I think I lost my mind a few months ago.
I signed up for two hives of the 3 x 6 Bee, thinking that I would have plenty of time to get the blocks done during my New Years’ time off. Hahahaha…no. That didn’t happen. Plus, I picked a block for the star hive that was so insanely complex that it drove me crazy. Multiple times.
I’m proud of the results, though. I don’t want to part with some of them!
Hive 8 is the sampler hive. I chose a block from the In Color Order HST Block of the Month series. If you’re in a bee and you’re looking for blocks, this series is a great resource. HST blocks tend to be pretty quick to make, and this was no exception. After I finished all the cutting, it took about 40 minutes per block to assemble these guys:
One of the things I like about participating in virtual bees is that they encourage me to expand my color horizons. If it were up to me, everything would be purple and lime green, purple and lime green, and sometimes red. With a white background, always. But looking at others’ color choices, I start to think that maybe aqua is a nice color, black is a nice background, and grey and orange look great together.
My other hive this round was Hive 1, a star hive. My original plan was to do something simple, but then I started playing around with foundation paper piecing. I’m planning to post something more extensive about foundation paper piecing soon, but I just want to say that it’s addictive, and that newer quilters and sewists shouldn’t be intimidated by it!
So I got ambitious and decided to make the Lone Starburst from Six White Horses. One thing I will say about being new to paper piecing: I don’t have enough sense to understand what is difficult and what is not. This is probably not a beginners’ pattern, but what do I know?
These took a long time, and they’re not completely perfect, but I’m proud of how they turned out:
I have a few more bee commitments to finish up, and then I’m up to date for January…which will bring me to February and a fresh set of commitments. I’ll be making the Lone Starburst for the first quarter of the 4 x 5 Bee, and next month is my first month to design a quilt for the do.Good Stitches Dream Circle. Plus, I have to figure out what to do with all of the great bee blocks I’ve received so far!
I’m linking this post up to the Let’s Get Acquainted Blog Hop, which is hosted at Fabric Mutt this week.
January 19, 2013This entry was posted in Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.
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Beautiful combinations! So pretty!
Love those blocks! Especially the Lone Starburst, I’ve just tackled my first. Love the purple and lime green combo too!
Oh what a lot of blocks, I really like your colour combinations on them all. I love being in my Bee, it really pushes you out of your comfort zone and you learn so much from it. Popped by from P&J at Fabric Mutt, good to meet you
Love the blocks! The colours are fabulous! Bees do make you explore other colour choices and patterns. Popped over from Fabric Mutt.
These are lovely! I’ve never joined a bee but I’ve started lurking around the flickr groups and getting jealous
I tried the Lonestar Burst as well last year and struggled with my points – you did a fabulous job!
I think they turned out so well! Great job. The stars look perfect from here
These turned out just beautiful! Yes, it’s hard to keep up sometimes — I’ve had the same trouble when I’ve joined more than one swap at once!
I love my block! And I did 2 hives in the 3×6 bee too. It was insanity. I too did this block for a bee once but I only had to do one. I couldn’t imagine doing 6! Thanks for all you hard work. I got it today, and it is more awesome in person.