Bee Happy Sew Along - Week 12 the Big Finish and Bee Blossoms Tutorial!!!

Today is the big finish post ...

where I show you close up photos of 

my Bee Happy Quilt 

after it's been quilted:)

YaY!!

But before all that...

let's take just  a second to

 talk about the 

Vintage Trim!

This is the large size and 

is what I used to 

put inside the binding.

I absolutely love putting ric-rac

 in my quilt binding 

and I do it a lot!

It's super easy peasy 

and if you have 

never done it before...

CLICK HERE 

to see my tutorial 

from a while ago 

on how to do that:)

I designed the large size 

especially to

 fit inside the 1/4"

 seam when binding...

so that the other half 

would stick out just the right amount 

and show cute little scallops:)

The color that I used in my

 Bee Happy Quilt is CLOUD

 and matches the CLOUD solid in my bundle.

There are 8 colors so far 

and all are named the same as the coordinating solid 

to make it easy to match up!

CLOUD - NUTMEG - RILEY RED - RILEY AQUA

PEONY - BEEHIVE - DENIM - RILEY GREEN

Both small and large sizes come on a 

super cute wooden spool...

I wanted it that way because I have plans

 to use the spools for fun things!

You can get my Vintage Trim 

at your favorite quilt shop!

Okay...back to the quilt.

Here it is hanging at The Lodge

 where I taught a retreat 

for quilt shop owners.

We sure had a lot of fun!

Can you see how cute the 

Vintage Trim looks in the binding?

I think it adds just that extra cute detail.

I laid my quilt out on the floor

 to take several photos for you...

so that you can see the quilting.

My friend Juli quilted it for me

 and as usual...

 I love it!

I asked her to quilt small swirly lines around the appliqués...

and the piecing...

to give each piece a nice pop!

I really love how it turned out...

and I love each and every detail from the appliqué

 to the embroidery...

 and then the added embellishment 

of the Cute Little Buttons.

It's been so fun!

Thanks again to everyone participating:)

I have said all along that 

"this is not a race"

 and it's perfectly normal 

for everyone to be 

going at their own pace. 

If you are just getting started...

or right in the middle ...

or almost finished...

remember that there is

 a link to each and every blog post 

of this sew along...

right here on my blog.

Simply look on the right side bar

 and scroll down to find the 

Bee Happy Sew Along...

 and  click on the post 

that you would like to read!

Okay...

get ready for

 a BUNCH of photos!

Remember way back when...

 I told you to keep all of your 

leftover bits together 

after cutting your quilt 

from the kit?

I sure hope you did...

Because now you can make 

a bunch of my 

Bee Blossom Blocks!

I really wanted to use up 

the leftover squares

 from the two gingham panels

 and that's where 

this quilt was born:)

I paired the ginghams up 

with the leftover bits of the prints 

to make Bee Blossom Blocks!

Each block takes 2 of the same gingham 

(you can get 2 from one square)

and 2 of the same print.

I grabbed my D-20 and traced two of them

 onto a 3 3/4" square of my 

Sew-In Interfacing.

I did all of the same usual steps

 and made two D-20 shapes that matched.

You can make as many sets as you want...

I decided to add a bit more fabric

 and make 100 sets for 100 blocks!

Remember that however many 

sets of gingham petals that you make...

you will need to make a set

 from leftover coordinating prints 

so that you have a total 

of four petals per blossom:)

I used a few of the prints 

to sub for the gingham...

as you can see in the 

lower left red block 

and the 

upper right green block:)

So after I made all of the petals...

I prepared for the backgrounds:)

I cut 6" squares out of all

 the leftover backgrounds that I could...

And then I cut 3 1/2" squares 

from the rest that were

 too small for a 6" square.

I pieced four of those smaller ones together to use for backgrounds as well.

Those background squares end up 

a little bigger than the 

6" background squares 

but it doesn't matter...

 because all of them get 

trimmed down after appliqué anyways:)

For the 6" squares...

I pressed them in half twice 

so that I could center the petals

 when basting for appliqué.

For the 4 patch backgrounds 

I did not press because 

they were already divided into 4's:)

I placed all of my gingham petals

on the top right and 

bottom left when basting:) 

After appliqué...

I used my 

5 1/2" Trim It Ruler...

and used the lines for 

easy peasy centering ...

and trimmed them all down to

 5 1/2" square.

I did all of the 

4 patch background blocks first...

And then the rest!

What a cute little pile of 

Bee Background trimmings:)

YaY!!

All 100 blocks are trimmed up

 and ready for their blossom centers:)

I made 100 cute little D-1 circles 

from the leftover bits of the 

10" Stacker of Bee Solids.

You could totally use 

Cute Little Buttons for 

your centers if you wanted...

or use the D-2 Sew Simple Shape 

for your circles 

if you want them bigger. 

I used my matching 

Bee Basics Aurifloss ...

And did a running stitch 

around the circles

 using all 6 strands 

for that "chunky" look:)

I super love the texture 

and also the contrast 

that stitching adds onto the solids!

One cute little circle 

appliquéd onto each blossom!

You could totally just 

layout your quilt for placement 

and sew each block into rows now...

but I think it's much easier

 to sew 4 blocks together first.

It makes the process go much faster!

After sewing 4 blocks together...

 your new block of 4 

should measure 10 1/2" 

before sewing it into the quilt...

then it will finish at 10"

Because I have 100 blocks in my quilt...

I did 25 of the 

"10 1/2" four blocks"

and sewed them into 

5 rows across and 5 rows down.

I decided to add more background 

fabric for borders.

I cut 2 - 5 1/2" x 50 1/2" 

for the sides

and then added 

2 - 5 1/2" x 60 1/2" 

for the remaining sides.

My Bee Blossoms Quilt 

finishes at 60" x 60":)

I just love a square quilt don't you?

They are so versatile!

They look great on any shape

 of kitchen or dining table...

They fit nicely no matter if 

the table is 

round...oval...rectangle or square.

A square quilt always

 looks great hanging...

Or folded over the back 

of a sofa or chair.

Here's a peek at what Bee Blossoms

 could look like as a runner

 if you don't want to make

 100 blocks:)

Cute...right?

Oh my goodness!

I almost forgot to tell you 

about the binding!

Did you know that...

 both of the gingham squares print 

also look great as binding?

Just cut 2 1/2" wide strips 

on the bias for super cuteness!

Of course...

 you should trim off the quotes first

 and save them for another cute project:)

I just love this as binding!

I used my 108" wide Coral Chicks 

backing fabric and it 

sure makes me smile!

And so does this

 "meadow" of Bee Blossoms!

One more peek at the 

gingham binding:)

I have all the heart eyes 

for this quilt...

and I hope you do too!

I'll be back with a post in a few weeks 

about my next 

Sew Simple Shapes 

sew along that starts up next year 

after the holidays are over...

see you then!

xx

Lori