Mondrian's Nephew was a Beatnik

Okay ladies, It's my turn to host and I've got something that looks difficult, but once you get started you will find it's suuper easy and fun! The thing to keep in mind is shot cottons are very easy to work with and in the end they will all look fabulous togeter! I'll send the instructions with the fabric, but in case you can't wait to see what I have in store, here is the assignment (click on it to enlarge):

A Block for Rebekah

Hi Rebekah! I've finished your block! No, it's not this one... this one is tooo boring!

For you, I reworked my block and made you this... which is juuuust right! Hope you like it! Cheers!

Block for Esch

This is based on the roofline and stairs of my parents' home; or, as we affectionately call it, the "very brady ski chalet."

I'm not sure it makes a very interesting block all on its own, but I think once it gets put in with the others, it will work really well.

architectural block for Debbie

This one had me stumped for a little while but I sat down last night excited to experiment with some bricks (which I think was in your original sketch, Debbie). I'm loving the effect... hope the end result plays nice with the other blocks!

lines and curves

I'll admit that I kept pushing this block back because I was intimidated by the challenge. but at the same time I loved the challenge. isn't that what bees are about?

I made my own little challenge by cutting everything freehand (no rulers!, no measuring!) which may have made my curves a little too subtle. you can probably see my progression from left to right! finally got it on the last one!!

Amanda's chevron

I just realized that I posted pics of Amanda's chevron on my blog and Flickr, but forgot to post it here!  It was a fun challenge!
I originally intended the right side of the chevron to be fatter than the left, but had to decide on fat or curve, so I chose curve.  Hope you like it, Amanda!

my other blocks

jess's and amanda's blocks have been out of my hands for a while, but I never got to post them here. I had no hard plans for either, which made for interesting piecing.

mid mod house

I'm slowly going through all the bee block fabric I received a couple of months ago. I have three blocks done, two more to go. Maybe I'll get them done before the next stack of fabric makes it my way. All the snow this week is sure to help!

I worked on debbie's block yesterday, though I've had a highly detailed sketch since I read the original post ;)

I took inspiration from one of the gallery photos, "building" a house with a colorful door and a garage with a window over it. I did worry that my block is too literal and not outlined enough. if it isn't let me know and I can make another one!

Swooping Chevron

I wanted to make a swooping chevron, so I went with curves. All was going along swimmingly until that one curve...so I tried again, and again. Third time must be the charm, but honestly it's still a little wacky. I pressed the hell out of it. That's my go to solution when something doesn't go my way.
I hope it'll lay flat for you Amanda. And thank you for sending such a generous amount of fabric. I needed every inch. I appreciate being able to screw up and still be able to finish a block.
Next block is on the cutting table. I'm hoping it's it the mail before Rebekah's fabric arrives.

blocks for January

I am finally starting to get on the ball with my month! It took me quite a while to come up with a concept, but I think it's ready for the group now.

Here are my main inspiration pieces:

Here are the details for the blocks:
1. Final block size: 14”x14”
2. Use the brown or turquoise fabric as the base/main color fabric
3. Use any combination of the remaining fabric for the block (feel free to add your own prints as an accent if you have any that match)
4. Any piecing/applique technique is fine.
5. Include at least one rounded and hollowed out square/rectangle in the block

I'm going to be combining these 10 blocks into a quilt for our master bedroom. I can't wait to see what you all create!

Barkcloth for Cheryl

I'm busy catching up. First, Cheryl. I love barkcloth too, so narrowing down the inspiration was hard, but I picked the shapes I loved and went for it.

First, I pieced in the arc shapes, then I let Cheryl's background fabric lead me and I went with that Philco tv shape that I'd still have in my living room if it would get a station. I fused and appliqued that. I would love to do a whole quilt of blocks like these. Thanks for the push, Cheryl. I can always count on you for that.

The hardest part was cutting the shape of the final block. I learned...I have crappy scissors that desperately need sharpening.

Frank Lloyd Wright Fabric Designs

When we started the bee the first thing I looked for were FLW designs. I must be the worst Google searcher because I totally missed any fabric that he might have designed. Then, at the Art Gallery of Alberta I found these cards.

Stunning, gorgeous, and elegant.

Suddenly I want. Especially that bottom right one. That could be a quilt so easily. It's just two blocks!

House or Power Plant?

Here you go Debbie. I realized after I complete it that it is probably a bit too blocky for you. I'm sorry about that. I reread the directions after I finished. But there is a definitive influence from your inspiration photos. That counts for something!

It's in the mail, so don't lose it among the Christmas cards!

Chevron/Heart

The best part of the online quilt bee is working outside of your comfort zone. Making a block in these colours is definitely outside my comfort zone, as are all those solids.

This is Amanda's block. If you turn it upside down it vaguely resembles a heart. That is how I feel about this block. The size, the sparseness, the challenge in making it - all make me love it. I'm still not digging the colour. Then again, it isn't mine, so that's okay.

I hope Amanda hearts it too.

Robin's mod blocks

My block for Debbie... inspired by those butterfly roofs that were so popular with mid-century design. I always wondered about them. Living inside a house with a roof like this would mean the interior of the house had a low ceiling and thus made for a cozier space. As the house expanded outwards, the ceiling slopes upward thus creating an expansive feel. It must have been something to live in a space like this, but what did they do about the rain? Did it pond up there in that bend? Pardon me for allowing my mind to wander...

A second block, made to mimic the lines of the first:

For Amanda my chevron turned out to look like a symbol from the periodic table of elements... well maybe in another language.

Have a wonderful holiday season everybody! See you in January!

Mid Mod for November

I am so excited that I finally managed to distill all the ideas running around in my head into something fairly coherent!  Here it is:

I am asking each of you to make me a rectangular block inspired by Mid Century Modern homes.  I have organized both a gallery and a set on Flickr of images that I love.  Apparently, according to Flickr, sets are your own images; galleries are other people's Flickr images.  Although "my" images were all lifted from google :).  Your rectangular block should be in the general area of 9" x 15" and use a kind of outline style similar to my mock up.  I will send you grey fabric for the background and some green and blue strips to use for piecing.

Some of you may recall that I earlier mentioned that I might feature applique during my month.  The image of a George Nelson clock was my inspiration for this idea, but it didn't seem to offer enough opportunity for creativity.  Since the image is strikingly similar to an idea I had many months ago for a dandelion quilt, it may yet show up!

Have I left anything out?  I can't wait to see what you all come up with!!

Amanda’s BFC (big flippin’ chevron)

Here is my chevron block for Amanda. This block is 20". It's huge, but I really like the size because she'll be able to make a whole quilt easily using just the blocks from the bee quilters. I should have thought of that when it was my turn. Oh well, next time...

At first this seemed like a super easy block, until I started trying to figure out how to actually put it together. I ended up needing to draw it to figure out where all the seams needed to go. I have a need to do the least amount of seams necessary. It's a disease.

Catching Up

Saturday was my catch up day and I finished these two blocks for Cheryl and Amanda.

First up is Cheryl's right angle block. I searched for right angle pictures in an image search and was inspired by this balcony image:

from here.

Here's my very literal translation into a block.

For Amanda's block, I started cutting prematurely and with no plan at all which resulted in one of the arms of the chevron being crazily pieced. Thanks for sending so much fabric! It was a lifesaver for me.

Jon was looking through the pictures on my camera and stated, without prompting, "Ooh, this is really cool! It looks very 1960's." He laughed when I told him the purpose of this bee.

And, here's the full on shot. I almost cropped out my thread catching sock, but left it in there because I'm sure you can all relate!

Links

Hi All, I just wanted to share with you a couple of links... for consideration on our sidebar.

From Amanda, our group on Flickr

Grain Edit, a blog devoted to design work from the 1950's - 1970's

Artist Matte Stephens

and Mid Century Style

Enjoy! Robin

Welcome to Yahaira!

Hi all,

I just wanted to let you know of a slight change in the cast of Mid Mod Quilters!  While Malka remains excited about mid-century design, she found herself unable to find the time to make blocks for our bee (she has kids going to college, a book coming out, a shop to run...!)  I think we've all been there, very much wanting to have time to do something, but just not finding a way to make it work and feeling sick and guilty instead of fun and quilty! 

So, the lovely Yahaira of Bitter Purl has agreed to take over for Malka.  In fact, Yahaira has really stepped up to the bat...Malka is going to send the un-stitched packets of fabric to her and Yahaira is going to play catch-up for us! 

I've updated the directory in Google Docs, please be sure that you send packages to the right place!

Happy November,
Rossie