My first ever bee block

It's done. I guess I'm an official real live member of the quilting world now.  Do I get a badge or something?  I kind of want to keep it but will be sending it off to Texas tomorrow to live with Jenni and become part of a super cool quilt.  I'm in love with this color palette and can't wait to make myself a quilt with these bright and brilliant colors.

The color is really a bright turquoise, my indoor photography lighting is horrible

I have been wanting to be in a bee for a while but have been too intimidated by the intricate blocks I've been seeing and not trusting my skills.  I finally felt more confident in my sewing abilities but I've only ever made improvisational type quilts on my own.  And by that I mean I sit down and start making blocks and see what starts developing.  If I want more of a fabric I order it quick and if I'm not digging another one I put it away for another project.  Having to pre-figure out all the fabric and know the specific quantity to divide up and mail out to eleven people seemed impossible.   In the Twitter Bee we mail one fat quarter of fabric to each person and then use our own fabric to supplement.  I love being able to audition my stash against the main fabric and come up with an eclectic but cohesive mixture and I love not having to buy all the fabric for my blocks beforehand.  It will be so fun to see what the others come up with!

My first attempt ....

I really, really hope that Jenni likes this block and that she gets a nice quilt at the end of this.  I'm already searching for fabric for my month.  Come on August .....

Snowy day project

Spurred on by this tutorial on organizing your stash, the arrival of a fat quarter for my first ever quilting bee block, and the overnight fall of a foot of wet snow I decided to dedicate today to sorting and folding my printed fabrics and putting them in some sort of order.  Of course, I have no idea how to store these lovely piles yet but am determined  NOT go to Walmart today.  That would definitely ruin my whole fun snow-day-in-the-house project. 

Here is the fat quarter that Jenni sent and some of the fabrics I pulled so far to make her block.  I'm kinda liking this mixture and am having a swell time pulling fabrics and trying them out.  So much easier now with them all together and in color piles.   Now I'm off to fold all my solids and stack them up neatly.  What are you doing today?