I love it. I think that when it comes to bee quilts, it’s a balancing act of asking for a block that allows for creativity but will also lead to a group of blocks that work together… Thanks to all of the bee members for their great blocks!!

The top started with these fabrics…

…and a request to be inspired by this photo.

(which I discovered over here on Cathy of California‘s blog. BTW – if you don’t read her blog you should. Nothing but inspiration all the time.)

I can’t wait to quilt it. I might long arm it… I’m determined to make this my Summer Of The Longarm! I will get past that learning curve!!

Blocks from The Triple B Bee.  Just have to make one myself to add to them and then I can put the quilt together!  Not certain of the lay out but this is going to be a lap quilt that lives in my sewing room.  I went with a darker color scheme than I usually do but I’m interested in using different kinds of color combos these days…  We’ll see how I put all of these together.

And all 44 charms from a Robert Kaufman Kona charm pack!  Aren’t they pretty all laid out like that? RK have been so generous and have donated these charm packs to Modern Quilt Guilds that want to organize a solids challenge.  Of course the L.A. group jumped at the chance!  Having them up there is getting me inspired…

Just a peek for now! More on that soon.

And check out the blocks that I’ve gotten back for Bee Imaginative.

Pretty great, right? I can’t wait to put this quilt together once I get all of the blocks… it’s going to be a good one!

Some bee blocks for Liz.

And Beans overseeing things.

Hope you all had a great weekend! I spent mine in the sewing room, how about you?

There’s so much inspiration to be found everywhere…

A while ago I spotted this photo over on Cathy of California’s blog…

It’s a contemporary woven wall hanging by Eve Gulick.

I’ve asked my Bee Imaginative members to make me blocks inspired by this weaving and I know I’m going to be thrilled by the results… I sent off the fabric…

And the blocks are starting to be made!

Check out what Rita made me:

And I made my block already…

This quilt, is going to be so great. What’s inspiring you these days? Why not make a quilt about it and enter it into Project Modern??

They are always fun to make.

It got me thinking about all of the other little houses I’ve made for various bees.

I didn’t realize there were so many! Hope you all have a great weekend!

For Kate:

And for Elizabeth:

With sashing?

No sashing?

“Reassembled” blocks?

Some of both?

Or I might go in a completely different direction all together! We’ll see!

In other news, we just found out that we’re moving. To the house directly next door to my sister.  Needless to say, that’s great! The house is slightly bigger than where we are now (we’re talking moving from 700 square feet to 850? Maybe?) and I’ll have a dedicated sewing space so we’re really excited. It’s gonna make the blogging mellow for a bit but you’ll all be here when I get back, right??  We’ve been in our place for almost seven years so there’s loads of packing that has to happen that will cut into the sewing time! I can’t wait for a fresh start with a new place though. It’s a cute little old house (old for California – build in 1927) that we’re excited to make our own!

It’s such a great book. It starts with a very thorough run down of quilting – how to and loads of tips and tricks. All the info you need in one place. Then you get to the quilts… oh the mini quilts!

That last one there was made by Liz, a member of my guild, the LAMQG. In an aligning of the mini quilt stars, we had a mini quilt swap at our meeting last night.

Mini quilts are so wonderful because you can try something new or whimsical or out of your comfort zone, on a small scale.  You can take a risk or two that you wouldn’t dare take on a huge project that takes you ages to make.

Check out some of the great quilts from last night with their happy recipients…

Quilts made by Latifah,                 Emily,                                                                  and Lori

That last one deserves a zoom in…

On the To Do list?

“Buy more fabric” – so clever!

Whip Up Mini Quilts divides the many included patterns up into different categories.

I think the one I made fits nicely into…Geometric!

Right?

Mini quilts are great because you don’t have to concern yourself with the functionality of making a quilt – you’re just having fun with an artistic expression.  The book  captures that so wonderfully, providing such a great mix of practical information and pure inspiration.

Do you want a copy of this fantastic book? Just comment here and tell me your favorite thing about mini quilts! I’ll post a winner on Wednesday!

Here’s the run down of the whole blog tour!

6/1 - Craftzine – essential quilting tools
6/2 - Crafty Pod – book review & giveaway
6/3 - Chronicle Books – Behind the making of the book
6/4 – Indie Fixx – Designing your own mini-quilts
6/7 – Craft Sanity – Piped binding tutorial
6/8 – Handmade by Alissa
6/9 – My Love for You Background on Mini Quilts
6/10 - Film in the Fridge
6/11 - The Haystack Needle Decorating with mini quilts
6/12 – West Coast Crafty

Oh and P.S. … guess what I spotted in the book’s crafty blog resources list?

I was completely surprised by this and didn’t know about it until I was flipping through the book.  Truly made my day!

I have managed to squeeze in a block or two for bees and so on…

Got to work with some beautiful shot cottons for Sew Connected 2.

And a couple of blocks for the raffle quilts we’re making for the L.A. Modern Quilt Guild. You’ll be hearing more about these quilts for sure!

Otherwise hope you all have a wonderful Monday!