A Happy Place

I've been in a number of bees and swaps on Flickr (probably all of you know this already) - had to really cut back this year to be able to get to sewing other than bee blocks!  I love love love these swaps and bees.  I have immensely enjoyed 'meeting' other sewists from around the country and the world.  I have learned and pulled from their talent.  I have started a few of my own bees and swaps.  I have been late in swaps and bees.  I have made angel blocks.  I have gotten surly (full disclosure) felt bad about it after, and I have also tried to be kind and understanding.  

I'm in a great bee called Quilt Around the World II I have written about it on here a few times.  There are 25 of us in the group and we have a mailing order.  You always mail to the same person.  You start with your own block and mail that to the next person who added a block, and she mailed it to the next who added a block, and so on.  It has been fun, has stretched my creativity, has brought forth beautiful blocks from talented ladies.  

Here was my starter block last June

  

My group of blocks has been in limbo with one of the ladies who wrote of medical issues some time ago.  I hope that everything in her life is ok, and that she gets back in contact with us.  But, sometimes something in life happens that just stops us in our tracks that takes precedence over bee blocks and swap partners.  I am thinking of ~Yolanda  some of you may know her from Flickr or the guild she went to in CA.  Great lady, fun, didn't have a bad word to say, talented, but sadly passed away last fall.  I have a couple of blocks she made me in two bees.  

So, I have sent the lady in my bee a note, and I told her I hope she is ok and can come back to us soon.  After all, we do have some blocks of hers going around the world too.  In the mean time, rather than wonder and worry about what has happened to mine, I am having a restart of my block and sending it on.

I had the fabric set aside and some pieces already together from making the first block, this one is very similar.  Some of the ladies already made blocks for me - and I don't expect them to make one again, I will be happy with what I end up with after this block making it's way around the world.  And I will have faith, that my other blocks will show up and the person who has them will have been able to make her way back to the happy place we all call sewing.   

Keep Calm and Quilt On

Mary

WIP Madrona Progress

I'm down to the wire now, only today and tomorrow to have this complete!  I spent yesterday deciding if I wanted to go larger or leave the top as it was.

In the end I opted for larger, so that I can use it either for a baby quilt or small lap quilt.  I don't want to just fold it up in the closet when the challenge is over.

I did not have a lot of time, and I don't normally work with a 'center'.  I don't add a lot of borders anymore, so I tried to figure a way to make the rest of the top branch off of the center, rather than just add borders.  I think that the corner of this one is what I am going with.  Which meant making 2 more of those blocks with the tiny tiny pieces.  I may (or may not) have to make the opposing corner the same way, I'm still dwelling on that, I just don't have the time left to be too picky.  Today, I have to be finished with the top and start quilting.  I know the quilting design I will use, that I have known all along.  And I have to use one more fabric in the top, I haven't worked that in yet, but it is on the drawing board.  

I love the way the back of the mosaic looks.  One day I may do something similar and use the backs for the front.  

Yesterday while I was thinking along the Madrona Road - I took care of a few bee items.  These are 9.5" strip blocks, the last blocks for the Running with Scissors bee.  While it's nice to be complete, it also makes me a little sad to not have those little packages coming every month.  

I also moved forward in the Quilt Around the World II group.

This grouping so far, on it's trip around the world, she asked for charcoal background and geometric shapes, these blocks are really coming together nicely.

I am now half way through the 25 sets of blocks, I have made 12 for others and my own starter block, 13 total.   This is a very diverse group, everyone wants something different.  The way the group works is everyone is in a loop order, and when you get the next package in the loop, you make a block and add to the package, send on to the next person in the loop.  In the end you will have 25 blocks in your theme.  

Mosaic of blocks I have made to date:

This was my starter block

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.