Modern Insta Bee - January

For January, Lynne asked us to make the Trellis Crossroads block in blue and purple flowery fabrics on a white on white background. Checking my stash, I had surprisingly many flowery fabrics, but most of them where full of other colours too and not nicely blue or purple. Saying that, I still had plenty to pick from.

Starting this block I was not at all sure about the colour combination, but making the block and seeing the others from the bee, I have changed my view. This is going to be one STUNNING quilt!

Here's my block for Lynne:

As before, the pattern can be found in the book "Modern Bee - 13 quilts to make with friends", by Lindsay Conner.

The fabulous mini I was sent in the IG Mini Swap (catch-up post)

I am finally having some time to catch up on blogging and here's the long over due blog post about the fabulous mini I received in the IG Mini Swap. Apologies for the delay Suzie!

Having waited, what felt like forever, for the mini I made to arrive in Australia, there was suddenly a note in the letter box about a parcel for me. It had to be picked up at the local delivery office, as the UK customs thought I should pay a bit for the pleasure of receiving a gift.

IT WAS SO WORTH THE WAIT!!!

I am one lucky lady!!! 

The intriguing and fabulous ribbon star block was popping up in my Instagram feed, but it was either green or in black/white so I didn't think it was for me. Someone was being a bit sneaky….

I had to retake the photo three times as I forgot to add all the extras… The red beaded bookmark was gorgeous on the Etsy site when I looked to vote for my favourite; it is even better in real life!  There was also a bobbin box, which is perfect, as I recently had a delivery of 25 bobbins without a case. Add to that the Christmas ornament, lovely coloured ribbons and buttons, plus a lip balm; I do love red, white and blue. Thanks also for the lovely letter to me and the thoughtful gift for my Elsa crazy daughter. You did a brilliant job in stalking me!

Even the back is spot on with sailing boats and really showing off the quilting. 

Thanks also for adding the left over sailing boat fabric! The mug rug will always be mine, unless one of my Nina friends steals it… Perfect colours! No need to worry about tea stains being visible. 

I am so so grateful for all effort you put into this!!
It's such a generous, well thought through and gorgeous package. 
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU ever so much Suzie.

If you'd like to see more of Suzie's fantastic work including her beading, head over  to her Etsy shop or check her out on Instagram. 

Modern Insta Bee – December

For December, Kerry asked us to make the Cordelia’s Garden block. This is the same block as I asked for in August when I was the Queen Bee. That time we used blue, yellow and beige.

Kerry asked to use grey, navy, coral and aqua. I had a dig through my stash and realised I had plenty of grey fabrics, but not that many coral or aqua. I made the following pull and asked Kerry which she'll prefer.

She opted for the lighter grey option in the bottom right corner. This grey fabric is a favourite of mine as it's slightly uneven and therefore forgiving when using it in geometric blocks. It's from the Architextures collection by Caroline Friedlander.

This is who the block looked when finished.

As before, the pattern can be found in the book "Modern Bee - 13 quilts to make with friends", by Lindsay Conner.

To find out more about these blocks and the quilt Kerry is putting together, please head over and visit her on the blog or Instagram.

Mini quilt – paper piecing for Fat Quarterly

Less than a year ago I attempted paper piecing for the first time. So far I have paper pieced only that pattern, the Little Hedgehog by Artisania, and the Mail Envelopes from Love Patchwork and Quilting. Both of these I used for my partner in the Schnitzel and Boo mini quilt swap.

A few months ago, Lynne at Lily’s Quilts posted a picture on Instagram asking if anyone wanted to make something with fabrics from the Cherie line by Frances Newcombe for Art Gallery Fabrics.

There was absolutely no logic to why I put my hand up to create a new paper piecing design. The only reason I can see, is that I have always liked challenges.

The fabric line has a few pastel fabrics which I usually are not too keen on, but also a few with grey, white and beige. As I couldn't decide which colours to use and using all of them would be too busy, in the end, I made two versions. To give you some clues, it involves sewing and cake…. You can find my two mini quilts in the paper piecing issue of Fat Quarterly, due out in February 2015. 

If you are not a subscriber already, make sure you pre-order your copy before they temporarily suspend sales from 1 January due to the EU VAT rules coming into force.

Modern Insta Bee – November (catch-up post)

For November, Angela asked us to make the Trellis Crossroads block in pure white and black. This sounded simple enough, and finally a block without lots and lots of HST. It was nice with a change, LOL……

This being a new block for me, I made a test block in red, blue and white to add to my collection for the "Dear Nina" quilt.

The biggest challenge for me this month was to find properly white and black fabrics! Plenty of the ones I had in my stash were off-white. As you can see in the block below, the off-white just doesn't look right.

Deciding this wasn't properly crisp, I made a new one with 'whiter' fabrics. This is the one I finally sent off to Angela:

To see more of this quilt and other things Angela is up to, hop over to her blog or Instagram.

As before, the pattern can be found in the book "Modern Bee - 13 quilts to make with friends", by Lindsay Conner.