Catch Up Post

April was a busy month for me. As well as working more regularly (and saving for a trip to Japan later in the year- more on that another time), I have been quite productive. I'm caught up on all my quilting bees, and have even posted off most of the blocks (I'm pretty bad at posting things on time). I've nearly finished my secret swap item for the Urban Home Swap, and I've also nearly finished 2 quilts - the smaller is nearly bound, and the larger is nearly quilted. Very good for me, I like to start things then lose interest well before it's finished.

So, onto the show and tell. This block was made for Katrina from The Beehive. It measures 16.5 inches, if I remember correctly.

This is a single bed quilt that I'm making entirely from the stash (saving money for Japan, remember!). The dark blue is Kona cotton in Indigo, most of the rest of the whirlygigs (or windmills) are made from a stack of leftover fabrics given to me by mum last year. They are not what I would ever buy myself, but I like how the quilt has turned out. I've thrown in a few other fabrics from the stash to get the size I wanted. I've quilted more than half (so far) with an invisible thread - not sure what I think of the invisible thread, though. I like that the stitching is, well... invisible, but it is shiny, which I don't like so much. Jury's out.
Below is a block I've just made for Julie, also from the Beehive. She sent out some gorgeous Kaffe Fassett stripes and shot cottons that have caused me to splurge on fabric for the first time since December!! It was a self-imposed fabric diet that shall continue from tonight onwards :)

Anyhoo, the block measures 13-ish inches (slightly bigger).
Last, but not least, Viv from the Australasian Bee asked for 16 inch blocks with 1.5 inch squares (but not limited to squares!). It's been interesting seeing the variety of designs that the other bees have come up with. I thought I'd throw in a curved corner since I'm not scared of them anymore :)