Reporting from Hive 6

FINALLY! I am getting a second to share February's stash bee blocks. Samantha wanted a disappearing 9-patch quilt made from navy, royal blue, lime green, white, and gray. After looking through my scrap bin I found some great fabrics in those colors, so much so, I made two blocks!

Samantha's question this month was have we made any goals for this year. Well, have I? So far the only thing I have accomplished is zippers, and lots of hopes and dreams.  This week is vacation so I am tackling my WIPs, more like making a small dent in the list. 

-Patch & Chels

Sunday Stash

I CAVED!

There are so many pretty Cotton + Steel fabrics out, I said I wouldn't buy them. I don't need them. After I won a FQ bundle at our last guild meeting, I decided to make my Moda Modern Blocks quilt from Cotton + Steel. The flood gates unleashed .... 

Got a little carried away! They are so pretty. Linking up with Molli Sparkles this fine Sunday.

-Patch & Chels

Mastery of Zippers

My whole life I refuse to do anything the easy way. In the case of mastering zippers the most logical approach would be to try out a simple zippered pouch with one zipper in the design. Nope, that's not my style. Instead, I take on the sew together bag that happens to include 4 zippers.  Silly me.

Armed with some motivation, I went down to sew with Michelle at From Bolt to Beauty for a good dose of knowledge. She is very methodical and takes the time to measure, pin, iron, and place everything. It was amazing how much attention she pays to details.

I found out my quilting style is more along the lines of the Tasmanian devil. I leave a wake of destruction, eyeball everything, and forget to pin most of the time. Even though our styles are drastically different, she did teach me a few things about zippers. The first attempt was iffy and slightly wonky, after that I got the hang of them. Thanks Michelle for the help!

Finally, I started to remember to move the zipper head mid-sew, as no matter how hard I tried the foot would not go around them. Lesson learned. Pretty sure I used my yearly quota for pinning in this project!

After 3 hours of sewing in one night, the bag was about 85% complete. Getting late, it was time to go home.  Looks like this bag will get finished sans zipper expert nearby. I remained hopeful.

The next night, equipped with a glass of wine, I tackle the remaining and final zipper for the bag. It goes in without any major snafus. Success. Without too much trouble the bag is complete, not perfect, but complete. This little bag is going to hold all my hand sewing items, and you will be shocked to see how much this bag holds!

Chels, 4. Zippers, 0. Looks like this goal for the year is checked off, 14 more goals to go!

-Patch & Chels

Paper Pieced Modern Book Tour + Giveaway!

The only way to describe Amy @ 13 Spools is original and cutting edge. Amy works to provide the quilt world with new and refreshing ideas. Following her blog is just inspirational, so when she asked me to be apart of her new book tour I jumped at the opportunity. I just love her style.  ** Disclaimer: I really love her work this much and all these words are mine, no bribes as promised :) **

 - The Bachelor - 

photo by C&T Publishing

Happy Valentine's day! Well, if you are a bachelor, maybe not so much. I got a huge chuckle when Amy asked to share a quilt called "The Bachelor" today.  Oh, the irony! To all the bachelors out there this quilt was designed just for you to give you some cheer on this day :) What I like most about Amy's designs is how universal they are, many quilts have a masculine touch. They are great patterns for guys, something, I find very challenging to find.

So here are some quilt stats ... 

The quilts finishes at 80 inches by 101 inches, that's right, it will go head to toe on even the tallest of bachelors. The block size is 12 inches by 12 inches and are a little time consuming to piece, if you are worried about the narrow design, with paper piecing everything is much more accurate. Don't fret. The rest of the quilt goes together quickly. Doesn't it remind you of a football field? The ticking reminds me of the yard markers. 

"This quilt block took a number of hours for me to design - not that it was terribly difficult, but that it took me quite awhile before I settled on it's angle and the number of rectangles to use. This is a variation on a Courthouse Steps block. I think that Courthouse Step blocks and Log Cabin blocks lend really well to masculine designs, so I decided this would be a manly quilt. I worked it into an Essex linen background, and Emily of Emerson Quilting placed straight lines across the light gray rectangles, and large pebbles in the background. She did some ditch-stitching to accentuate the lines within the block." - Amy Garro

If you would like to see some of the other quilts in this book check out the other posts! I promise they don't disappoint ...

Feb 5th - Lindsay @ Lindsay Sews

Feb 6th - Charlotte @ Displacement Activity

Feb 7th - Molli @ Molli Sparkles

Feb 8th - Elise @ Lovelea Designs

Feb 9th - Amy guest posting @ C&T Publishing

Feb 10th - Darcie @ The Seam Allowance

Feb 11th - Christa @ Christa Quilts

Feb 12th - Amy guest posting @ Craft Buds

Feb 13th - Amy @ 13 Spools

Feb 14th - Chelsea @ Patch the Giraffe

Feb 15th - Amy @ During Quiet Time

Feb 16th - Wrap-up post back at 13 Spools

Today giveaway is a copy of the book Paper Pieced Modern, hard copy for U.S. winners and e-copy for international winners. In order to enter the giveaway tell me who you would make this quilt for in your life! If you cannot stand the thought of not winning, you can head to Amy's Etsy site to pre-order a signed copy! 

** The giveaway is now closed **

Best of luck, 

-Patch & Chels