what happens when I stay up late

How do you deal with a terrible case of insomnia? If you're me, you put that time to use by sewing sort of wonky log cabin squares to complete your KbeeC quilt. They're wonky(ish) blocks, so it doesn't matter that I'm all bleary-eyed and can't see straight. They're supposed to be weird and wonky! They're easy as pie, and I can churn them out super-fast and fuss-free. Once the kid is in bed - and thank crunchy he's a sound sleeper who gets in about a solid 6-8 hours at night - I stay up and sew for a couple of hours. That is if I'm not reading, drawing (I started that again), catching up on the internet, or, ahem, shopping for fabric online (but shhhhhh - let's not speak of that).

So back to the blocks.... You might recall that a few months ago, I signed up for a block swap/virtual quilting bee with some friends. For my month, I decided I wanted a bunch of wonky log cabin blocks a la Denyse Schmidt's Drunk Love in a Log Cabin. My bee buddies did an awesome job with their blocks. I had 28 wonderful blocks in the end. My original plan was to bang out a couple more to make it 30 and have the quilt be 5 x 6 blocks (approximately 60 x 72 inches). When my mother was visiting, I showed her the blocks, and she suggested I make it a little wider by adding another column. I figured I might as well. I had enough fabric to do so. Also, in this case a bigger quilt makes for a better quilt; the more blocks I have, the more delightful the mishmash of wonktastic squares. I can't wait to piece this all together! But first, I have to finish a few things for other people, including more bee blocks, a couple of baby quilts, and some toys for my own kiddo.... Seriously, how have I not made this kid a softie yet?

the joy of bouncy balls & other haikus

So many fun bees going on these days! Recently, I joined One Scrappy Bee on flickr, and the first person I was to sew for was the immensely talented and prolific Chawne. She, being awesome as she is, chose a type of block that was fun, inventive, challenging, and inspiring - the word block! And shit-howdy did I enjoy sewing these word blocks! They were pretty easy to construct, only requiring a little bit of foresight. And there was a ton of freedom in choosing whatever words you wanted, as long as they weren't from recent popular culture. Lucky for me, too, that Chawne likes cheeky terms because I am all over that. It satisfies the poo-joke loving 5 year-old in me. I hope she likes the blocks I made as much as I liked making them. I only wish that I had given my "bounce" block a bit more bounce by not arranging the letters in such a static straight line. I'd love to play around more with letters some day. It would be exciting to experiment with thick and thin pieces and to play with negative space. There's a world of possibilities with this type of block. Speaking of possibilities, I leave you with this haiku I was inspired to write using the words I chose for the blocks:

when balls bounce with joy
they put a smile on your face
a psychic sacking

Wanna try your hand at a haiku? Feel free to leave one (or two - for balance, symmetry, and whatnot) in the comments!

beuys-y bees a'buzzing*

Summer has rolled right on in, and the days have become a blur of outdoor stuff and baby-related activity. I finally managed to get some sewing time and finished my blocks for Jennie. While I was photographing them, Matt came home for lunch and stopped to admire them. "They remind me of Joseph Beuys." I can't believe I hadn't realized that myself earlier considering my fondness for modern cross quilts. Jennie was inspired by the graphic quality of the red cross and the interplay between negative & positive space. I hope she likes them as much as I enjoyed making them.

*I'm really going for the worst pun ever in my post titles, in case you haven't noticed.

busting out some bee blocks

We're getting into the swing of things over here with the baby. He is such an awesome little person, and watching him grow & develop just amazes me. And dude, he has been keeping me busy. I am tremendously happy if a bit exhausted. I managed to get a little bit of sewing time the other day and this morning, and it felt great. I was able to finish these blocks for Caro for our wee bee. Her plan is to arrange all the blocks so she ends up with barcodes of color. I love the palette she chose for her blocks - bright, bold, modern prints & colors. Hope she likes what I whipped up for her!

playing with blocks

Squares by (in no particular order): Nova, Minty, Julie Frick, Diana, Jennie, Pam, and me.

So about that quilting bee I'm in - I forgot to mention that last month was my month. Derf. I had already picked out my fabrics and chosen a design/motif before I'd even joined, so the rest was super-easy. All my bee-buddies did an amazing job, and I am totally in love with the results.

Originally, I thought I wanted to do some sashing, but seeing the squares together with all their wild juxtapositions makes me think it works best as is. As soon as all the squares are in and I whip up a couple more to make it 30 blocks total, I am going to start joining them. I may even finish this quilt by the end of the month; I have the perfect backing fabric ready to go and everything. Oooooh, YAY! Can you tell I'm excited about this?

Thanks to all my fellow bee participants! You guys knocked it out of the ballpark!

busy as a bee

With Spring finally upon us, there seems to be no shortage of virtual quilting bees happening on the ol' internetz. Why, it's all abuzz with quilty love these days, and I am falling right into it myself. I decided to join some old friends in a little bee of our own. The timing might not be perfect what with the wee one due in just a few weeks (holy crap!), but I'm going to try. I keep sitting out bee after bee because of one obligation or another, and I didn't want to sit out yet another and end up regretting it. Because you know what? Bees look like a ton of fun. And they are! And honestly, it might be the only sewing I do for the next few months. (Let's not speak of how the very thought of working on assembly lines of softies makes my head hurt. Oy. I don't think that's going to happen again until Xmas.) Might as well sew something that inspires me.

And let me tell you, sewing these blocks for Minty definitely inspired me. For her month, Minty decided she wanted wonky stars. Her requirements were simple - she wanted us to make stars in different colors so that ultimately she would end up with a spectrum's worth of stars. She sent us a background fabric and asked us to use fabrics from our stash for the points. She also directed us to this wonderful tutorial. I made a few test blocks, which I'll post about next week since I stupidly didn't photograph them today, and I fell in love with the results. I went a little head over heels with it and made a couple of extra blocks for her:

Here's hoping that she likes 'em. And here's to virtual quilting bees! I'm looking forward to working on everyone else's blocks. It's interesting to see what patterns/ motifs people choose and to play with fabric again.