September Compass Quilters Bee Blocks

I don't know what it is about these bee blocks, but I finish them and just can't seem to get them into the mail.  I finished them the first week of the month, and then had to do my label block. I did it over a week ago, and yet they still sat. But I made it to the post office today and they are on their way to Italy.  It is sad that my bee blocks are going more fun places than I am.

This month the Queen was Nesta of Ella and Nesta's Little Room and as I said earlier she lives in Italy.  Nesta picked Cross Stitch blocks done in orange, yellow and pink with low volume or white backgrounds.  When I did my test blocks they went together very quickly, but trimming them was a little tricky.  But when I used my smaller ruler it was a breeze.

Since the blocks were only 6 inches each, we decided that instead of just two blocks we should do 8 each.  That would make something close to two 12 inch blocks.  I had plenty of low volume fabrics, and lots of pink, but struggled to find yellows and oranges in my stash.  Luckily I remembered the scraps from my High Street quilt.

I ended up doing 9 blocks because one of them is slightly off, but I decided to send it to her anyway and if she wants to use it she can.  I learned a lot doing these blocks.  First I learned to just go for it, when I first read the instructions I thought ohhh no I can't do this. But it really was easy, and jumping in feet first was the best way to do them. 

The biggest thing I learned was to watch how I ironed the fabric.  The first two blocks I ironed the correct way by accident, but then I ironed one the wrong way and learned a lesson very quickly. If you iron the fabrics so they nest, it is so much easier.  See the photo below

I ironed the strip wrong side together and the bottom piece right sides together.  Now this may not seem like a big deal, but when you put them together, having those creases nest really helps to keep everything in line.  I only did one wrong before I realized how much easier it was with them ironed correctly.

I love all the colors in these blocks and I can't wait to see what Nesta creates with them.  And I will say I had a little of Texas go into these blocks as well. It is small, but if you look close you will see Texas in the white on white fabric.

It is strange how doing blocks for someone else makes me nervous, but at the same time it is so much fun.  I hope Nesta likes them and that she loves all the blocks sent to her this month.  I will be back tomorrow to show you the quilt I finished last week but never got around to posting.