January Joy do. good stitches bee

For a number of years I have belonged to a quilt be that makes quilts for charitable causes. My bee group is call Joy and is made of Canadian quilters.  This month was my turn to pick a pattern and colors and ask the ladies to make a block or two.


The colors that I choose are from my favorite color site, Design Seeds, who posted a photo called Logged.  As it was cold and I was wanting nothing more than to warm up in front of a fire it thought it was very appropriate.

The block pattern is from the Fat Quarter Shop and was part of their Wishes quilt along.  The pattern is called, Stair Step. This block is very simple to put together and will look great when combined together for a scrappy look.

Blue Skies and Lemonade

My favorite things or a few things are blue sky and lemonade.  Yum.. So I decided to make a quilt with that theme.  Actually my starting point was a photo from Design Seeds.  Lemons in a sky blue colander is a wonderful stepping off point don't you think?

 The block is from Tickle and Hide blog and is simple effective. It would also make a great scrappy or monotone colored quilt too. So after getting everyone's blocks back and pressed, I put them on the design wall, played with turning them this way and that to find the perfect composition.

From there it was off to the long armers for a spell to get the perfect treatment. A white thread in a double leaf on a vine pattern.  You can see it better in the photo below.

Aug Bee block for Joy do good stitches

aug bee block for Joy do good stitches, a photo by NavyRev on Flickr.

Once more it is my turn to come up with the bee blocks for this month. After searching various blogs, and color inspirations I came across a blog called Tickle and Hide where I found a gorgeous Windmill block tutorial.  While her blocks were made from grey and purple, I decided to go with colors of grey, yellow and turquoise. The inspiration for that came from Design Seeds one of my favorite color inspiration blogs. Here is the link, Design Seeds.

I think that this will be a lovely bright and sunny quilt that will be a great donation to anyone who will receive it.

Joy Blocks for January

I must be a glutton for punishment, since I asked if I can have the January spot for the Joy at do good stitches bee back in November when I was up for that month as well.  I was a bit stumped as to what block I want to pick this month along with what color palette.

I thought about this block:
  diagonal chevrons

or this one:
                 or even this one:

I keep a log of favorite color palettes on my Pinterest account along with fav blocks on both Pinterest and Flickr and while I have been coming through them all nothing is jumping out saying make ME!

In the end I decided to go with coral and grey for color combination using this as my starting off point:
 

 The block pattern is from Sew Crafty Jess.  I changed the size a bit as I hate sewing scant quarter inches, plus a bigger block means the quilt will come together a bit faster too! Love it.

baby version

big version

Color Inspiration

Every once in a while I need to be challenged in what I make quilting wise.  Sometimes its a new technique, other times its a pattern style that is so not my own or use of color that I would not normally chose.  I came across a blog recently called Design Seeds, where the blogger offers a photo and from that photo a color palette that can be used to design something.  The photograhy is outstanding and refreshing, and the colors that are covered are exciting to my eye.
Anyways, I went on Sat, when I could finally crawl out of bed, to my LQS with two palettes in hand and went about chosing fabric.  I have no idea what I am making yet, though I do have a glimmer of something for the one colorway.

So what palettes did I choose?

Frosted Tone from design seeds.

To go with this I got some yummy soft fabrics that make me think of my friend Susan, who just became a grandma for the third time. I figure I can make a little something for her.  The chocolate brown fabric reminds me of dutch cocoa, you know the powdered stuff that you use to make brownies.  

Pecked Tones form Design Seeds

This rooster is somewhat of another challenge with its deep, moody colors that call for simplicity when choosing a quilt pattern.  So we will see what I can come up with.  I threw in a white as I think I will need something for a background and the grey dot is me taking liberty with the putty color on the end of the palette.