I have not been sewing much in the last week. But I have been catching up on my bee blocks. That one is Diamond Ripples from the 99 Modern Blocks book for Rhonda, Quilter in the Gap, in the Modern Stitching Bee. It is really a lovely block when it is all done and you are over the fact that 36 hsts are needed for a 12.5" square. I have a second different block to make for Rhonda too, maybe this week.
That is a 16 patch for Bee Blessed, a charity bee run by Judith, Just Jude and Sarah, Sew Me. There is also a group on flickr called the St Louis 16 Patch Along where they are making these blocks too, which I have been eying. I have to say that they are very fast and easy to make.
If you are the observant type you will see that I just cut an extra 3.5" strip off some of the fabrics I had out to make Rhonda's block. I am certain there is a quilt or two in my future with these blocks, you could just make one every now and again from fabrics that were out for other things. They take about 10 minutes to sew up.
Debbie, A Quilter's Table, who hosted the wildly successful polaroid swap last summer, asked for polaroid blocks in Always Bee Learning. I decided to split up her polaroids and make her two of these 18.5" blocks.
I had all my black fabrics out to find one with the right coloured lines - she was after white, not cream. I realized I have a lot of black and white/cream fabric, so I am thinking about a quilt pattern with a lot of black in it.
Today a mail run is on the list, I carried around blocks to mail all week last week and had no time to stop. Now I have more to get in the mail so no more excuses.
There is a shot of four of my pickle dish blocks sitting together. This quilt is going to be so dramatic, I am so happy with it. The four blocks are 40" square. However, I have concluded that it will not be finished by the end of June given my work schedule. Oh well, it will be done before winter sets in, which should be just fine.
Finally, the robin update. That photo was yesterday afternoon. She has been sitting on that nest for the week. She takes regular short breaks. She and her nest have survived some big winds and rain, the spot at my front door is nicely sheltered. The mail is now delivered at the sidewalk, the walk to the front door is blocked, and we use the side door through the garage.
I am hoping that soon there will be baby birds, we did put some soft mats on the concrete step in case they fell out of the nest. I will provide more updates as we go.
For those of you on a long weekend, enjoy your day. We had our long weekend last week so I am off to work shortly.
Best,
Leanne
27 comments:
lovely blocks, that pickle dish quilt is going to be such a stunner. And how wonderful you taking so many precautions and inconveniences for the little birdies.
Great bee blocks - I love Rhonda's scrappy one! Of course I can't wait to add the ones for me to my collection - thank you again! And so fun to watch the action on your porch! ;-)
oh and that Pickle Dish! Continuing to be awesome!!
Hi Leanne. Everything is such eye candy here! I'm in some swaps too and they are fun.
The points on your HSTs are fabulous! I love how the pickle dish is coming on, its going to look stunning. Sounds like you have a big workload - not long till you can pack your bags and hop over here for the retreat!
You're the best robin granny ever! Good for you with your soft mats and diverting the post lady. Well done.
Loving your bee blocks. You have some great bee buddies, too, asking for such great layouts. I enjoyed seeing these!
Oh how nice of you to go to so much trouble for the nest. All those HST's look great! As do your pickle blocks!
Thanks so much for the BB blocks L. They're fab! And I love your other blocks too. Pleased to hear that mummy robin is doing well. Jxo
Gorgeous blocks! I was just wondering how your robin was getting on - I hope there's a happy outcome after all that sitting! Your PD blocks are spectacular - it's going to be such a wonderful quilt! I think you've already added in one 'eye' - how was it and how did you do it in the end?
polaroid blocks are such a cool idea! Your pickle dishes are gonna be worth the wait! Good stuff!
Love the polaroids, they're on my list, too! Lovely blocks.
Fab bee blocks, especially the polaroid blocks.
Great job on all the blocks, loving the polaroid layouts
Wow, every one of those blocks is amazing, i love them, and the pd is coming along beautifully! :o)
Lovely blocks and the pickle dish is coming on really well. Glad that Mrs. Robin is doing well on your porch. Di x
I'm glad you've decided to enjoy the pickledish journey... It will loved just as much in the winter! I hope the robin family continue to thrive under your care!
Great blocks; keep at it Mrs Robin xxx
Oh that HST block looks superb! Great means to use my new HST skills ;o)
That´s a great idea to make a diamond riplle block every time you sew something and use the scraps for it.
I am so curious to see your pickle dish complet - I think you too LOL
xxx
The pickle dishes are beautiful and I love your polaroid blocks.
Great round up! 36 hsts are a lot! Love the pickle dish and Polaroids.
I love the polaroid blocks! So fun! And I love how you are protecting mama robin. We have a mama in our tree in our front yard and we've loved watching her from the window. I'm sure that mama appreciates you protecting her from the mailman and visitors!
What a wonderful colorful post! I am curious to know how you will EPP those centers. Will it be like appliqueing it? I would love for you to show how you do it.
It is terrible you posted all this eye-candy. I am still in the process of moving from North Carolina to Montana, so I have a lot of unpacking and organizing to do yet. And now all I want do to is to sit down and sew!
You're amazing as always, Leanne! I don't know how you do it all!!
I love my blocks! And those pickle dish blocks are amazing....when is that wedding?
Been gone, so I've been reading your blog to catch up on all your doings, leaving one note here on this post. Your pickle dish is stupendous! I love the colors, the fabrics and am completely impressed that you'll be EPP-ing in the eye of the block. It will look lovely, and if you happen onto any good movies in your stitching marathon, you'll have to let us all know.
I enjoyed all your Bee blocks, esp. the Diamond Ripples and the Polaroid blocks. (I guess I'll always love those little itty bitty Polaroids with their fussy cut images.)
And hoorah for the hatching baby robins! I love the color of those eggshells--robin's egg blue--and am enjoying the saga. One year we had a nest build in our backyard in our barbecue, so I could just lift up the lid to see the babies. Another year we had a hummingbird's nest right outside our family room window. Now we work hard to keep the neighborhood cats out of our yard so we can keep encouraging the birds to consider our yard nest-friendly (it's a full time job scaring them out!).
Anyway, glad to catch up--
Elizabeth E.
opquilt.com
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