Stormy May Bee Block

Month three of Stash Bee and I am having fun making these different blocks. This month's block is heading to Texas!

To make this block I picked stormy palette of greys, blacks and whites with a burst of Blue.

To make a 10 1/2" Block, I started by cutting 2.5" squares from my selection of six fabrics, that laid them out 5x5.

Then it was time to make the wonky star points. I took one of the 2.5" blue squares and laid it on top of the grey prints (right sides together). I sewed a 1/4" seam, flipped it over, and pressed it flat.

Repeat with a second square.

When both sides are sewn and pressed, flip the block over to the back and trim excess

The wonky part is easy, just don't be rigid about where you sew your blue blocks to the grey prints, mix it up (close or farther away from the corner) and you will have different sized points. Once all four of the star burst points are sewn, line them up and begin sewing all of the 2.5" blocks together. The end result is your stormy sky!

Are you in a Bee? Tell me all about it!

Thank you for stopping by
Adrienne

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

I am pretty excited to be submitting my very first entry to the Bloggers' Quilt Festival!

The guidelines said to enter a quilt that you loved. You will have seen my entry quite recently, but I am in love with it and what I learned that I decided that it was the one!

 "Through the Trees" was made for one of my very best friends on her 40th Birthday.

I used this tutorial from Kate Conklin Designs. I started this quilt back in January, and frankly it has taken me so long to finish because it was my first attempt at straight line quilting. Needless to say, I had a lot of learning to do!

Problems started early in - puckers! But after a consult with the Modern Quilt Guild I started to figure out my sewing machine - a LOT less tension, longer stitches, slow and steady, and making sure my quilt sandwich was solid and flat, flat, flat! The end result still has a few puckers, but I am going to depend on the final wash and pucker to take care of them :)

Then it was on to binding...I have been quilting for many years, but was self taught about 15 years ago. Now the things I am learning in the virtual modern quilting world is blowing my mind! For this quilt I used a combo of tutorials from Red Pepper Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts. This new to me method is so great, and still allows me to machine stitch the binding which is what I prefer.

In the end, I am happy with the results of the quilt, am congratulating myself for pushing my boundaries. The best part? My friend Krista LOVED her gift!

Thank you for stopping by

Adrienne

Liebster Blog Award

First I need to thank Lynn over at K&S Designs Girls who was kind enough to present me with the Liebster Blog Award!! 

I'm so very honored! 

When she sent me an email I had no idea what she was talking about so a little research on-line and here's what I found out.

The Liebster Award (German for favorite) is for bloggers with 200 followers or less. As a recipient of the award, you have the chance to thank and link back to the blogger who gave it to you as well as pass it along to five other deserving blogs.

The Liebster Conventions says that:

1. Thank your award presenter on your blog and link back to him/her. 

2. Copy and paste the award to your blog. 

3. Present the Liebster Award to 5 blogs that you think deserve to be recognized. 

4. Let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

5. Have faith that your follower will spread the love too.

Five blogs I follow and would like to award:

Alexis @ Domestic Bliss 

Rossie  @ Rossie Blog 

Kelly @ Sew Kelly Sews

Melissa @ We Shall Sew 

Anna @ Woollykat 

I have to say it was hard to pick just five!

Thank you, Lynn! 

I'm very honored and surprised!

Hope everyone gets a chance to check out these lovely blogs! Enjoy!!

Adrienne

Chevron April Bee Block

I was pretty happy to see the April Stash Bee Block was a chevron! They are so easy to make, I can see lots in my future.

I started this block with some bright scraps from my stash.

To make the half square triangles (HSTs) cut two 5 inch squares, one medium and one light. Place the two together, right sides together and draw a diagonal line across.

Sew a 1/4" seam along the line on both sides. I use the edge of my walking foot as a guide, it is the perfect 1/4".

Cut along the drawn line and you have two half square triangles! Press open, towards the dark fabric.

The finished square should measure 4.5", so you may need to trim them up. Then you can lay them out to create your pattern. Voila! Chevron!

This was some simple fun sewing for a Tuesday night. Especially on my newly serviced machine. I love a mainteance man, who signs his work...

Now on to the next project...

Adrienne

Through the trees

My finish this month is a stack a slash "Through the Trees" for a very good friend.

I used this tutorial from Kate Conklin Designs. I started this quilt back in January, and frankly it has taken me so long to finish because it was my first attempt at straight line quilting. Needless to say, I had a lot of learning to do!

Problems started early in - puckers! But after a consult with the Modern Quilt Guild I started to figure out my sewing machine - a LOT less tension, longer stitches, slow and steady, and making sure my quilt sandwich was solid and flat, flat, flat! The end result still has a few puckers, but I am going to depend on the final wash and pucker to take care of them :)

Then it was on to binding...I have been quilting for many years, but was self taught about 15 years ago. Now the things I am learning in the virtual modern quilting world is blowing my mind! For this quilt I used a combo of tutorials from Red Pepper Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts. This new to me method is so great, and still allows me to machine stitch the binding which is what I prefer.

In the end, I am happy with the results of the quilt, am congratulating myself for pushing my boundaries, and am super excited to give this to my friend on her big birthday!

Have you pushed your boundaries this month?

Adrienne

Let the Bee begin

This month I took a leap and joined my first virtual quilting bee. Stash Bee is some exciting stuff. It is month one and I am already learning new skills. Over the next twenty months or so, I will endeavour to make a block from my stash for my fellow Hive #3 Bee members, and one month will provide them with a tutorial to make a block for me. At the end I will have about 20 blocks to make a quilt with contributions from all of these great quilters.

In and effort to practice my tutorial skills, I would like to walk you through my first block for the Bee:

Start with three 2.5 strips of fabric from light to dark (in green at the request of Debbie, this month's Queen Bee):

Sew the strips together and cut at a 45 degree angle:

Cut the other side to make a triangle: 

Cut the triangle in half and put them together to make a square:

Once sewn they will make a 6 1/4' Square.

Then comes the petal! Debbie provided us with a petal template which was fused on to the block with fusible interfacing and appliqued on (leaving room for the 1/4" seam at the bottom). Like so:

Ta Da! My first Bee Block!

So Far...

Here we go!

I am Blogging! I don’t promise to be prolific, I don't promise to be witty or super smart. But I hope you might enjoy some tidbits about my modern quilting journey. I thought I would start with a look at a few projects I have completed so far...

Who knows what will be next! Stay tuned.