Berry Barn Designs
  • Blog
  • Shop
    • Pattern Extras
  • Tutorials
  • Gallery
    • Quilts
    • Sewing
    • Quilt Alongs
  • About
    • Bio
    • Newsletter Archives
    • Tuesday Treats Giveaways!


QUILTING

TEACHING &

PATTERNS




​
Get fresh news, tips &
inspiration from around
our creative community
Sign up for my monthly newsletter!

Bee Blocks & Sewist's Block!

5/7/2014

 
We just wrapped up the craziest month and a half that I think we've ever had at our house with company five weekends in a row, my husband studying for finals, spring cleaning, sewing deadlines, school vacation, four birthday parties, a holiday... my little hiatus here was me having to put down one ball until the craziness settled a bit : P Still, I can't believe it's been two whole weeks since my last post - time to shoo away the crickets and get back to work! 
Stash Bee April block | Berry Barn Designs
Stash Bee April block | Berry Barn Designs
Last week I finished my March blocks for Stash Bee - a neat "Focal Star" block for Afton of Quilting Mod. I finished them at the eleventh hour, but I love how they turned out despite the time constraint. She gave us some great color guidance and suggested a whole bunch of fabrics I love, so it was fun to pull from a palette I enjoy and have lots of in my stash. I can't wait to see her finished quilt!
Berry Barn Designs
"brown bag" fabrics splayed out on the left, and what I pulled stacked on the right... what to make??
This week I'm working on a yoga wall hanging requested by a friend, as well as a "Brown Bag" swap project for my guild's upcoming spring tea. It's always a bit harder to create with someone else's vision in mind, though I usually enjoy the challenge, but this swap project has me completely baffled and battling some serious sewist's block. We all put five fat quarters in a brown bag and swapped them secretly back in October. I was stumped six months ago when I opened the bag I received, and here I am a week from the due date still stumped! We can make anything at all using the five fabrics the other person chose. And we can add to the fabrics, but they're so far out of my usual, that it was a struggle to even pull coordinates from my stash, let alone figure out what to make with them. I've been taking them out every few weeks hoping for an idea to come to me, and... nothing.

What do you do when you have to work with a palette or prints that are really out of your norm? Do you keep searching for the perfect fit or just pick a pattern you like regardless of the feel and see what happens? If anyone has some amazing idea from looking at these colors, I am most definitely open to last minute suggestions!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.
Alison @ LBQ link
5/7/2014 03:13:27

These are so lovely! I love your center fabrics!

Sarah link
5/7/2014 11:39:53

Thanks, Alison! This was a fun block : )

Samantha link
5/7/2014 04:10:46

I love your swap blocks- but I don't have any good advice for your brown bag project. Those types of swaps are really hard for me for all the reasons you've mentioned :-( Good luck!

Sarah link
5/7/2014 11:40:38

Thanks, Samantha! I'm sure I'll think of something... hopefully before the eleventh hour lol.

Rachel link
5/7/2014 08:02:44

I love that orange and teal star on the right, so pretty! My go to would be to make stars. You can't go wrong with stars, can you? :) They also have a little bit of a beach feel to me; especially with those pebbles.

Sarah link
5/7/2014 11:43:05

Thanks, Rachel - that's my favorite of the two : ) It feels beachy to me, as well, and I toyed with an appliqued scene but I'm not sure I can pull it off! I can applique, but my design a picture skills aren't amazing.

Paula@TheSassyQuilter link
5/7/2014 11:29:07

Your stash blocks are perfect! .....now for the brown bag fabrics...that's a tough one. I love that quilters are not all the same and we have lots of palettes to choose from, but it is tough when you have to use one that is not particularly inspiring. I think something scrappy and random is good because it mixes it all up and lets the palette in general show.

Sarah link
5/7/2014 11:45:20

Thank you, Paula! I agree that I love diversity, just not when it stumps me! lol But I suppose if this person got my bag, she'd be equally stumped by all the contrasting brights I tossed in : P I think I may have found something batik/scrappy in an old magazine that I can make work... we'll see how it turns out!

wendy link
5/8/2014 23:38:29

gorgeous blocks - i made some star blocks with Bluebird Park last weekend too! No idea about the brown bag challenge I'm afraid...

Sarah link
5/9/2014 13:16:37

Thank you, Wendy! I think I finally have a plan for the fabrics... we'll see!

Lorna McMahon link
5/9/2014 08:52:32

Hope inspiration strikes you.... But not too hard! Wow! That is a tough brown bag. Love the blocks though! Good luck, Sarah!

Sarah link
5/9/2014 13:18:20

It's the brown snowflake print paired with the pebbles and flowers... I'd have gone beachy months ago if it wasn't for the snowflakes! I think I finally have a plan. We'll see what unfolds this weekend, Lorna : P

Daisy link
5/11/2014 06:54:14

Whoa. If I'd opened my bag and found those fabrics, I'd feel a little lost, too. They're great fabrics for a specific aesthetic - but it's not a modern one. I absolutely adore the fabric pull you did to compliment what's there. My opinion is - when in doubt, go with some HST's or geese. You could do something artsy - the fabrics all feel quilt earthy, rocky, frozen, big sky something... Maybe practicing curves? Or something improv? Wow, my suggestions haven't really narrowed anything down for you, but you're probably already done anyway! :)

Sarah link
5/15/2014 00:13:28

I was so stumped by the brown and the pebbles with the snowflakes, but my end result turned out okay, and I did incirporate curves like you suggested, Daisy : )


Comments are closed.
    Sarah Nunes @BerryBarnDesigns
    Welcome! I'm Sarah. As a milmompreneur maker, wherever I go, I quilt, teach & sew! ​{Bio}  
    Get my newsletter!
    Picture
    Shop Patterns!

    Archives:

    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

Copyright © Berry Barn Designs 2012-2017
All Rights Reserved.
​No part of this website may be reproduced without express consent.

​
  • Blog
  • Shop
    • Pattern Extras
  • Tutorials
  • Gallery
    • Quilts
    • Sewing
    • Quilt Alongs
  • About
    • Bio
    • Newsletter Archives
    • Tuesday Treats Giveaways!