was Sara- she sent out some fun prints and we got to make two log cabins. The blocks are almost all in and holy - they come together nicely! Here are the two I made:

Val came next - she sent out some pretty blues and gave us 'quilter's choice. I had seen this quilt and tried my hand at a block based on it. Mine looks nothing like the one I tried to base it on, but I guess 'inspired' is better than flat our copied, right? ;) Reeeally wished I had squared this off properly before taking a picture, but the light was right, so it had to happen. (I fixed it off before I sent it!). Val is going to combine these bigger blocks with some she got in a 3"X6" swap she participated in. I love that idea!

And finally, Christine's month. She sent us out some amazing BRIGHT prints and asked us to make some improv blocks. She pointed us to Malka's aesthetic, and then let us run wild. I made two.

So happy the Unscripted Bee is keeping me thinking about colour, and putting things together. Thanks ladies!

- Donna

I went on my summer vacation and this is all I have to show for it...

Hey everyone!

Summer vacay draws to a close tomorrow....and VERY little in the sewing department to show off. What can I say? The weather was hot and sunny (every day!!), I had a bit of a muscle injury from running in shoes that didn't fit well, and I just plain took it easy - it was great! But...I do have a few little things to show you.


I did manage to make up two little mug rugs - the bottom one is to send in my niece's first care package - she starts college this September so I put together a little box to help warm her new apartment. Tea necessitated a tea rug, and I had a tiny bit of binding left from her quilt, so perfect use, I thought. The top mug rug below is off to Victoria, BC to a fantastic friend who I miss dearly. We've been friends since we were wee ones, and I don't get to see her often enough (Like, um, a mere 3 times in the last six years, two of those times at our respective weddings).

My second little bit of sewing was a hanging hand towel for my kitchen...and contrary to how it might appear, it's not actually done. I still need to sew a button hole but couldn't find my manual to figure out how to do it.

And a last, gratuitous shot, 'cause while sour cherry season is sadly over, we did manage to pick a bundle for the freezer, many of which have made it into our bellies. We spoke to a farmer at the market this am, and may order a pail this week while we still can. Mmmmmm...sour cherries!

Oh, and our quilting bee has kicked off -and blocks made up from my fabric are beginning to show up on the flickr group. I'm super excited!

Back to the grind tomorrow!!

- Donna

Random bits and bobs

Hi everyone!

How is your summer going? In my household, we're chugging along happily toward our week off. (only a week! eeps!). Today I am treating you to a random list of bits and bobs that have caught my eye lately.

• Pinterest! OMG. Are you guys on board with this wonderful new time suck, I mean tool for finding fantastic things on the web and best, of all, bookmarking them in a lovely visual way? The site is only by invitation now, but if anyone wants an invitation, let me know. I'm there by my real name, Donna. Come say hi!



• Unscripted Bee is almost ready to kick off. The postal strike set us back a week but I'm up for August and I packaged up my fabric today - labels are made; I just need to pick up some envelopes tomorrow and we're a go!



• I'm freaking out a bit - have been accepted to do a graduate diploma in public policy /program evaluation - it should take me approximately 16 months. I am nervous about balancing work, family, and school. Any tips?

What's going on with all of you?

- Donna

First Bee Quilt!

I had a few days off last week and worked on the Double Rainbow quilt..happy to announce it's finished! Bound, washed, and ready to be mailed to Saskatchewan. I have shown it to my niece already (so much for a surprise) by way of facebook and she loves it so that is fantastic.

Originally, I was going to go with some small rainbow (all colours in) mosaic tiles for the back, but then I started leafing through Modern Log Cabin Quilting, and the rest, as they say, is history. I love the punch of bold colours against the Kona Coal. I only wish I had had better luck (or skill) in the basting. I'm a little irritated that the row of log cabins isn't more centred. Oh well.

For the binding, I went with Ann Kelle's lovely Remix rainbow striping - it just yelled out to me from the shelves of my local quilt shop. It makes this quilt a quadruple rainbow...but I think we can handle it.
I quilted it in some random diagonal lines. I had other plans, but these things change. In the interest of not pulling out my hair on my days off, I went simple. Hope it's enough quilting to hold it together!

Thanks to all the members of Sew Modern all-Canadian Bee. You gals did a fantastic job. Made my work so much simpler! I hope this is the first of many quilting bee quilts I put together.

- Donna