Let Block Party Bee Begin!

Friends, I live in San Francisco. Where everything is hip, modern, and progressive...except quilting. Since the amazing Peapod Fabrics closed, going to the fabric store means a) sifting through bins of fake fur, glitter spandex, pleather, and felt in search of material for a Halloween/Pride/Street Fair costume, b) paying $100/yard for designer silks and upholstery fabric to go in your fancy mansion, and/or c) finding the 2-3 bolts of outdated cotton stuffed into the back corner and wishing you were into something else, anything else-- since the materials for knitting, painting, decoupage, re-upholstery seem to be on hand at every turn. It makes Joann's look like Mecca.

How does such a beautiful city lack beautiful fabric choices? I don't know.

For example, I once made a t-shirt. After a 3-day, 4-store hunt for a piece of jersey. Not that I found some options and didn't like them, no, I mean I bought the first one I actually found (it wasn't ugly, but it was expensive).

It gets worse! I lived in the same building as a fabric store for a year and didn't buy anything there except elastic and ribbon. Yeah. It's like that.

I guess the best city in the world has to have at least one flaw.

Anyway, the point of this rant is to say that the virtual modern quilting community has become my water in the quilting desert. Which is why I was SO EXCITED when my first package of fabric arrived from Shelley, officially kicking off my FIRST BEE EVER, the Block Party Bee!

For our first month, Shelley picked the confetti block. Here's what she sent:

Don't know how she knew, but I'm glad I got a ton of green :o) So I added a bit from my stash:

Looks pretty good, if I do say so m'self. I'll be cutting into this one today.

Since I was laying out fabric, I pulled out this little square of Canyon Flutter by Alexander Henry (sent to me gratis with an order from Fresh Modern Fabrics!) and set up some pieces for another block in the yellow and green sampler I've been working on.

I've also been cuddling up with a little hand-quilting in the evenings. My liberated cables are progressing nicely, now that I've got the hang of it.

Much much better than trying to make them perfectly even! I love the organic flow of the curves.

It's hard to get a good pic of the white on white pattern, but I can assure you...it looks cool ;o) Time to go play with confetti.