April 22, 2015

April's MCM Bee Block

I finished my April Mid Century Modern Bee block for Stephanie of Peas in a Pod. You can also see her latest work on Instagram  @stephiepeterson. Stephanie is a new member to the bee and chose this lovely paper pieced block. I think her quilt will be fabulous when all the blocks come together. Can't wait to see what she does with them.    : )



I must admit I was a little skeptical of this paper pieced block since I usually find paper piecing a challenge. It looked complicated. There are 113 little pieces in this one 12" block. Thankfully the paper piecing went quite smoothly. Seriously. I almost always make two basic mistakes paper peicing. One mistake is just not using a big enough piece of fabric so it doesn't cover the area once it's sewn and flipped. This design was quite easy in that respect since it used triangles that I could precut. No mistakes there. The second thing I always do at least once is trim off the piece I just sewed on when I trim the seam. Ugggg. Such a stupid mistake. Didn't do that once this time. Not once. WaHoo!!!  The only trouble I did have was the fabric getting turned back on itself under the paper and stitching it down. (see below)  oops . . .  Please tell me you make the same mistakes.



All in all, this was great paper pieced block. I appreciated being able to precut the pieces and then chain sew all the like sections at the same time. This really helped speed things up. One more paper pieced block conquered. Yeah!!!

Her color palette included deep purples, bright pinks, turquoise, funky chartreuse to gold, darker blues and dark grays with a text print background. I chose to focus on the turquoise/chartreuse/gold/deep blue colors and fell in love with the color scheme. I think I see a quilt with these colors in my future. I have been collecting aquas and chartreuse for awhile but the addition of the dark blue is what really makes it for me. Now I have an excuse to buy more fabric right? Blue blues really are lacking in my stash. Really.

You can see the other blocks as they are posted to our Mid Century Modern Bee blog and on Instagram #mcmbee.  You can also finally find me on Instagram. Took me long enough. @springleafstudios

LInking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.
While you're here, take a look at my last post to see some great layout ideas for the
Drunkard's Path QAL.

SpringLeaf Studios

14 comments:

  1. Wow -- this block is SPECTACULAR! It looks terrifying, too! I am amazed that you kept your text print fabric perfectly straight in every triangle, since I find that I get a little shift happening when I flip it over to sew no matter how careful I think I'm being. Gorgeous work -- how can you bear to give it away?

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  2. Beautiful block..........love the little horse in the center! I just posted on my blog about paper piecing flying geese and stated some of the same complaints.........did not also mention the part that slipped sideways and there was one that had to be picked off twice.......yikes! So yes I make some of the same mistakes........just part of the process I guess.

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  3. Yep, same mistakes here! But I LOVE this technique!!! I really love to use geometric shapes, like HST a d flying geese to create blocks with.
    Esther
    esthersipatchandquilt at yahoo dot com

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  4. What a detailed block! It looks really great, and I love the bright/deep colours combined with the type print.

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  5. What a lovely block!! When I do three in a row of those self same mistakes, I quit for the day! Lol, you're not alone :)

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  6. Awesome. Boy - the block has a lot of tiny pieces. Love the colors. micki@2dogsstudio.us

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  7. You did a really lovely job with this block, Anne. The colors are smashing! While I do enjoy paper-piecing, I can't imagine spending so much time, and so many pieces on just one block! No wonder Stephanie asked everyone to make a block for her! :-) I'm thinking I had excellent timing, dropping out of this bee when I did! Ha, ha.

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  8. Your block is awesome, Anne. I have some fabrics set aside and need to get sewing as April is quickly coming to a close!

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  9. You did her proud Anne! I need to make mine

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  10. Boy this is beautiful! I've enjoyed seeing these blocks on Ig...

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  11. Clever Stephanie, to get all you guys to help her make this block -112 pieces per block - whoa! But it's beautiful, love the colors and fabrics.

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  12. Love how the text and the prints came together! It could be its own mini quilt its so pretty by itself

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  13. This is a great block! Wow 112 pieces is pretty insane for one block. You are so not alone in sewing down a corner of a flipped piece of fabric :)

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  14. Sigh. These colors are stunning. Can I be you when I grow up?

    Elizabeth

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WaHoo!!! You're leaving me a comment. Thanks for stopping by and do come back again. Quilt on, Anne.