June 2014

In June our queen decided on this utterly gorgeous block called Scrap Jar Stars.

And here's the tutorial.

In hive #2 we were asked to make a Moonlight Star block in one purple fabric plus white. It's from a FREE McCall's Quilting pattern available here.  Here's my contribution in a fabric that hasn't photographed very purple but it is a rich dark plum shade.

And last but not least, our paper pieced star queen wanted "bright scrappy stars with white tone on tone background". I was really excited to break out this block for her.

May 2014

Our May queen requested a Card Trick block which I was delighted about since I have the perfect fabric in my stash.  Here's the result.

In the second hive we were give free reign over the pattern - as long as it was a red heart on a blue background. Nice and simple.

And in paper pieced star land we got our pink and green scraps out.

April 2014

It seems that we're all scrappy or bright fans in the hives. Hive #1's queen wanted a X and + block.  Here's my contribution.

 Here's a link to the tutorial.

In the second hive, the request was for a block called Carolyn's Star to be made in bold florals and tone on tones.This was the brightest floral in my stash without a doubt. I think it fits the bill.  This is the link to the Quilter's Cache instructions.

And last but not least, the paper pieced stars April Queen asked for yellow and greys. Enter the Kansas Star.

March 2014

Woo hoo! It's my turn to be Queen!  I've been in love with the SWOON block since forever and now I get to sit back while the postman delivers 11 of them to my letterbox. What a lucky girl!!

Here's the sample block I made.

Here are the first 9 blocks I received.

In Hive number 2 we were charged with the task of creating 4 little chick improv blocks.   I really enjoyed people's enthusiasm for requesting the worker bees to improvise rather than stress over exact seams. Improvisation makes for a great Bee Block since everyone's 1/4" seams are vastly different.  Here are my chickies.

Furthermore, March saw me join a THIRD Hive - this time a paper pieced star hive. So each month we were to choose whatever 12" (finished) star we like and the Queen decides the colourway.  So March 2014's Bright Scrappy Rainbow block turned out like this:

Now we're cooking with gas!

February 2014

We were adventurous bees in February and our Queen put the word out for a string pieced scrappy star.
Scroll down for the example and instructions.  And here's my finished project for Hive 1.

In the second Hive we were set the task of a Wonky Log Cabin. With all my perfectionist tendencies it was incredibly difficult to let go and make a crooked block but the effect of 12 similar blocks in a multitude of different fabrics was incredible. Here's how my block turned out.

January 2014

By January I was having so much fun in my bee hive that I joined a second one. This meant two blocks per month for other quilters - double the fun!  So the first one was a SUPERNOVA block in warm colours - enter exhibit A.

And in my new hive, our January queen requested an original design titled Mega Orange Peel Improv block which looks like this:

This is way too much fun! Gotta love school holidays!

December 2013

What a kindly Queen we had in December. She chose a "Two inch treasures" block (7 x 7 2" squares) that was easy peasy to whip up before the Christmas craziness kicked into full swing.  What a lovely and simple idea for a postage stamp quilt.