What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Earlier this year my guild, McKinney Modern Quilt Guild, started a new bee. I seem to have trouble saying no, because I quickly signed up. For my first set of blocks, I requested blocks made with this Blossom Heart Quilts tutorial in aqua/white/gray. I really loved the blocks I received! Last week I got the quilt back from Martha who quilted it. I quickly bound it and once I wash it it will be a perfect snuggle quilt.

 It's been a minute since I shared the blocks I've been making for my improv bee, Quilts Unscripted. 

January blocks were inspired by architecture in gray tones for Isabelle. I loved making these and used photos from recent visits to New York City as inspiration.

My first block was inspired by the Oculus....

March block for Emily was actually one large slab, inspired by a ...

 Well, hello there! It seems I up and stopped blogging about six months ago! That was totally unplanned. I've still been over here creating and learning new skills. I'm not sure why I stopped blogging here, but now I am back with all of the good intentions a new year brings. 

I thought I'd start by reviewing all of the bee blocks I made last year for the Quilts Unscripted Bee! Our improv bee is currently in the middle of it's second year and going strong. Here are the blocks I made in 2022.....

January

In ...

In October, Allie asked us to make ladders for her Quilts Unscripted Bee. She asked that we make blocks that are at least 8" on each side with a ladder going all the way across the block, edge to edge. "The ladder can be curved, straight, leaning, have mismatched rungs, be missing rungs, anything. It can go halfway up the block and make a sharp 90 degree turn. It can be wide at the base and narrow at the top or vice versa." Allie provided the white background fabric and asked us to use choose from a palette of bright ...

In May, E. A. asked us to make two-color blocks that contained the word "hope."

For my first block I chose Kona Cerise and green to make some skinny strip letters. My skinny strips finish at 1/8" wide. I created boxy letters improvisationally, but aimed for the letters to all be about the same height. The letters are about 6 1/2" tall and the block finished at about 12" x 10".

In my second block I chose a much lower contrast color combination with dark purple and dark grey. I improv cut all the pieces for my letters ...

In April, Isabelle asked us to make confetti inspired pieces for her. She gave us tons of flexibility in what we made for her. "Please create blocks that are abstract, and feature small pieces (1”-ish) within the design. The percentage of small piecing that makes up the block is less important than the impact of the small pieces used in the overall design of the block. Negative space, strip piecing, curved piecing, geometric design – anything goes."

I pulled out my smallest solid scraps, including some pieced bits. Do you see the legs from my "watch me grow" block for ...

In September Elizabeth chose this happy color palette and the traditional inspiration of the Grandmother's Fan quilt block with some guidelines for us to use improv piecing to modernize the block.

I had such fun creating these blocks for Elizabeth. The best part of improv is that the leftover bits that don't fit into one block became the sourdough starter for me to begin the next block. The second best part is that you can't tell where I made "mistakes" cause it's improv and I just rolled with it!

You can learn all the improv skills ...

In June, Chris asked us to make improv blocks using her chosen palette of colors in five color families: purplish, red-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, and green. I started by pulling solids that were a direct match for the Kona colors she listed for us, then filled in a little with colors that were close. She asked for our signature style improv piecing. I'd love to hear what you think of as my signature style of improv. Since I had just taught Improv Log Cabins I was inspired to make one of my blocks a log cabin.

There are a few ...

I headed out last Thursday with my SIL, to a quilt retreat in Chesaning, MI.  The retreat was at Creative Passions.  We were in the basement of the big green house.  We love retreating there.  Our friend, Cori was not able to join us this year though and we really missed her!  Mary and I spread out our "stuff" and that was nice too.You can see my set up on the right.  Hers on the left and the

I owe you some bee block show and tell. Back in December, Elizabeth asked us to make a 2-color sash. She wanted us to pick two rainbow colors (no black, white, or grey) and create a long skinny "sash" created of numerous improv components. Target 4”-6” wide and 30”-60” long.

I chose Kona Cerise and Peapod for my two colors and went to town. I had so much fun creating the components and piecing them together.

I started with a pair of improv triangles and some wonky strips.

This piece came from a tutorial by Cheryl Arkison, week ...

If you've been following along, Karen Bolan and I have been exploring different aspects of collaboration together, then reflecting on our conversations on our blogs. You can find the first two entries in our series here on my blog and on Karen's blog as well.

 Whew! What a year! While it would be easy to focus on all of the crazy negative things going on in the world right now (no, I'm not going to list them. you already know!) I'm choosing to focus on the positive. And there sure was a lot of it in my world this year. Here are the highlights.... so I never forget how blessed I was in 2021.

Urban Emergence

 The Quilts Unscripted Bee continues to challenge and amaze me month by month. You can see posts about my past blocks here. I thought I'd share the rest for 2021 today.

 Here we are, round 2 of Exploring Collaboration! Last time, Karen and I discussed different kinds of collaborations that we enjoy. Today, let's chat about how to form a collaborative team to make those projects happen!

Bees

Some tips and tricks for forming a bee group:

1) Establish your goals. What are you hoping to accomplish through your bee? Do you want to make traditional blocks and hone your piecing skills? Do you want to experiment with improv? Make charity quilts? Write it all down so you can share these goals with potential bee members.

2) Set rules. I ...

 I've really been enjoying exploring different aspects of collaboration with fellow modern quilter, Karen Bolan. You might remember reading about Welcoming Lamp, the project we collaborated on several months ago. Our conversations have continued since then and we are working on a series of blogposts to open up conversation in the quilting community about collaborating.Karen and I will offer articles on this topic twice a month and encourage you to join in by sharing your thoughts in the comments.

For our first posts, we are sharing our thoughts about the different types of collaboration. You can read my ...

Last month, Chris gave us the open-ended invitation to play with line in our improv blocks for her. Straight lines and how they intersect, or how they don't. She asked for black background (I used Kona Black) and as many colors as we like (at least two) for our lines, preferably brights.

My lines all vary between 1/8" and 1/2" in width. I really enjoy the look and process of piecing a skinny 1/8" strip. So I started with that.

This first one is about 12" x 12" with 1/8" strips in three colors. Technically ...

In September, Carole asked us to use time as our inspiration for her blocks. She asked us to use solids only with any shape or image that relates to time. And she chose the stunning tetrad palette of blue-green, red-violet, red-orange, and yellow-green (including recommended Kona suggestions to help us out).

My first thought that I couldn't shake was the idea of time passing as my children grow. I created a "watch me grow" block of sorts where I improv pieced the bodies of the three images and then added needle turn appliqué for the heads.

My second block ...

Last month, I created blocks for E. A. She asked us "to think about how it feels when someone holds space for you and allows you to be who you are in a place that is safe. Alternatively, you could think about how it feels when you hold space for someone." She asked for abstract blocks created in pairs, with no limit on colors.

These pairs of blocks were created in parallel with each other. I didn't make one block and then copy it. I made two blocks at the same time. Since they are improv you can see ...