catching up

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This week was one for catching my breath and catching up. I was quite behind on my bee blocks, so I spent a few days fixing that.

Top left: flying geese for Stephanie (tutorial here)
Top right: books for baby block for Cindy (pattern in the book Patchwork, Please!)
Bottom left: charming stars block for Terri (tutorial here)
Bottom right: improv herringbone for Shelly (tutorial here)

The star block was super fun to make and it's so simple. I want to make an entire quilt from that pattern some day. The herringbone block, while cute, was SO time consuming...and it ate a LOT of fabric. Thankfully, there is no shortage of fabric around here. Ha!

Phew! It feels good to have those done. Thankfully my friends are patient. :) Now, to get these in the mail...that's always the trick!

Did you know that you can link up your finishes from Instagram? See this post for more details.

It's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

catching up on bee blocks

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This week I caught up on my bee block commitments. While it's not a big finish, it still feels pretty darn good! I know I said this before, but seriously, how do the months fly by so fast?!?!

These X and plus blocks are for Doris. She has a great tutorial here for making a 15" finished block. I didn't rush the fabric selection, so making the block took me awhile. I think that it paid off in the end...I'm quite happy with how it turned out! Selecting fabric with significant contrast is crucial.

Since I was/am so late, I decided to make another one...for penance sake. :) This one came together much more quickly than the first. I can see why these blocks are so popular...they are so fun to make! I am very relieved, though, that I don't feel the need to make a whole quilt of them. You know?

This block is for Michelle, who is making a friendship quilt. She gave us free reign to make any block that we wanted to...something that is special to us. I'm still crushing on pineapple blocks (and they lend themselves to scrappy so well) so it was an easy choice for me. I used my pineapple block tutorial, which you can find here. This was very fun to make, too! This block will finish at 12" square.

So, that's all I've got for this week! I hope you had a successful week finishing something...anything! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! For those of you in the States, have a safe and great Memorial Day weekend!

big, big bear paw

Well, I'm not sure how much of a break that was, but I'm back! And I'm happy to be here! A big thank you to all of you who checked in and sent me kind notes in my absence. I appreciate it!

I've been sewing a lot, which is good! This block, a HUGE bear paw block, was made for my friend Terri for our Sew Sisters Bee. I LOVED making it and I really (really) wanted to keep it. The block will finish at 28"! Terri posted a tutorial here if you would like to make one/some of your own.

The great thing about being in a bee is that it pushes you out of your comfort zone. I pulled out all the larger scale multi-colored prints that I had on hand (I can't believe I found this many) and paired them with a hot pink solid. I need to remember to use bolder backgrounds more often...there is so much impact. The funny thing is, some of the print fabrics came from Terri several years ago. How crazy is it that they will end up in her quilt after all?! I love it!

I hope to see you all back here tomorrow for finish it up Friday! Have a fantastic day!