Saturday, January 23, 2016

January Bee Blocks




Last year I watched as many fellow bloggers here in QBL talked up the blocks they were making for their Hive. Hives are online quilting bees where members take turns each month as the Queen Bee, directing the others to make the block she or he has selected. As each quilter finishes the block, they are mailed off to the Queen, and she then assembles them into her quilt. You can see why these are called hives, can't you?


Blossom Heart Quilts graciously host sign-ups, and organizes the hives in December. Groups communicate through social media, and blocks can be chosen from a list also hosted at Blossom Heart Quilts. The tutorials are well done, and are intended to be at a skill level most hive members can easily manage. Even if you're not part of a bee hive, the tutorials are an excellent free resource.

This month's Queen is also our hive mama. I certainly wanted her block to be special, but that was quickly botched! I printed out the pages of the tutorial I needed, and headed to the studio where I have no computer. (It keeps me on task while sewing. Yes, there is wifi on my phone, but I thought I had this simple block down.) The Queen asked for the Checker block in Christmas fabrics. I have very few Christmas fabrics so picking them out was easy. She sent the washi tape for the sashing so all the blocks were well coordinated, and I made up two blocks since I had to make HST's anyhow. When I posted the blocks on Instagram, I got a little 'gasp'. Uh, my green snowflake areas were supposed to be white. To boot, I saw the message in the middle of the night while letting the dogs out, and then laid in bed for about an hour thinking about how I screwed it up. (No, I was not going to go to the studio to fix it then even though a little part of me was obsessing!)

The next morning I did carefully pick out the green, and replace it with white Kona. It was a bit of a game to get it perfectly square again, but it's darn close within an 1/8". The other block below, well, she's getting that one, too. It may have to be part of a pieced back, if she makes one. It's a bonus block anyway since only one block is required, but with the little I know of her already, I think she'll like it just as much. 




We live.
We sew.
We learn.

Come on, Doxie girls.
Let's go sew.



9 comments:

Grandma said...

I like the Christmas fabric. I am a new quilter, did not know you can sew with washi tape

Kate said...

Beautiful block! I once participated in a BOM where we made blocks for others in the group. I was so disappointed in the quality of many of the blocks I received and in the participant who took fabric, but never made the blocks that there's been no desire to try that again. Hope these bees work better.

Jennifer Fulton Inquiring Quilter said...

Sounds like you're having fun, despite the problems placing the colors in the block. It's nice to connect to other quilters, even if it's only online.

Stitchin At Home said...

I have never participated in a bee hive or an exchange of any kind. I like both blocks.

Laney said...

Pretty blocks! I have done a round robin before but never a hive. Hope you enjoy it!

Anonymous said...

Very pretty! I'm sure she will appreciate the bonus block.

Zenia Rene said...

One of my friends here in AZ is a member of this hive. Maybe not this exact hive but she did the same block. I really like this block pattern too! I may join a hive next year.

Tish Stemple said...

I have not tried the bee block thing yet...maybe next year. I hate that feeling of finishing something then realizing that I put something together not quite right. I think that block will make a lovely bonus block.

Lynette said...

Oh, man - I do that kind of thing a lot! In fact, I'm still re-sewing the triangles onto the fancy 4-patches I'd made for my Allietare's border treatment because I stitched all 220 of them on facing the wrong way. Took me 4 hours to take them off! lol