bees & news.

this little lovely is for tina.

this block made me fall in love with the red & yellow combo.

this hot little number is for barb.

all i could think about was watermelons while i worked on this.

{i hate watermelons but i heart this block.}

this spiffy block is for adina.
i love the color scheme here.

i could make a dozen quilts with it.

this amazing block is for john.
you have no idea how much i LOVE these fabrics.

they are SO soft. SO soft.

maybe john will just give me this quilt when it's finished.

{a girl can dream can't she???}

this nifty block is also for john.
he picks the best fabrics to play with!!!
not. even. joking.

and last...
this starry block is for donna.
i love this block...alot.

i'm SUPER glad to have these blocks done.
i hope that they are all loved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

okay...so i have good news & bad news.
i'll tell yall the bad news first...

the bad news:
my SUPER awesome news has to be postponed until next week.
sorry yall.

the good news:
trust me when i say yall need to stop by tomorrow.
just trust me.

my pinwheel sampler quilt.

it's finished!!! it's finished!!! it's finished!!!

isn't it absolutely beautiful?!?!

i am so in ♥ with this quilt.

like i've literally been like linus and everything.

not. even. joking.

so to my bee inspired group:

john, krista, terri, meredith, lisa,

karla, barbie, nettie, deanna,

natasha, ann, dianah, natalie,

donna, lynn, stacey, & deb

thank yall SO much for making my blocks!!!

and thanks for helping me bring this quilt to life.

yall. are. amazing.

and to julie:

i just heart you.

the quilting is exactly what i envisioned.

thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

you. rock. my. socks. off.

*grinning from ear to ear*

i really, really love this quilt.

bee blocks. {for may.}

this flying geese block is for nettie.

{this is for bee inspired. for may.}

this wonky star block is for deanna.

{this is also for bee inspired. for may.}

sorry this is short, sweet & to the point.

but i've had a very emotional day and i want nothing more than

to crawl into bed and start over tomorrow.

the most beautiful eye candy.

the top is done!!!

the top is done!!!

the top is done!!!

it was done by friday, so i made my goal.

the pics have been posted in my flickr photostream all weekend.
it's been making the rounds in flickr land.

i've had nothing but positive response.

even though it's not done yet, it has quickly become my all time fav quilt.

oh how i ♥ thee.

and i ♥ the 17 other people that helped me make it!!!

so now...i'm afraid of quilting this beast.

there are a gozillion seams in this bad boy!!!

so i'm open to suggestions.

how would yall quilt it???

honestly.

would you...

stipple like this???

straight like this???

or send it off and let someone else figure it out???

p.s. those mini pinwheels were the devil.

but aren't they cute???
i'm SO glad i suffered through them.

mine. all mine.

i made these blocks for me. yes me.

these are for bee inspired.

the 4 bigger blocks were my block contribution to my own quilt.

and that adorable little stack at the top...

those are mini pinwheels for the sashing.

pure cuteness i tell you!!!

trust me when i say...

"this is going to be the most amazing pinwheel quilt EVER!!!"

i might be a little bit biased, that's just how i roll sometimes.

i'm trying like crazy to get this top completely pieced before friday.

where are my cheerleaders when i need them???

i'm thinking it's time for a pep rally.

bee{ing} productive.

these 2 lovelies were made for meredith.

{this is my april block for bee inspired.}

and this little number was made for john.
{just because he asked me to. lol.}

so that was my day.

{along with catching up the laundry.}

hope yall had a productive day too!!!

march madness: quilting bee style

see what happens when you take a little break?!?

you become productive.

well i, rachel, become productive.

i'm still taking that break...

but while my internet is being user friendly, i wanted to show yall these.

the mermaid lagoon.

made for nettie.

{this is my march block for the cottage quilting bee.}

the cat block with reversibility powers.
made for viv.
{this is another march block for the cottage quilting bee.}

and the reptilian house.
for dianah.
{this is my march block for bee inspired.}

march is also MY month for bee inspired.
i've already started getting my blocks back.

they're most beautiful pinwheel blocks EVER...man i ♥ pinwheels!!!
i wanna wait to show yall ALL of them.
so be on the lookout for those.

and the winners are...

{yall can click to enlarge.}

yayyy to the winners!!!

please shoot me an email at:

ssg3369{at}hotmail{dot}com

{with 'bee inspired' in the subject line please}

i need yall's mailing addresses asap.

along with your blog link and your flickr link.

please & thank you!!!

for all the other people that were interested...

see sarah and join her quilting bee.

she would ♥ to have yall!!!

and thanks so much for signing up!!!

everyone is more than welcome to follow along via our flickr group.

and in case anyone is wondering...

quilters were picked via the old 'name in a hat' method.

and i'm sorry that this post is SO late.
{i wanted to post this around 8ish.}

but my daughter melanie is running a high grade fever tonight.

:O(

bee inspired.

okay yall.
it’s officially official.

yall are looking at the proud creator of bee inspired.
{that virtual quilting bee i was talking about.}

this post will be an outline and contain my hopes and requirements for bee inspired.

bee inspired will consist of 15-18 quilters.
i realize that way more than 18 people were interested, but 18 is my limit.
anyone not included in this round of bee inspired will go onto a waiting list.
{or i can direct yall to sarah who is starting the same kind of bee.}

everyone in the swap will be assigned a month.
when it's your month, you will send out a packet of fabrics to each of the other quilters.
enough to make one 12.5 x 12.5 block.
these packets should be from a set of fabrics that you want a quilt made out of.
you can state any preferences {likes/dislikes} that you want for your block.
i will clarify that we are not all quilting geniuses.
so please don’t expect super intricate designs.

but i also want to clarify that experience is required.

during your month, everyone else will make you a block and send it back to you.
then you will have enough blocks to make a quilt.

for all other months of the swap:
you will receive one person's fabric and make a single block.
then you will send it back to that person.
one block per month is a pretty small time commitment.
{we will be making 2 blocks a month for some months.}
i will be alternating this so that you are only making 3 blocks in a 2 month period.

monthly deadline:
during your month, fabrics should be mailed out by the 5th of the month.
all other quilters will have until the 5th of the following month to mail back the block.

we will be using flickr as our means of communication.
to show pictures of fabrics.
to say ‘hey i got my fabric’
or ‘hey i’m done with your block, it’s in the mail.’
once the roster is decided, i’ll send you a link to our page so we can get this party started.

{if you don't have a flickr account, it's free and easy.}

this is VERY important:
everyone is responsible for their own postage!!!
so without confusion i’ll say this…
YOU are responsible for mailing out YOUR fabric on YOUR month.
those other 14-17 people will pay to mail your block back to you.
it’s a small price to pay to have your quilt top made for you.

this is a year long quilting bee.
please keep that in mind as you make the commitment.
{yall should know now that december will be an ‘off’ month due to christmas.}

and i am allowing international quilters.

so with that being said…let the sign ups begin!!!
know that just because you say ‘hey i wanna join’ that doesn’t mean you are in.
and because i believe in fairness, this is not a ‘first come first served’ sign up.
this will be more like a lottery.

{with the exception of john. he's already in for helping me do this!!!}
all the other quilters will be picked from the comments on this sign up post.

{even if you left a comment on previous post, you'll need to leave it on this one.}

to sign up:

leave your comment on this post saying you are ready to commit.

{and i MUST have a way to get a hold of you if you are picked.}
i’ll leave it open for a few days.

and then there were details.

okay so it's looking like yall want to join in on my virtual quilting bee!!!

that's awesome!!!

just keep in mind that nothing is set in stone yet.

and that this is my 1st go around with hosting my own bee.

so please be patient with me.

now for some details:

most virtual quilting bees average around 12-24 people.

at this time i have NO clue how many will be in this bee.

{i quite honestly already have enough people to run a few bees. WOW.}

the basic outline is this:

everyone in the swap will be assigned a month.

when it's your month, you will send out a packet of fabrics to each of the other quilters.

{enough to make one block.}

these packets should be from a set of fabrics that you want a quilt made out of.

you can state any preferences {likes/dislikes} that you want for your block.

edit: i should clarify on 'you can state any preferences'...

my goal here is to run a bee that is beginner friendly.

i don't want anyone to feel intimidated or like they are out of their league.

so if you want 15 paper pieced blocks...this is SO not the bee for you my friend.

:O)

during your month, everyone else will make you a block and send it back to you.

then you will have enough blocks to make a quilt.

for all other months of the swap:

you will receive one person's fabric and make a single block.

then you will send it back to that person.

so you're only sending fabrics when it's your month.

and one block per month is a pretty small time commitment.

depending on the group size we might be making 2 blocks a month for some months.

{this would be if there are between 13-18 people in this bee.}

oh and everyone is responsible for their own postage!!!

so now that yall have some details...your thoughts???

p.s. to see some other bees in action...

go HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.