Tales from the Hive

Where to begin....my block....Block 6 (25 of them) for the Tokyo Subway Map Flickr Group is complete:



Doing the happy dance....round of applause, please! Yeah Me!!!!!!!!

Excuse me while I try to process this project. :)

First off, I could not have finished this project today without the help of my fellow bee, Nancy. She came over on Monday and pinned and pressed. I sewed. I sewed some more yesterday and I pinned, sewed and pressed before she came over today. She pinned and pressed some more. I sewed. Okay....hours into this we had to eat. I had made us lunch....At 7 am I made corn muffins (big ones) and white chicken chili. Then I popped in some frozen cookies for dessert. So....we had to eat and she had to go home to her children. So I went back to the studio, sewed, pressed, pinned and sewed and pressed. Took a picture and at 5 pm I was D U N, done!

When I first got the invite to this project, I thought...cool. I thought for a few days before accepting the challenge. What the hell was I thinking? Well, it is a pretty quilt but who wants to cut 1600 2 inch squares and sew them together? So this was a way to get a quilt by making one block, 25 times. Okay...I can do this. Then I was assigned Block 6....grey fabric? What? They did not know how hard it is to find grey fabric around here. Nancy and I scope it out everywhere we go. Its tough, I tell you...hehehe So I looked at this project as a challenge. Could I do it? I felt that I could.

I had to get everything else that was here as a swap project done and returned before I could even think of beginning this project. Last week was my chance. In looking back at the time line...I started Tuesday, May 3rd working on the rows. I worked again (very little) on the 4th. I did not pick it up again until Sunday for a brief hour. I worked all day Monday and Nancy came over that day to help me. I worked yesterday morning on it. I started in at 9 this morning and Nancy arrived, helped me and when she went home I went back downstairs to finish. At 5 pm. Okay this was a job! For about 5 days.

I could not have started this project 10 weeks ago and set it aside as other things came in. It was boring...strip piecing, pinning, sewing rows together. The same fabrics over and over and over. So it had to be done all at once. I'm glad I did it as it was a challenge but I'm glad my part is done for now. At some point I will receive all the blocks and will be tasked with putting them together. I know I will have to do it right away and not sit on it for 6 years. Nancy will crack the whip.

She is planning to make a mini version of this quilt and she will have my undivided attention for assistance, pinning and pressing as soon as she is ready.

I'd also like to thank a member of the group who graciously sent me grey fabric. It was a great help.

So...poor Nancy, had to work out of her own studio so she could accomplish things. She's working on the mystery quilt for our guild and the remaining clues appeared in our newsletter yesterday. So she's working hard at getting the top done. Here are some pics of her progress:





Pretty fabrics, don't you agree? I think 2011 is the year of Christmas for Nancy. That is not a bad thing. I think it is the best time of the year for decorating one's home.

So that was our day....not a bad one, that's for sure.

More tomorrow.....have a good evening.