Modern Insta Bee Quilt

Triple Star Block Modern Bee Quilt

Hi! This post will be all about my awesome, amazing, great, and wonderful quilt that was a result of my participation in my very first quilting bee! A friend of mine who I met in Indianapolis, but who lives in Nashville now as well, Lindsay, wrote a book a little while back called "Modern Bee: 13 Quilts to Make with Friends," and has an opening section on how to run/participate in a bee. Last January I saw a post on Instagram saying someone was putting together a "hive" (which is 12 people) to start a bee using this book, so I signed up! There ended up being tons of hives, not only in the US, but England and Australia too, which is fun!

Pierced by the sun

So, my bee started in February, and lucky me, I was the first person who got to chose my block. You pick a block from the book (which has directions) and then you tell the rest of your hive what colors you want them to make it, and everyone, ideally, just uses fabrics from their stash, and before the month ends they send you your block. 

The stars!

It's really fun for lots of reasons. One, when it's your month you get to chose exactly what you want, and then its fun to see how people interpret that, and its also fun to get fabrics that you dont have. It is also really fun during other people's months to see what they chose, and what colors they ask for. Its nice to work in palates that you wouldnt have chosen. 

Close-up on the awesome star quilting done by Sarah Russet

For my month I asked for the Triple Star Block in teal and hot pink, with the background being white and black. It was fun to get blocks made out of fabric I hadnt seen before, or liked but never bought. I was honestly happy with all my blocks, and think they look really good together! I also thought it was sort of fun that the block I sewed for myself was the only one that used pink as the middle color. (Can you spot it!?) I also asked my bee-mates if they had any scraps if they would send them to me, and I made 2 borders, as you can see. Each block finishes at around 18" so this is a huge quilt! 9 stars fit on the mattress part of my bed and the borders and bottow row of stars hang of the end. This is why I sent it out for quilting! I knew trying to fight this beast through my machine would probably end up ruining it, and I didnt want that to happen! I love the star pattern done by Sarah on her long-arm.

Constellations by Alexander Henry

For the back I used this blue print of constellations and stars by Alexander Henry, because I had it in the shop, and it matched, but now that its made I wish I had used something in a lighter color. But oh well! I bound it in black and cream, which I really like. 

The bee is still going, I think we are on month 9 now, and its' been a really great experience. You can search the hastags #moderninstabee2014 to see what other hives have been making, and #moderninstabeehive4 for my group! It's fun to see so many different versions of the same blocks. 

Im also thinking about getting a Nashville bee together. I know it's a year commitment, but you only have to make 1 block per month, plus by the end you have a quilt! I would definitely do another one.