A new bee for me!

Earlier this year my guild, McKinney Modern Quilt Guild, started a new bee. I seem to have trouble saying no, because I quickly signed up. For my first set of blocks, I requested blocks made with this Blossom Heart Quilts tutorial in aqua/white/gray. I really loved the blocks I received! Last week I got the quilt back from Martha who quilted it. I quickly bound it and once I wash it it will be a perfect snuggle quilt.

Isn't it fun? Finished size is 60"x72" a good size for the couch!

Quilts unscripted 2023

 It's been a minute since I shared the blocks I've been making for my improv bee, Quilts Unscripted. 

January blocks were inspired by architecture in gray tones for Isabelle. I loved making these and used photos from recent visits to New York City as inspiration.

My first block was inspired by the Oculus....

and my second block was inspired by One World Trade Center

February blocks for Sarah were done in her chosen color palette (which I love) using tiny squares, organic curves and strips. 

March block for Emily was actually one large slab, inspired by a photo of pottery she provided in her designated color palette. Just like every month, this prompt stretched me!

April was my month to choose a prompt. I'll be sharing more about that and the resulting blocks very soon.

May was fun! Charles challenged us to choose our own adventure. We each chose a book genre (mine is romance) colors from 10 different palettes, and 2 improv blocks from his list. I used pinks/reds and greens to create a meadow of flowers from checkerboard and drunkards path blocks. This big slab is 17”x18". 

In  June, Chris had us drawing inspiration from ancient Pueblo pottery with a very specific color palette. One of my blocks is shared here, with it's inspiration photo....

In July, we made blocks for E.A. One in solids and one in blenders! She is making classroom quilts for her students. Here is my blender block...

Guess who is up again for August? Me! I just sent out my prompt and I can't wait to see what my beemates do with it. Stay tuned!

Quilts Unscripted 2022 recap

 Well, hello there! It seems I up and stopped blogging about six months ago! That was totally unplanned. I've still been over here creating and learning new skills. I'm not sure why I stopped blogging here, but now I am back with all of the good intentions a new year brings. 

I thought I'd start by reviewing all of the bee blocks I made last year for the Quilts Unscripted Bee! Our improv bee is currently in the middle of it's second year and going strong. Here are the blocks I made in 2022.....

January

In January we made blocks for Emily.  Her request was for blocks that represented our dreams, goals and growth using analogous colors on the color wheel. My first block represents my dreams/hopes for the world, peace and calm....

My second block represents my personal dreams of joy and energy.

February

In February I requested improv log cabin blocks using the Kona color of the year, Cosmos in a prescribed color palette. These blocks became the quilt "Darkest Before Dawn" which will hang at Quiltcon next month in Atlanta! 

I'm delighted to have another quilt accepted into the group category this year! Thanks to my awesome beemates  who sent me incredible blocks.

March

In March, Sarah G asked us to make improv sawtooth stars.  I had fun with these...

April

In April, Isabelle requested all the colors and tiny piecing. Such happy blocks!

May

May was the first month of our second year as a bee and it was  E.A.s turn. She had us make blocks that literally say "hope". Check out her instagram to see photos of her powerful finished quilt.

June

In June, Chris asked us to make signature style blocks inspired by a beautiful Ukrainian egg she had bought. I made her these...

July

July was Charles turn. He asked us for abstract art slabs using colors he sent to us. This was challenging and fun!

August

In August, Sarah R had us making blocks inspired by outer space. Mine are a nebulous and a shooting star.

September

Elizabeth had us make improv grandmother's fan blocks in September, with black corners. Another block I had not worked with before!

October

Our October prompt was from Allie. She asked us to make ladders with white backgrounds. Crazy fun!

November

Our final prompt for 2022 came from Carole. We were to make half rectangle triangle blocks using black for one half of the block and bright improv for the other. I had bought Latifah Saafir's HuRTy ruler months before and never took it out of the packaging. Time to learn something new! What a great ruler. And Latifah has awesome videos that step you through it. I've become a big fan of HRTs since November and I promise you'll see more uses of it on this blog soon. Here are the blocks I made for Carole...

Sorry for the long post but I had some catching up to do! I hope you'll follow our bee's hashtag on instagram, #quiltsunscriptedbee for even more inspiration. 

Quiltcon Review

Quiltcon 2022 is in the books! Phoenix was a blast (ok truth time here, I'm still in Phoenix! Hubby and I stayed a few extra days to enjoy family here, Dallas iced over and many flights were canceled. We'll make it home eventually!)

It was super fun to see my quilt Urban Emergence hanging in the Quiltcon Together winners exhibit! The ladies from Curated Quilts snuck me into the hall a few minutes before the show opened the first day and I stopped dead in my tracks seeing it hanging there. Oh, and they did an interview with me that you can listen to here. 

I love when people post who their "quilt neighbors" are at Quiltcon. It was an honor for me to have my quilt hanging next to Amy Friend's winning quilt, Crimped.

One big thrill at Quiltcon this year was when my beemate Sarah Ruiz won first place in the group category for the very first Quilts Unscripted quilt which she aptly titled "Unscripted". Just a fun side note, five of us who contributed to Sarah's quilt were also contributors to my quilt last year!

It was such a thrill to see the quilt hanging and we gathered the five Quilts Unscripted beemates who were present for a fun photo shoot.

pictured: Sarah Ruiz, Isabelle Selak, E.A. Cox, Loide Wasmund and me

Right across from Sarah's quilt was E.A.s quilt, Sinusoidal Sunset, another group quilt that I was so thrilled to contribute to.

And, of course, I dragged Sarah and E.A. over to my quilt for a photo shoot too since they had contributed blocks to it.

 What fun it has been to be a part of so many Quiltcon Group Quilts! I'm anxious to see what our bee can come up with for next year's event in Atlanta.

More Quiltcon highlights to come...

Exploring Collaboration: Myths

If you've been following along, Karen Bolan and I have been exploring different aspects of collaboration together, then reflecting on our conversations on our blogs. You can find the first two entries in our series here on my blog and on Karen's blog as well.

 This week Karen and I are exploring some of the myths that might keep you from jumping on the collaboration bandwagon. If you're like me, you might make up stories in your head about things that "might happen" if you collaborate with other quilters. And, I'm not going to lie, some of them might! But there are ways to avoid them and ways to deal with them when they do. Here are just a couple of collaboration myths that I've faced.

#1 Others in the group might not follow through.

Possible. However, in my experience, it doesn't happen as often as you might think! Most people who sign up for a collaborative experience really want to be there. If you've carefully selected your collaborative partners and established clear rules for the group as I discussed in my earlier post, chances are everyone will do their best to participate fully. 

What do you do if members are not reliable? Here are some things to consider...

 

- if you are in charge of the group, you can talk to the person and work out a solution. Often life just happens and the collaborator might be overwhelmed or embarrassed that they can't do their part. Communication is key! Can a deadline be extended? Can someone else fill in for the person until they are able to rejoin? Does the person really need to back away permanently? All are valid.

- show lots of grace! I've found that this is an important factor in all aspects of life, but especially when I'm collaborating with others. Forgive and move on.

#2 I won't end up with enough blocks to complete my quilt.

This is closely related to myth #1. First of all, you will ALWAYS have enough to make a quilt. It may not be the king sized bed quilt you envisioned, but it will indeed be a quilt! Some things to think about...

- try to go into collaboration with an open mind. Expect the unexpected! You may end up short a few blocks, blocks may be different than you had originally pictured. Colors may vary, sizes, techniques... it's ok. Whatever you receive reflects the group you are working with.

- if you want the quilt to be bigger, add more blocks of your own, add sashing or borders to the blocks you receive or even lots of negative space. It's your quilt in the end! 

This bee quilt was intended to be for my queen sized bed, but some blocks did not arrive! I added tons of negative space. When folded right, it makes a beautiful bed runner across the foot of my bed.  When a few blocks arrived late, after I had already pieced the quilt, I made some matching throw pillows and was able to use them all.

I wanted my Japanese x and + quilt to be bigger. Making one giant block added interest to my quilt and went faster than creating four extra blocks

- you can always make a smaller quilt! Small wall quilts can be very impactful.

These are just a couple of collaboration myths you might encounter. Karen is addressing different myths on her blog today. Check back in two weeks when we'll have more thoughts about collaboration!

2021 year in review

 Whew! What a year! While it would be easy to focus on all of the crazy negative things going on in the world right now (no, I'm not going to list them. you already know!) I'm choosing to focus on the positive. And there sure was a lot of it in my world this year. Here are the highlights.... so I never forget how blessed I was in 2021.

Urban Emergence

In February, my group quilt, Urban Emergence was part of Quiltcon Together, the virtual MQG show that replaced in person Quiltcon this year. It was my very first quilt accepted into Quiltcon. Imagine my surprise when I won first place in my category! As if this wasn't enough, it was chosen for publication in the Quiltcon magazine! What an honor!

Later that month, Sarah Goer and I formed a pARTnership, inspired by Danielle Krysa's In 

tandem Art project. Sarah and I have continued to meet on Zoom every two weeks all year long, encouraging each other in our artistic journeys. One of the greatest things to come out of our friendship is the start of our new improv bee, Quilts Unscripted. This group is incredibly talented and inspiring! 

Again in 2021, I was able to participate in the Virtual Quilt Guild where I met so many amazing quilters. One relationship that came out of that group is my collaboration with Karen Bolan. Karen and I have also been meeting often on Zoom and have shared a collaborative quilt project (Welcoming Lamp), a series of blog posts (Exploring Collaboration) and coming soon..... a published article on Collaboration in Curated Quilts magazine! This was completed in 2021 and will be arriving in mailboxes early 2022.

Welcoming Lamp

One other thing I am so proud of this year is the completion of my Through Ellyn's Eyes project. When I set out on a six month personal journey to create a cohesive body of work and explore my creative voice it seemed daunting at best. The more I worked through it, the more joyful it became. I am so lucky to have had the time and the resources to complete this project and look forward to sharing it with guilds in the coming year.

Through Ellyn's Eyes quilts

So, 2021 proved to be a productive, fun year for me. Most of these things were not even on my radar a year ago, so who knows what 2022 will bring? Regardless, I look forward to sharing it with you. Happy New Year everyone!

Quilts Unscripted Blocks

 The Quilts Unscripted Bee continues to challenge and amaze me month by month. You can see posts about my past blocks here. I thought I'd share the rest for 2021 today.

In November, Loide asked us to make a variety of Christmas blocks. She put very few restrictions on us which was fun, but at the same time challenging!

For my first block I made a Christmas tree! Very structured yet improv as I just winged it, no pattern.

It's a smaller version of the tree mini I did for the MQG earlier this year!

Next up, snowflakes. I debated putting them all together in one block, but decided to leave them apart so she can use them as she desires.

A Christmas Present seemed like a good choice for my third block... the most improvy (is that even a word?) of the three.

As Loide is a local quilty friend, we were able to meet for lunch when I delivered her blocks, so it was a big win!

Elizabeth was up for December.  She asked us each to make a sash, using 2 contrasting solids, at least one of which was bright and saturated. I journeyed to my local quilt store, which has a whole wall of Bella Solids, and was overwhelmed and confused!!! Lyssa, who works at the shop and knows me well, walked up and pulled Limeade and Turquoise off the wall and said "this speaks Ellyn to me" well duh! I was trying to be unique and creative when all I really needed to be was myself. 

My finished sash is 6" wide and 47" long. And that E in the middle? A total accident! It can stand for Ellyn or Elizabeth or whatever she wants to think. It's already arrived safely in Arkansas. Now I impatiently await the January prompt.

You can follow our group shenanigans at #quiltsunscripted

Exploring Collaboration - tips and tricks for forming a bee or swap group

 Here we are, round 2 of Exploring Collaboration! Last time, Karen and I discussed different kinds of collaborations that we enjoy. Today, let's chat about how to form a collaborative team to make those projects happen!

Bees

Some tips and tricks for forming a bee group:

1) Establish your goals. What are you hoping to accomplish through your bee? Do you want to make traditional blocks and hone your piecing skills? Do you want to experiment with improv? Make charity quilts? Write it all down so you can share these goals with potential bee members.

2) Set rules. I know, I know, quilting is supposed to be fun and rules are for the birds. Trust me, once your bee gets rolling you'll be glad to have some rules in place. When will prompts come out? How will they be communicated (email? Instagram DM? Facebook? In person?), when are blocks due? What happens if you can't complete your blocks on time? Having rules in place will help you avoid drama later on.

3) Decide who to invite. Will your bee be made up of friends from your local guild? Instagram friends? Random strangers? Honestly, I recommend inviting people you know at least a little bit. Think about people who fit in with your goals, and who will be reliable.

4) Consider diversity when you ask people to join you. Quilters of different ages, ethnicity, sexuality, etc can all learn from each other and frankly, make more interesting quilts! 

5) Make sure potential members are aware of the group goals and rules before they commit. Give them the opportunity to gracefully say no if joining your bee is not for them.

Urban Emergence, my 2020 bee quilt made by the Solid Seven Bee.
first place group quilt at Quiltcon Together in 2021,
will hang at quilt con in Phoenix in February, 2022

Block Swaps

  Tips and tricks for forming a block swap group:

1) Decide who to invite. Again, will it be a local only swap, where blocks can be swapped at a guild meeting or delivered in person? Or an internet swap where blocks will be mailed? Are members willing to mail blocks internationally or should the swap be restricted to members in one country?

2) Make sure swappers know the rules of the swap. What is the block to be made? Does everyone have access to the free pattern if blocks will all be the same? What fabric should be used? What size should the blocks be?

3) Set a total for blocks to be made. This can be flexible! Many swaps that I have participated in have a maximum number of blocks. Often, however many blocks you send is how many you receive in return. Send 10 blocks/receive 10 back.

4) Set a deadline for the swap leader to receive all of the blocks. If a swapper doesn't send their blocks in time, they are not included in the swap. 

5) Cover your postage! As a swap leader, you should not be responsible for shipping everyone's blocks back to them. Some ways to do this: charge a flat fee to enter the swap paid through PayPal or another online method, have each swapper include a postage paid, self addressed envelope with their blocks, or arrange for in person delivery and pick up.

Bees and swaps are meant to be fun! By carefully planning, setting goals and establishing rules, these groups can be drama free and create lasting friendships among quilters.

my Dresden block swap quilt
made in 2017 with blocks from members of
McKinney Modern Quilt Guild

Exploring Collaboration - Bees and Block Swaps

 I've really been enjoying exploring different aspects of collaboration with fellow modern quilter, Karen Bolan. You might remember reading about Welcoming Lamp, the project we collaborated on several months ago. Our conversations have continued since then and we are working on a series of blogposts to open up conversation in the quilting community about collaborating.Karen and I will offer articles on this topic twice a month and encourage you to join in by sharing your thoughts in the comments.

For our first posts, we are sharing our thoughts about the different types of collaboration. You can read my thoughts on quilting bees and block swaps here, then hop on over to Karen's blog to read more. 

Bees

Maybe some of you have participated in quilt bees. This is one of my favorite ways to collaborate. Basically, a group of quilters commits to working together for an extended period of time. Each month, one member of the group is the queen and gives the other members a prompt, block pattern, color palette or other specifications about what they desire for finished blocks. Bee members have that month to complete the requested blocks for the queen. Then the next person becomes queen and the cycle begins again.

Bees can be traditional, based on block patterns that everyone has access to (either original designs by the queen, free tutorials available online or a pattern all members have purchased), or less traditional, based on thematic prompts or improv methods of quilting. I've participated in both types and enjoy them for different reasons. Also, bees can be made up of all local quilting buddies or quilters who live at a distance, requiring blocks to be mailed.

My most recent traditional bee quilt was made in pinks and oranges using the japanese x and + block.

made by members of the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild

Just for fun, I enlarged the block to add one giant block to my quilt. It was fun to see the fabrics each bee member used in their blocks and how they all played together in the end.

Recently I've been enjoying improv bees. First I was a member of the Solid Seven Bee and more recently, the newly formed Quilts Unscripted Bee. I haven't had a turn to be queen in the Quilts Unscripted Bee yet (soon!) but I have several quilts completed by the Solid Seven. One of my favorites is my This is 60 quilt with blocks they made to help me celebrate my 60th birthday. I gave the bee members a bright, happy color palette and asked that they include at least one triangle in each block.

made by members of the Solid Seven Bee

When the blocks arrived they were all different sizes. Puzzling together improv blocks is my favorite part of the process! 

Block Swaps

Another kind of collaboration I love is block swaps. Again, block swaps can be held among local quilty friends or with quilters all around the world. During the Covid lockdown, I organized a house block swap among my local quilty pals. 

of course I added my little red car to the mix!

Each quilter dropped their finished blocks off at my house. When I had received everyone's blocks, I mixed them all up and gave each quilter back as many blocks as they had given me. There were so many wonderful takes on the house block... from patterned houses to totally improv ones. 

A couple of years ago, I organized an internet block swap of bird blocks based on the free tutorial here. Quilters mailed me their blocks (you should have seen the hundreds of bird blocks that flew into my house!). Again, I scrambled the blocks and mailed new ones back to each participant. My finished quilt is one of my favorite quilts ever.

Have you ever participated in a bee or block swap? In an upcoming post I'll share some tips and tricks for organizing and participating in your own collabs.