Save The Bees Finish

It is another 2018 Block of the Month Finish!  Woohoo!

I simply refuse to let the monthly blocks sit in a pile and become UFOs... two down (Pat Sloan's Let's Go Camping and Save the Bees), two to go (2018 Color Challenge and It's a Wild Life).  

The Save The Bees BOM was a short stint, but it was fun.  Two of the blocks offered a choice of applique or hand embroidery.  The embroidery would have been fun, but I wasn't really interested in that... (had there been road trips planned, I probably would have considered it to pass the time.)

And, well, applique... not my favorite, but thanks to the designers of the It's A "Wild" Life BOM, I have gotten over my dislike and fear of the technique.  It is far from my favorite, but has become a technique that I don't mind. (My favorite would be piecing!).

I chose to be a bit more creative and do some painting with thread.  It is really more like the paint with water books for toddlers.  I had received a set of aurifil thread in a give away and used the brilliant jewel toned colors from the set.













The bulk of the quilting is stitch in the ditch and then I did FMQ to outline the flowers and bees and did loops in the borders (similar to the path of the bees in the flower blocks, all with nylon thread.  The binding is a scrappy binding, adding a final pop of color and playfulness to the quilt.  The finished dimension is 52" x 46", the perfect size for tummy time on the floor with plenty of color and interest to entertain a baby.

This will be gifted at an upcoming baby shower that will welcome a little one... Eliza.  She was a healthy little(?) gal at 9 lbs 6 oz and 22-1/4" long.  I cannot wait to see her and hope that I have a chance to snuggle her and love on her.  

I just love the way the quilting "popped" the flowers and the bee's path








And, quite honestly, I was surprised at how the appliqued letters and the honey comb block were not as stiff as I had anticipated.  Yay!

My first finish of the 2019 is "in the books".  You can catch up on the other blocks by following the label "Save the Bees" or follow the links here... Blocks 1 and 2, Block 3 and Block 4.

I have read from numerous quilters that, while they enjoy BOM sew alongs, they tend to not assemble the blocks to make the top, thus creating another UFO for themselves.  This is a concept that I cannot grasp...  

Have you had your first finish for the year?  

Leave a comment.  I'd love to hear what you have been working on. 

Quilt Happy!

Melva

Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Quilters Through The Generations series

Linking with:

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
BOMs Away Monday at What A Hoot Quilts
Moving It Forward Monday at Em's Scrap Bag
Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Pieceful Sunday at JANDA Bend Quilts

Save The Bees - Block #4

The fourth and final Save The Bees block by Jacquelynne Steves has been completed and they are all ready to be assembled as a quilt next month.




As I mentioned in last month's Save The Bees post, I am a tea drinker and prefer to sweeten my tea with honey.  So I have really enjoyed these blocks. 

As a young girl I remember visiting a Great-Aunt, "Auntie Bob" who lived in Stonewall and hearing about the beehives that her husband used to have (he had passed away before I ever had the chance to know him).  She was an excellent cook and baker and would regularly bake pies to sell at the small store located across the highway from her house.

Auntie Bob's given name is Viola, but when her youngest brother, Forrest (my Grandpa) was learning to talk, he couldn't pronounce Viola... it came out something like "Bi-O-Ba" and eventually everyone called her Bob.  My Mom spent much of her childhood with Auntie Bob and Uncle Ollie...  

Mom's memories varied a little from her brother's memories of Uncle Ollie's beehive, but here is a blend of what they recall...

"Uncle Ollie’s beehive was about 36 inches high, by about 18 inches wide.  It was on the back side of the house to the west.  It was a little south of the brooder house and under some tall pine trees.  

The honeycombs were about 6” x 1” and were in some kind of tray you pulled out of the hive. Uncle Ollie wore a big hat with a mesh over it.  The bees collected nectar from the blooms from the hay field. 

Uncle Ollie usually gathered the honey in the fall. Auntie Bob was never too far away waiting with the bluing bottle to dab the bluing on a bee sting.  The bluing took the sting out of the bite.  




Bluing was a laundry product used in the rinse cycle of a load to make the whites appear brighter.

It has many other uses besides laundry... and it is still available for purchase!

The honey they collected was for their own use.  Auntie Bob would set a honeycomb in a dish and let the honey drain out.  It was slow to drain."   

Did you know that when a beehive is invaded by an outsider, the bees protect the hive by stinging the invader to death?  If the remains are too large to remove, they begin to cover them with layers of wax, so thick that the features become blurred and difficult to distinguish... The intruder becomes a lasting part of the hive!

Do you know any tidbits of info on bees?  

Leave a comment to let me know or share your thoughts on the block.  I'd love to hear from you!

Buzz on,

Melva

Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Quilters Through The Generations series

Save The Bees - Block 3

The Save The Bees block was a quick little project that I was able to do early in the morning before breakfast...

Early morning time in my studio is a favorite of mine and I'm not really sure why I don't do it more often.

Well, maybe because if I go in there early, I get lost in there and don't get all of the necessary "chores" done... okay, yep, that's it!

As I enjoyed my early morning studio time I was also sipped a cup of spiced Chai latte sweetened with a little honey...  

A few months ago several girlfriends and I were together for a weekend of being unplugged and reconnecting with each other.  

Every get together that we have is a special time and involves some special activity coordinated by a lovely gal that loves to ask questions.  She presented a scripture from Psalm 119...

"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

She asked us to share what this verse means to each as an individual.

To me, my time with that group of ladies is like the honey in my tea.  I love my chai tea every morning with a splash of cream... but the honey in my tea is like my relationship with those ladies.

They are the ones that have been there by my side -  through the ups and downs, twists and turns and challenges of life... life made even sweeter by knowing they were lifting me in prayer and ready to step in to help when needed. 

What gives your life a little extra sweetness?

Leave a comment... I love to hear from my readers. :)

Quilt happy,

Melva

Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Quilters Through The Generations series

Save The Bees Block of the Month #2

In August I somehow found myself signed up for anther Block of the month that could involved applique over at Jaquelynne Steves' blog.  

I did applique the first block...  I then placed it in a wall hanging for the Welcome To My House blog hop earlier this month.

One of the options for this block of the month was to embroider the block.  I learned how to embroider when I was about 8 or 9 years old, and as a young Mom in my twenties, I enjoyed doing counted cross-stitch in the evening when the babies were tucked in for the night.  I found that it kept me awake by keeping my hands busy... otherwise, I would snooze on the couch for the evening.  I probably could have used the extra sleep, now that I think back.  

I really didn't have much interest in pulling out my collection of (now nearly vintage) embroidery thread, but I did want to try out some of the stitches on my machine.






I traced the pattern onto my fabric with a wash out pencil and then selected various colors to "paint" and outline the lines.  



I used the straight stitch and a stitch I call "lightning zigzag" for my outlines.   It offers a sort of "fuzzy" look to my bee and the flower stem and leaves, that I really like!



I then filled in the bee using fabric markers.  



I think because of all the applique that I have done in BOMs this summer, I found the slower pace with the "painting" relaxing.  



(These blocks were projects for me to enjoy on Sunday afternoons.  I try to make sure I don't "work" on Sunday in my studio and do something for fun, for me.)



I do like the fact that the fabric is not stiff from fusing pieces onto the background.







Honestly, I am not a fan of bees... they sting.  And it hurts.  I am grateful that I am not allergic to bee stings!




We tend to have more wasps or hornets in our area... I don't like them either!




But, a few years ago, when our dog was only a year old and still a very curious pup she would snap at flies and other insects that would bother her... 


She once enjoyed some mushrooms that were growing in our yard... that turned out very badly!  I still gag when I think of the mess...  *ugh*



On this particular day, as the photo shows below, she snapped at something that was a stinging insect!  


Poor thing... she earned herself a trip to the vet, a shot followed by some benadryl.  



She has since become a smarter and more mature dog that no longer (or rarely) snaps at the insects... she shakes them off.  Oh, and she doesn't eat the mushrooms in our yard either!

Have you ever done any thread "painting"?  

I realize mine isn't really painting... 

or maybe it is just by a beginning artist!

I would love to hear about your techniques and any tips you might have... 

Leave a comment!  I love hearing from my followers. :)

Blessings,

Melva

Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Quilters Through The Generations series