Gridster Bee: October

This month Leisa Plocher provided the Gridster Bee members with African fabrics her mother had collected to create the Africa Queen pattern by Anne Batiste. I enjoyed fussy cutting the fabrics to make three royal ladies.

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Gridster Bee: August and Strip Piecing Tutorial

This month Debbie Gomes of Little Bird Quilts requested that each bee member make a different 2016 Moda Be My Neighbor quilt block in brights with a cream, low volume background. I was assigned #12. Instead of cutting all the tiny squares for the two 9-Patches separately, I used strip piecing. I figured today I'd show you this time-saving method.

I noticed I would need four rows of red-cream-red and two rows of cream-red-cream. To figure out my cutting measurements, I cut a strip the required width for each block. For the length, I multiplied the length by the number of units I would need plus a little extra for wiggle room. Since each square was supposed to be 2" unfinished, I made the strips for the red-cream-red units 2" x at least 8" (2" x 4 units needed). For the cream-red-cream rows, I made the strips 2" x at least 4" (2" x 2 units needed). I sewed the strips together in the appropriate order.

Then I crosscut into the number of needed units using the unfinished length measurement which was 2" in this case.

After rearranging into position, I sewed the 9-Patch blocks together.

Gridster Bee Blocks: June & July

For June, Mary Schubert of Needled Mom requested a Confetti Star block designed by Amy Friend of During Quiet Time with four differently-colored stars and a low-volume or neutral solid background. You can see some of the other blocks on Mary's Instagram or the bee hashtag. 

Carol Gillen went with a patriotic theme for July, and chose a Patriotic Stars block by Sara Noda.

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Gridster Blocks: May

Rachel of The Life of Riley, on Instagram as @rachel_thelifeofriley, was queen of the Gridster Bee this month. She chose literal bee blocks using the Piece by Number Honey Bee Pattern resized to make a 10" block.

You can view Rachel's instructions at her instructional blog post. She requested realistic colors for the bees and a contrasting purple or blue background. My first block, shown below, was a bit too close in value for the brown and orchid background, so I made the block shown above in case it didn't pass quality inspection. I'm sending both blocks, and leaving it up to Rachel.

Thanks for visiting!

Gridster Bee: February, March & April

Fortunately, I've been keeping up with making my Gridster Bee blocks much better than posting about them.

In February, Sherri of A Quilting Life requested scrappy pineapple blocks, which aren't the traditional kind that may come to mind. Coincidentally, you can find Sherri demonstrating the more common variation for Fat Quarter Shop's Bella Skill Builder on YouTube. If you're looking for a more realistic interpretation, use these Pineapple Block instructions. You can also check out Sherri's Mini that inspired her block request. Below is my creation. Sherri has already pieced her quilt top; she shows the progression on her blog here, here, and here.

Elizabeth of Occasional/Piece--Quilt! requested a pair of pigs in March, which she was kind enough to photograph for me since I packaged them without remembering. Elizabeth provided detailed instructions on her blog. Like Sherri, she's composed a top already. 

This month, Nancy of Patchwork Breeze designed a star block using EQ7.

I'm curious what next month will bring, but I wager I can find a few UFOs to keep me busy until then.

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Gridster Bee Blocks: January

Susan Snooks at PatchworknPlay requested an 8" New York Beauty block. Her color selections included royal blue, pink, and red with touches of black and white and/or yellow. She mentioned a lot for dots. I pulled a bunch of fabrics, but some of the pinks weren't getting along with the other colors.

Susan helped me narrow down my selections, and I added in some black and whites.

 I designed a couple of blocks in EQ7 to paper piece.

My first block came out about 1/4" too small. I removed the center quarter circle and the outer corner. Then I cut new pieces with the same curve, but oversized. I found the mid-point, pinned from there, and sewed. I squared up the block again without having it turn out way too little.

Getting the Cotton + Steel bears aligned in their places was a doozy, but I couldn't help myself. 

 Thanks for joining me for my online quilting bee adventure.