Thursday, October 5, 2017

Bee Happy Block Party - Quick Kitchen Projects

Welcome to my stop at the "Bee Happy" Block Party!


Corresponding with Lori Holt's "Bee Happy" Sew Along, The folks at Riley Blake Designs have invited a few designers to feature small projects made with an individual block or two from Lori's adorable quilt.


Bee Happy quilt by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet for Riley Blake Designs
Each Monday, starting Aug 28th, Lori has been demonstrating a few of the blocks on her blog.  My inspiration came from Week 5:  A flowerpot, a peach and a pear!

Supplies: 
Selections from a Bee Basics charm pack
1-1/4 yards Bee Basic Stitched Flower, yellow
1/3 yard Bee Background Canning Jars, yellow
1/8 yard Bee Basics gingham, orange
Two white 16 x 24" tea towels
5 yards medium ric-rac
2 to 3 @ 10-inch squares batting,+ (opt) Insul-Brite mylar insulated lining
Matching thread
1/3 yard Lightweight interfacing

First, the peach and pear!  Or is it a lemon and an orange??  This cute fabric does have a bit of a citrus flavor...


I picked up a couple of lovely white tea towels at Ikea.  The fabric trim is cut 3.5 inches wide and an inch longer than the width of the finished towel.  Turn edges under 1/4 inch and apply matching ric-rac with a washable glue stick.  Glue or pin the trim to the tea towel, about 2 inches from the bottom hem, then edge-stitch to the tea towel, tucking in raw edges on the sides.  I use my edge-joining foot with the straight center guide, and scoot the needle position to the side.  Works beautifully!





Next up is a flower pot.  In Lori's quilt, she's got her little flower pots all in a row.  I made a few, as I initially wanted have a row of flowers to border on my apron, but it turns out the scale wasn't what I had in mind, so I selected one flower and quilted a quick little a hot pad.


Regarding applique', a few years back I wrote a series of "I Applique'" Tutorials for Riley Blake Designs' Cutting Corners, exploring about a dozen different techniques.

For this project, I tried Lori's favorite technique, that of stitching right sides together with piece of lightweight interfacing, snipping the interfacing and turning right side out for a nice, turned-edge finish.   The applique' is machine-stitched with a narrow blanket stitch and matching thread.  And just this week I learned that if I scoot the needle position to the far right and use an open toe foot, I have better luck at lining up the stitch at the applique' edges.  Oooh, and isn't that jar fabric the cutest?


Finally, I thought I would include my smocked apron in this little group of kitchen ideas anyway, since it was the catalyst for the other ideas today.   I may smock a pocket and applique' a little piece of fruit on it, then it would be official.  Again, a project from my series of vintage technique tutorials at RBD's Cutting Corners.  


Gingham is probably the easiest fabric to try a hand at smocking, but any print with a regularly spaced design works as well.  Lori Holt's Bee Basics Stitched Flower print has an "en pointe" design about an inch apart. I wanted a more refined smocked look, so I picked a point half-way between each flower and used that for my smocking diagram.


This was a great little project to work on while I recovered from some dental surgery this week.


If you'd like to try this adorable vintage stitchery technique, see the original TUTORIAL<<  The retro apron pattern can be found HERE.


Haven't started the Bee Happy Sew Along?   It's not too late to join in the fun!  You can find all Lori's instructions starting HERE.  Download the FREE PATTERN, collect your fabric, grab the Bee Happy Sew Simple Shapes, and follow Lori's blog, Bee in My Bonnet for block instructions each week.


Be sure to visit the following sites in the coming weeks for more little projects inspired by these adorable Bee Happy blocks:

Bev @ Flamingo Toes 
Deonn @ Quiltscapes  <<  Thanks for coming to my block party!
Heidi @ Fabric Mutt


Happy Sewing!


10 comments:

  1. Lori does the cutest pattern...You just take them up a knotch! LOVE it!

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    1. Thanks, Joan! Lori seems to have the magic touch, doesn't she?

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  2. Thanks for the fun ideas. I'm just waiting to start my Bee Along. Gotta get a UFO finished first. So many projects, if I could just stay home and work on them. I had fun in Utah though. Seeing you was a highlight!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Mary--So fun to visit with you at Quilt Fest! And yes, for some reason, those UFOs keep piling up, don't they? I want to make everything!

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  3. I hope you have recovered from your dental surgery and feeling better than new. Fabulous kitchen set and what a wonderful gift this would make. Your smocking is beautiful. Thank you for sharing your applique technique. I have not heard of this edge stitching foot...it looks similar to a 1/4” quilting foot. Falling into Autumn Bliss...<3

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  4. You made those designs look so adorable on the tea towels and apron. I love the smocked apron! You are so creative, Deonn! Hope your mouth feels better!

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  5. OMGoodness, I love your projects! The colors make me smile...

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  6. My goodness, I just love what you have created here...so amazing

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  7. Love your projects! I would have never thought of smocking an apron, but it looks so beautiful! I totally missed doing this quilt, (the Bee Happy quilt) though I love it. Lori works way too fast!! She's already starting on her new one for fall! Hugs, H

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So happy you stopped by for a visit! Thank you!