Do you really WANA?

My husband has a quilt of his own but it is very worn and not well made -- it was I think the 2nd quilt I ever made and this was before I realized the importance of stitch length and seam allowance. I told him if he would let me dispose of the ratty quilt he could choose his next quilt and I would have the hive mates make these blocks for him, and each night it would be like he was sleeping with a whole bunch of quilters. 

In February I was queen for the Bee Hive Swarm and in those hives you choose from blocks that have been chosen as a part of the Bee Hive Swarm that Alyce set up last year. I didn't sign up last year because the blocks weren't out yet but these are some pretty fun blocks overall. Thinking of hubby, He likes the cathedral window and orange peel look and when he saw the Wanta Fanta block, he asked if I could use purple and grey. I thought about other blocks that I had seen and came up with the idea of my revamp and showed him my sample block. 

I put forth the changes to the hive and blocks came trickling in and the more of them that I saw the more I realized that this was the right choice and I was really happy that the ladies had sent some scraps along with the blocks, because I was going to need many more of these to make a queen size quilt for our bed.

I was lucky enough that in March I was queen again for the Stash Bee Hive 6 -- I put forth the same challenge and loved watching all the blocks come rolling in. Several of the ladies made a few blocks and that was awesome. I had also asked again for any purple or low volume / grey scraps if they felt inclined to send extras. 

Quilt math meant that I needed a total of 56 blocks for a queen -- I knew that the hives would make 21 blocks needed for the hive, plus my sample block which meant that I needed to make 34 more blocks for the quilt -- now you see why I was so grateful for the extra blocks and the extra scraps. This really meant that the quilt would maintain a scrappy feel and blocks that I made would blend in with the others because it was everyone's fabrics. After all the hive blocks arrived I had 35 with the few extras that I had already been making, so I set out to complete the others. 

To me this quilt is a real eye catcher every time I put groupings of the blocks up -- whether it's (nearly) 12

OR the first 30

and that really helped motivate me to finish assembly quickly. 

While at Stash Bash I got the rest of the blocks put together 

I really love this project and got straight onto the assembly 

This is the first 56 blocks (I thought this was the completed top)

Once I got her home I laid her out on the bed and then decided that making it a square would be better and least likely to impact share-ability on our bed, so that meant making another 8 blocks. I did get an offer from a lady that I had made an extra block for to make a few for me so this really helped. 

Here they are all assembled into a top and ready for quilting.

I may have had to get the selfie stick out for this photo and perch myself on the ledge in our stair well. 

I made the choice to send this one to the long armer because I know it's going to be around for a while. This is only the 2nd quilt I have ever sent out and I choose to go with Charlene @The Cotton Farm Fabrics because she's great and it just so happened that she was doing an awesome discount this month. 

This was another project that I was eager to bind once it came home so I had the binding all prepped and ready to go. I toyed with scrappy binding or something framing like a dark grey but I found this tucked away in my stash. 

Due to it's huge nature, when it got home I took a couple of photos of it on my bed (prebinding turn) to show the ladies how it was going to look -- and i was super eager to see for myself. This quilt finished at 8 feet square so it has an overhand of 18 inches on each side and at the foot plus a turndown at the top. 

You know who made himself right at home -- surveying his newest quilt and making sure it meets his delicate needs. 

Now that it's bound it was time for fun pictures outdoors. 

Hive mates really came through for me this year -- being hive queen early in the year probably has the added advantage that no one is burnt out yet but I did have two awesome groups of ladies making blocks. they pulled it together even though the blocks were a little bit of a challenge. (My tip for bee blocks that are paper pieced -- make sure printing is set at 100% and not fit to page, this cleared up several issues a few people had right away.) 

This is my 12th finish in the 2nd quarter. 

April Stashing and Sewing

April will be a month of recovery from all the stash additions from last month and hopefully I can get this stash game back on track. I have many goals that I set for the quarter and it looks like I have most of the things on hand to make most of them happen. 

Since the month started on a Friday that gave me a jump start on getting the bee blocks taken care of and on their way to new homes. Helen wanted red cross blocks and my stash really paid off this time because  I was sure that I would need to buy red fabric to make these happen but I found enough in the charm box to send these 3 lovelies to her. (-.5 yd) 

In the Bee Hive Swarm, Cindy wanted these fun checker blocks that are super simple and come together really quick but have a great impact -- Four blocks heading her way. (-.5 yard) 

I did manage my first finish for the quarter with my huge and awesome tote that was my Stash Bash Revamp project. This was mostly scraps from the retreats but I did pull the lining and the linen from my stash to pull it all together (-2.5 yards) 

My 2nd finish for the month was getting my Spellbound quilt finished (-10 yards) 

April also brought the deadline for the Kitten Mini Swap -- I had finished the mini last month but this was a 2 item swap so I put together a mini sew together bag for my partner and got it all shipped off. (-2 yards) 

I'm really loving to hive jump and I made a few more this month -- and apparently I forgot to photograph them all. (-1 yard) 

My niece is a dog groomer and needed some fabric for bandannas and bow ties that she makes for extras for her clients and to sell on the side. I really wanted some of that destashable fabric to go to a good cause so I sent her a huge bundle of assorted fabrics to help her have a better variety. (-12 yards) 

There was a call for some blocks for a special project for a fellow quilter that has cancer and I pitched in some fabric for backing (-5 yards) since I wasn't sure I'd have enough time to make the blocks. 

After a weekend of catching up on projects and all that cutting for my City sampler project I decided it was time to start planning for some new projects. 

because in the 11th hour I had made up my mind that I would be attending Stash Bash for my own mental health -- medical bills and dwelling work leave be damned. 

I made a few gift items for ladies at the bash (-6 yards) 

One of the awesome ladies at Stash Bash was collecting donation fabric for impoverished women and refugees to be able to make clothing and gain skills to be more self sustaining -- so I also took her a bundle of fabrics (-10 yards)

While at the retreat I worked on several projects but I also indulged a little at a few local shops. (+ 20 yards -- see that Kate Spain Christmas fabric, it's going to be the backing on my epic KS Christmas quilt) 

Received the rest of my Wana Fanta blocks and put mine with it to have 35 blocks completed. I needed 56 for the queen size quilt that I wanted to make so that meant lots of extra blocks needed to be made and I set out on this and I made the other 21 over once i got to stash bash. (only to realize when I got home that I need 8 more to make the quilt square so it will really fit the bed well)

I made a few hour baskets (-3 yards) 

completed the top of my Tula Pink quilt and won long arming while at retreat so I went ahead and sent her off to Florida for some time in the spa with Kira (http://kirabell.blogspot.com/)

 After the retreat I was left with one more week in the month and most of this was sent recuperating and unpacking. I got back into the sewing room a little on Saturday but mostly to organize and start on those other 8 Wanta Fanta blocks. 

April seemed like a very productive month overall to me and I am feeling pretty good about the numbers. I started the month with a YTD fabric decrease of -48.5 yards, I used/ gifted 52.5 yards this month and brought in 20 yards -- bringing the YTD total to 81 yards decreased from my stash, and I'm pretty happy about that. 

Secret Retreat

With my 11th hour planning and working some magic to pull it all together, I was so ready to get this bash under way --- it's really hard keeping a secret like this for 10 days, especially when everyone is talking about it on social media.

I was very careful about what I put online in preparation for leaving and even considered throwing in a few decoy posts on instagram to throw people off that might suspect it was a ruse. 


I got everything all packed up and ready to go.

In the house vs in the trunk 

It was very fun to suprise some of my very good friends by showing up at the retreat unexpected -- but the real surprise was running into Mallory while in a quilt shop on my way there.

While at the retreat I worked on my Wanta Fanta Quilt and assembled the top. (I have since decided that I need another 8 blocks to complete the top and make it square.) 

I completed the top of my City Sampler 

I made a Moda Love Star mini quilt 

I completed 3 hour baskets -- one of which I kept for myself. The other 2 went to our awesome cooks this weekend.

I got started on my Lucky 21 quilt. This one has been to all the stash bashes that I have so far and apparently #3 was finally time to get her started. 

One of the awesome things about stash bash is the giveaways and I won some really awesome stuff this time. first I won a folding olfa mat provided by Angela of The Green Apricot 

then in the big lottery drawing I won custom long arm quilting by my awesome friends Kira -- oh the noise that I made when they called my number was pretty remarkable and more than slightly embarrassing. 

Angela is so awesome and gifted me the batting that she had previously won. So the Tula sampler was sent with Kira off to Florida for some very special love and I can't wait to see how awesome she makes it, I almost sent Mr. Pink home with her to supervise. 

We always have remarkable sponsors and goodie bags and here is just a bit of the awesome swag that I got. 

I was lucky enough to take part in the secret sister swap through an angel package I made, and two awesome ladies put together some goodies for me as well -- so a big shout out to Nisha and Karie for surprising me with these goodies. 

There is always lots of laughter, some tears and a room full of love at this retreat and I am forever grateful for the friendships that this has brought into my life.

And one thing I learned this time is there are never enough Rice Crispy treats -- cause 4 batches only got us through 24 hours.

The hour baskets are finishes 8, 9 & 10 for the 2nd quarter