the las few months ...

writing kept me insanely busy last month ... the only sewing I did was for the last two months was for bees bees and more bees ...

nested star for January Stash Bee

Butterfly - January NewBee Bee Hive#8

Stars for February Stash Bee

Garden Fence block - February NewBee Bee Hive #8

February sneak peak for the round roin

Ohh and I can't for the life of me find my camera - so I'm taking crappy pictures with my cell phone that I figured out how to connect to the computer after almost 6 years ...

Ohh in between my Ladies flag football team won the university championship here- well there was only one other Ladies team, so it was a little bit like cheating, but as there were only two we were grouped with the "men" - I still haven't recovered completely from the one team that really really hated to loose against us ... I'm just not build to be run over by almost 200 pounds ... so I'm still icing after every practice and tape is my best friend ...

Leo

catching up on October

I was a bit busy lately and I did a marathon sewing stint this morning - that I think one of my neighbours interpreted as me having a great party at 10 in the morning with the basses turned way up ... uhh yeah .. I might have to do a quitling session this afternoon and see if she starts complaining again then I know for sure it's me ... I guess I will have to go buy some earplugs for her. Well I did get a good deal of things done by disturbing her peace:

And I also spend some time in the beginning of October drawing patterns and generally haing fun planign quilts I knew there was no chance I woudl ge started this year, well except one of them. The first one is for a "flying geese" hmm bee/swap thingy well and of course I could just use a standard pattern, or any other pattern already out there nooo I had to go and make up my own:

I also had fun drawing up this pattern, and I'm planning on doing it with one of my tartan fabrics (though exactly when I'm goign to it is the unasnwerable question) ... I just need to decided whether I want to use a coordinated solid background or go for good old white ... I am leaning towards the blue, pink, purple, green tartan ...

Löni

someone's been busy and yet nothing's been really done

I don't know why I always have 101 projects at the same time. Good new is one of them is Queen Bee project so I don't actually have to sew for it. So aside from writing my paper (#1) I did some sort of handycraft each day. I have that handy sort of alarm clock that so I do a break every hour for at least 15 minutes ...

So I did sew some more blocks for GREEN (I'm absolutely pathetic when it comes to thinking up names for my quilts - maybe I shoudl call it "Wiese" (pasture) or even "Hope" ...

the first quadrants arrived today

together with the mine - layout is still undecided

I started an appliquée project that looks a bit tricky - but hey I can do it .. I just need to want to enough for long enough. (I'm sure I can get Kathinca to kick me in the behind from time to time if needed) .Well I went for purple/pupleish/bloodred/rosewood this time - creating my own personal purple hell - Lila Hölle. And as I'm a miserable planner I change my plans a lot ...

.. I haven't decided on a background yet  - that is I originally pulled a cream /off white solid, because I really have a lot of it but somehow this print that I found in one of those "end of bolt boxes" (it's almost a metre but not quite) at a fabric store in town seemed like a nice background to take the picture and then I tough -well it doesn't look too bad as a background either ... but I'm not sure - arghh. [They do have another bolt of it so I could get more of it .. ]

But I also almost finishd a quilt - ok the quitlign has been finished since the end of July, but my original plans to quilt it on a train trip home for a wedding somehow didn't work out - on the way there I had to read through a Master thesis and add my comments and on the way back I had my little tin box with needle and thread busried deep, deep down in my backpack - couldn't find it so I just grabed a book. But I have been working on and off sewing on the binding ...

I finished all my Joan Hickson as Miss Marple DVDs though, so late night progress was rather slow. But I got a box of Hercule Poirot movies yesterday so maybe tomorrow I'm on again.

Just showing that I used differently coloured thready to quilt ... yeah I know, I know the lines aren't completely straight, but I guess ones it's been in the washing machine there will be too much crinkling to notice it ... on the solids I marked the lines with a chalk pen, on the pieced parts I just "eye balled" (I know bad manners etc) ...

Yeah I still also have my Storm at Sea the regular UFOs and now a absolutley new project that I have no idea how it's going to look like yet apart form it being a cushoin cover, there are simply too many weddings this year. Let your pattern ideas flow ...

Ohh and before I forget it - I do would love some more critique please  ~ I will not not like you, I will not be mad at you, I will not ignore you and I certainly won't delet your comment if you write something that is not 100% my opinion ... so like the blue-green polka dot in the middle of the upper row in the green quilt I really think it shouldn't be in there it's odd.

Löni

August Bee block instruction

For this month we - well I have already doen some - will sew somethign green ....
The first step is the fabric selection:

      paired greens


Some more greens - but that top fabric with the ble screens is NOT green ---- and well yes that fabric too has some green, but it is NOT green

You need to form 4 fabric pairs - light/dark - from each pair you will need:

• First Green:  one 2,5" square, one 4,5"x2,5" rectangle, one 6,5"x2,5" rectangle (2 times light green, 2 times dark green)
• Second Green: one 2,5" square, one 4,5"x6,5" rectangle (two times light green, two times dark green)

Sewing - quarter inch seam allowance

•  sew the two 2,5" squares together - iron the seam open (and I would ask you to really do that)
  
  
• when sewing the longer strip of "Second Green" make sure of the placement of the strip - when you place the "square pair" on top of it, the "Second Green" square should be the one nearer to you
• add the other strips log cabin style (ironing the seams open as you go)
• repeat for all four patches and this is what you could end up with (different colours same general look though)
• please measure your 4 squares and make sure they are 6,5" square before you send them off

I'm lookign forward to see your interpretations. Any and all questions can be asked here or on threadbias - ther are no stupid questions.

Löni

getting there

That is the studies and I are getting somewhere - I officially signed up for my last term paper (or is it semester paper - if you have semesters?) Of course I couldn't find my TANs. Arghh so I had to run and get another set of 50 of them. 

(yeah just in case I don't know my German anymore - it comes bilingual)

And N.N. and I are getting somwhere - I used the afternoon to get started on "fill in the gap"-blocks for my N.N. quilt ... and I think the square-in-a-square-in-a-squares are almost too beautiful by themselves to end up in the scrappy setting. But I will finish N.N. first before I maybe do one using all the solids.

I tried to lay the blocks out on the floor, but it's a realyl really tight squeeze - and after climbing on my sideboard and trying to balance on a swing chair I won't try to take pictures of the whole thing anymore, though I will leave it out and change a block here and there - bring some more chaos in the scrappyness. I'm really really pleased how the experiment turned out.

And before you tell me - yes I know I'm missing 2 sets of 9-patches, and one complete block - the patches are in the making and the block will get here too, as it's a bee quilt, there was bound to be at least one postal service failiure [<-- there is a typo in there I feel it].

Löni

in need of colour

I haven't done much sewing lately and when I did it was all pale colour for bees ...

May for Stash Bee Hive#8

May for NewBee Bee Hive#8             and         quite a while ago April for Stash Bee Hive#8              

So I decided I had to get out one of the colourful UFOs that was missing a border so a lot of colour but still not much sewing ...

Now I just need to finish the back - that screaming red flannel with that small pile of signature blocks - and decide on a quilting design.

Löni

linking up with WIP Wednesday

Bee update and a swap mini

When I opend my mailbox after my Esater "holidays" it was full of beautiful bee blocks and my March Mini-Quilt. It was a joy ripping open a handful of letters in one go ...

(you will have to excuse the mess in the corner - I'm slowly working my way through the boxes from the last post)

Now while I'm waiting on 3 more letters with blocks I thought it woudl be great to put all the bee blocks together - I'm wide open for suggestions on trying to sort which block goes where, because I'm sure by just placing them somewhere they won't look random at all ... I can't ever seem to get random by randomly placing blocks ...

this thing is gettig to large to take pictures .. I tryed climbing on the bed - which was too low, so I took a chair which worked somehow next time I will have to lay it out in front of the desk - the table should be high enough ...

Well but I did say something about a mini quilt - it'S from the ususal swap, this months theme was "keen on green" - but I won't keep you from the pciture, it's really a beautiful little thing:

Any ideas oh great wise ones of the quilting world what one could do with miniquilts - take off the binding and put them together like a QAYG-Quilt? turn them into a tote? because I can't put nails the walls here (well the walls are so hard you need to use the drill and then you can put a nail in that hole) and I'm running out of storage space ...

Löni

growing quilt

You can say what you want about the internet and its dangers - I got 4 more really really great blocks for my Bee quilt.

I finished the bee block for September - and it's got approval, so it can go out on Monday - together with 2 Doll Quilts, two FQs and other bits and pieces ...

I have this fantastic knack to choose colour combinations for others that I would run away from screaming - well yeah I also buy the fabrics - well yeah I don't know why I had this "need" to do a pink block - well you see it ended up mostly red, but looking for pink I got a little distracted with the scrap bins....

But yeah I got enough 2,5 inch squares to make some more blocks to keep the quilt growing on my own.

Löni

1 gone 1 to go

Lovely news ... paper one is history! On I go to paper two which is the more interesting one, so it shouldn't be to troublesome to get it done, apart from my general dislike for papers and preference for any other kind of exam.

I did start with a trial block for one of the QALs because I was going crazy at my desk -  so this broken herringbone trial block is the first of many for my "Red Herring" Quilt with the MSBHQAL.

I did manage (don't ask me how) to send out my August Bee blocks for the NewBee Bee and BeeBiased. Of course it was only late night sewing therefore I own only crappy pictures.

I did get some more BeeBlocks myself for my July Queen Month ... I got very beautiful Angel Block for a no-show Bee and am still waiting on one more block.

I guess from now on I will always plan to finish Bee Quilts earliest 2 or 3 months after the Queen month. For my other Bee-Quilt I will sew the missing block myself I'm a bit mad at the uncommunicativeness of the Bee, but I can ignore people too.... I just want to finish it. Here is the JulyQueen update ...

Löni

progress

Uhhh - well progress is little to none. I did get a non-sewing distraction today though. A short travel to Frankfur aM to have meeting for "Story Drive" on the Book Fair in October. Oh but I guess that's not interessting for you - so the no to little progress on my sewing.

Quilts:

I got a few more inches of binding sewn on my bluegreenpink

I already told that on Monday or was it Sunday? anyway I got a good bit done on my Scrapquilt, that's been in the making since October last year I think - so we will talk again in a year see if it's gotten any bigger.

Bees:

Still waiting on my last June Beeblocks - but I got two more blocks for July today - I'm not sure anymore about the pattern - maybe I need to "invent" something to settle the quilt - maybe a sashing, but that would destroy the pattern hmmm - any ideas?

Swaps:

I started sewing the top for the 9-patch themed Doll Quilt - and I don't liek the result .. now I'm thinking again and I don't have much time left.

QALs:
Sadly I haven't done of the Farmer's Wife blocks - but I will get to them at the end of September.
I might have joined another Quilt along - I have a very traiterous subconsious - well that won't start until September so I'm taking a deep breath and am clming my nerves.

miscellaneous:
I did sew myself some shocking sport shorts - now I'm a bit scared of wearing them in public ... green dots on purple - well give me a few more days. Oh yeah I didn't mention the orange bias tape.

Löni

mindless sewing

Since I'm finally able to really grip things - namely my rotary cutter - again I thought it ws time to get sewing - all the reading was really nice, but I really missed the sewing. And before you ask- let's just say: sport is not healthy. Nature has an amazing range of blues, browns, pruples and yellows ...
But I'm a little preoccupied with those stupid papers - well one of them is actually interessting - but the other urghh ... So yeah I decided to go for some "mindless sewing", no need to aim for matching seams, no danger of messing up a pattern.

It's like making a huge fabric puzzle - it's just that the pieces change everytime - here the middle part is paired up for another round of string piecing. It's still "tiny" but it's getting there ... slowly I just need to keep producing scraps. Or have lovely Ladies send them to me ..

Yeah and of course I absolutely forgot to show the newest Bee-Block arrivals and the Doll Quilt for July ..
Saddly one of the bee blocks is an inch too small - and an inch is not something easily smoothed over so - ahh well we are a 13 persons bee anyway so I will end up with 12 blocks. Oh and good news my missing June bee turned up, she promised to send the missing blocks as soon as possible.

As I mentioned before - my swap partner and me both decided against the usual patriotic theme of red-blue-white. Not that I have anything against those colours, but I don't really need a July 4th Quilt. We settled on baskets.

Löni