August Quilting Bee Blocks

Things have been crazy busy around here! Between the quilt-along, my parenting duties (both of the real and swap varieties ... not sure which is more stressful and time-consuming at the moment!), birthdays & soccer games (stay tuned for pics!) and ... oh, yeah ... my real job, I've felt really stretched the last few weeks.

Despite all of that, I am happy to report that I have basted, quilted, and bound 3 (!) large-sized quilts over the last two weeks!! (Technically, I am still binding the third, but the end is in sight!) As many of you have astutely noted, I tend to show a lot of blocks and mini quilts on my blog, but tend to avoid tackling the larger projects. Well, no longer. I will have some larger quilts to show in upcoming posts ... two will be featured here, and one will be featured elsewhere ... more on that soon.

Oh, and if you're here for our final block of the quilt-along, it should be posted mid-week.

And now for my monthly run-down of the blocks I've created for my quilting bee buddies. Here are all of my August blocks. With only a little more than a week left in the month, I guess I'd better get started on my September ones ... !

First up, a little block for Lucinda (lucyellen06) for her BuzzCuts quilt. I love this little block:


Lucinda, who blogs at Septemberbird, sent some vintage-y greens and creams and asked for a variety of small blocks. Her fabric evoked traditional styles and the Civil War era, so the other quilters began making some beautiful, beautiful blocks. I decided to infuse a little something different by adding an embroidered square, keeping with the green theme and incorporating Lucinda's love for birds. (Pattern is from Jenny Hart's Sublime Stitching book).


And with the leftover fabric, I made another block inspired by the era. This one features a more abstract version of a bird:


Over in the bee inspired group, Krista (aka kritta22) went the non-traditional route and sent everyone some solid fabrics -- namely, black + only one other color. I received orange, and decided to make a mini zig-zag block:


Several people commented that it reminded them of Charlie Brown! Ha! You should check out the bee inspired pool to see Krista's other blocks -- this was a great idea for a quilt, and everyone has made simple yet beautiful and graphic blocks for her.

Sudi-Laura (Isaacsmama) recently moved into a new house so, when it was time to decide what she wanted for her Cottage Quilting Bee blocks, she requested "houses filled with love" for her new home. I started to make her block completely improv-style, and came up with this:


I think it's cute and pretty indicative of my style! Sudi-Laura blogs at The Adventures of a Fabric Junky.

August was Alissa's month in SewConnected 2, and I must admit that I was a bit intimidated by this one. Alissa (who blogs at Handmade by Alissa) is such a talented and prolific quilter and such a master of the modern style that I wanted my block to be "up to snuff". I did a bit of research and found an awesome quilt that is a fave of Alissa's, and took my inspiration from it.


Simple yet modern, and my best attempt at making something in Alissa's style. I was on a roll and made a bunch of extra 6.5" blocks. I hope Alissa can use them somewhere in her quilt -- maybe even in the back -- or for another project.


Finally, it was Amy's month in the original SewConnected group. Amy blogs at A Commonplace Life. She really wanted her own scrappy version of the popular Kaffe Fassett "Jewel Squares" pattern from his Glorious Patchwork book.

I really loved the (seemingly random but ultimately genius) selection of fabrics that Amy sent for her blocks. I really think this is a case of the old home decorating adage -- just build it from things you love and it will all come together beautifully. I can only assume that's how Amy's scraps have become such amazing quilt blocks.

You can tell that I was inspired by the sheer number of blocks that I made:


For each block, I was excited to pull some scraps from my stash that blended with Amy's fabrics perfectly, like the ladybugs and polka dots above, and the birds below:


Quilt-along-ers, can you spot some of my quilt-along scraps making their way into my other projects?:


I added the green outer border, the Katie Jump Rope in blue, and the orange strip to this block:


And here they are all together:


I really love these blocks -- each and every one -- on their own merits. And I'm even more excited to see how they come together with everyone else's in Amy's final quilt.

Another successful month of quilting bees under my belt! As I mentioned, I am a little behind and a little worried about September. I'm sure I'll get it done, though. I always do. : )