Guilds, Bees, and Swaps

As promised, here is my post from 52 Quilters about guilds, bees, and swaps. How many of you are in quilt guilds, participate in bees, or in swaps?

Two years ago I attended my first Philadelphia Modern Quilt Guild meeting and I am so glad that I did. I found my group, my support, and my teachers. The Philly MQG shaped who I am as a quilter. I was (and still am) constantly inspired by the diversity and creativity that is shown at the monthly meetings. In Maryland, I have found similar support with the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild and the Southern Comforters of Bowie. All three guilds encourage me to reach out of my comfort zone and to keep making on a regular basis. I love being inspired at the meetings, learning at retreats, and making life-long friends who don’t roll their eyes when I talk about quilting and fabric.

I joined my first bee, the Modern Insta Bee, in 2014 as a way to meet other quilters and to have a reason to sew every month. What I did not know at the time is how much it would push me and that it would make me a better quilter. I put colors together that I would have never have dreamed of putting together, paid attention to my scant quarter inch seams, became best friends with my seam ripper, and made blocks that I would have been afraid to make if I wasn’t obligated to make them.  I am now participating and leading two swarms for The Bee Hive quilt bee and participating in the Philly MQG bee.

I was hesitant to put yellow, orange, purple, and gray together with black and white fabrics, but it is now one of my favorite blocks that I completed for the Modern Insta Bee.

String Circles – the block that I dreaded making, but it is the block that taught me the most.

I have participated in a few swaps over the last year, both online and in person, and I really enjoy the process of making for others. It is another way that I stretch my comfort zone and play with fabrics and colors that I may not have considered before. My favorite mini was for my secret sewist at Mid-Atlantic MOD though:

I designed the pattern myself since my partner was a huge Alice and Wonderland fan.

You can see most of my bee blocks (I am still catching up on posting some of this years) and minis on my bee blocks and swaps page if you are interested in seeing the range of them.

How about you, what do you get out of guilds, bees, swaps, and/or the online quilting community?

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February Bee Blocks

February was a big month for blocks! I have two blocks for the Philly MQG bee for Cathy and I signed up for The Bee Hive and am participating in and leading two swarms. I am hoping that by having an official leader, deadlines, and schedules that they will run much smoother than my Modern Insta Bee. Sadly, I am still missing five blocks from the Insta Bee. I have not had good luck with swaps (I have an angel for my Schnitzel & Boo Mini swap since my partner is MIA) and bees so far. Oh and I made a few Hazels as well.

A quick aside, if you are in the Baltimore/Washington DC area and would like to check out a quilt show, Southern Comforters of Bowie is hosting their annual The Best Little Quilt Show in Maryland on March 21st and 22nd in Bowie. I will have three quilts in the show and will be doing and Infinity Scarf demo on Saturday at 1pm. I hope that you will stop by and say hello!

After last month’s scary feathers, we had a lovely block for the Philly MQG. Cathy chose a Japanese X Block pattern from Making Rebecca Lynne.

Both of my February Queens for The Bee Hive Swarms selected the Tic Tac Toe Block. Patty divided up the swarm into warm and cool color X’s with random low volume background and corner pieces.

Taslim selected a color palette of aqua X’s, low volume corners, and white backgrounds.

My final blocks for February were for the winners of my NYE giveaway. Michele, Tabitha, and Gill all selected Hazel the Hedgehog blocks. They were popped in the mail earlier this week.

How did your February treat you? I am so ready for Spring! I am happily pulling mainly from my stash and only buying fabric when I “absolutely have to”. (Whatever that means!)

 

January Bee Blocks

January is done! Did you blink and miss it like I feel I did? January was a busy month: new year’s, shipping my Schnitzel & Boo Mini, stalking the mailbox to see if mine has arrived (ps. it hasn’t), and turning 33. January also included some colorful, complicated feathers!

Janet from the Philly MQG selected feathers for her bee blocks. I was so nervous to cut into my pieced strips that I played with some paper first.

Cutting the paper first was a huge stress relief! I went on to successfully piece two feathers, a blue and an aqua one.

Janet provided us with the background and quill fabric with directions to make scrappy, monochromatic feathers. I dipped into my scrap bin and stash to make these two beauties.

I think these blocks were more stressful than my string circle block last summer!

What are you up to, any complicated bee blocks in your life?