Sew Bee Blissful: Test Blocks

Thank you all so very much for your enthusiasm around my Sew Bee Blissful fabrics and ideas.  It's so nice to share my excitement with you all.

I did a little test run last night making three blocks.  It was incredibly freeing not having a pattern and just piecing what ever fabric seemed right at the time.  I hope my bee mates will have a great time playing with color and creating something they think is beautiful.

So, test block one went generally pretty well.  It took a while to figure out what I was doing, but once I was in the swing I was unstoppable!  It was a bit of a learning experience, though, because I had started with a rectangle which then grew and grew, making it hard to finish at 14.5 inches.  I tacked on the little scraps on the side to just finish it off, but now that they are part of the block I really like them!  It's the dark boarder that gives a bit of definition, I think.

Test block 2 was much along the same lines as test block one.  It came together much faster (being the old pro that I am) than block one.  I wanted to play with color in this block.  How thick do you have to make a strip to make that color dominate the block.  It's interesting to mess a bit with no consequences.

Finally, I thought I was a bit short on the pink and my blocks were getting very rectangular, so I started with a central square.  Although I like the concentric squares, I think I like the rectangles a bit more.  There's more to keep your eye interested.

You'll notice in my last post that I had a dark green and brown fabric included in the bundle.  These are not at all my favorite colors, but they were part of the inspirational bracelet.  I had to include them.  Anyway, to "punish" them I bought much MUCH less yardage of these colors than I did the bright pretty colors.  Can't have left over brown, can I?  Well, of course, I really punished myself.  I split up what little I bought into the bee packages leaving very little for me.  That's why in test blocks 1 and 2 it is very central....using very little fabric.  But in block 3, I really miss the dark colors.  It's too light or flat or something.  I think the darks add a bit of depth.  So, I stopped at about 12 inches square so that I can get more of the dark colors and add them in along the edge.  I can't believe I'm paying special postage for stinky brown and decaying leaf green.  It seems they're really important after all.

Next I'd like to try something WAY off center.  This quilt will be 25 blocks finished.  20 will be from the bee, so I will make 5.  Two more to go!  I can't wait :)