Brenda's Big Bee Birthday Bee finished!

Double click on photo to see details.

More than three years ago,

I asked my blogging and local quilting friends to make me a B.

A big one, or at least a capital one.

Many of you did this for me,

to celebrate my big (50th) birthday.

Double click on photo to see details.

Today, on my 53rd birthday,

I can finally show you what I did with those big Bs.

After three years of collecting, musing, pondering, and puzzling,

I got it together.

Thanks to all of you who sent me a B

and then waited patiently for me to do something with it.

It's a beauty in its variety of Bs and its scrappiness.

I pieced it in three vertical panels

and then free motioned different motifs in each letter block

and joined them together

and then bound it in a hot pink Kaffe print.

Double click on photo to see details.

I learned a lot from making this quilt.

I learned about the generosity of bloggers, who sent me a birthday B

and often a card or note with birthday wishes.

I learned that you are all very creative and competent.

And I also learned that size matters.

Although I love the variety and sizes of the letters,

next time I will include a maximum size.

Thanks again for helping me make the B quilt!

It's been a blast!

I'm linking up with  GIFF, Sarah, and Amanda.

A b-hive of activity

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I still haven't finished my big birthday quilt.

I appreciate all the B blocks you sent me

for Brenda's Big B Birthday Bee,

but I got stalled on how to put them together.

Here they are partly put together.

So today on Canadian Thanksgiving,

I decided to be thankful for all my quilting friends close by

and in blogland,

and decided to figure out the puzzle.

Here's the layout I envisioned at the beginning of the day. 

I had five large Bs I intended for the back.

As my day progressed, I realized I could get them all on the front.

I unpicked some of the sections, cut down the borders on some blocks

eliminated a purple block I had made,

and squeezed them all in.

 

Except for that red and purple one on top of this photo.

Somehow, that block from my friend Y. got overlooked.

So I unpicked that filler on the top right

and squeezed it in right on the top.

 

Here's the whole thing, now sewn into three long sections.

It measures about 60 by 64.

 

I had thought I would quilt this in sections,

to facilitate free motion quilting

and make it less bulky to quilt.

 

But I only have a large piece of batting on hand

and I'm having difficulty figuring out the backing.

 

So I'm leaving it for today

and hope some of you might venture an opinion.

 

I haven't decided whether or not to make it more of a rectangle

with top and bottom borders.

 

I'm planning for this to be my nap quilt,

so the current size is fine with me.

A banner day

Brenda's Big B Birthday Bee, used as decorations for the big day. Thanks to all of you who participated -- I've received 47 Bs, and I think one or two more are still coming.

Blocks, letters and swaps

I made it to the mailbox yesterday and mailed off this 12 by 12 quilt to my secret swap partner from

 15 minutes play:

as well as these three 12 inch blocks for the bee I'm part of at the same site:

And this 6.5 inch album block for Victoria at Bumble Beans:

I find the hardest part of any challenge, bee, or swap is actually getting to the post office.

but I...

....because all of you have been so generous with making a B for my upcoming 50th birthday. Here's the latest bunch, although I realized I just forgot to photograph one from Kathy K-B. (Next time, Kathy.)

The two bigger ones at the right are from Cheryl, the star between them from my guild friend Anne F. From the top left is one from my guild friend Audrey, the blue and pink one is from Joyce, and hte next one is from Finn, who also sent the selvage above. Underneath it is a framed printed B from Karen P of my guild, and the one beside it is from Karen G, who used a combination of piecing and applique to make her first letter block. Thanks to all you!

Bubbles, bird and balloons

I'm thrilled and amazed by the variety of Bs I'm getting for Brenda's Big Birthday Bee, both in the size and shape of the letters and in the fabrics  Here's a recent sampling:

These are four smallish ones. Some people have wondered if their Bs are too big or too small. They're all perfect! From top left:  D. Kitts, Heidi, Mrs. Moen, and Heidi again. Thanks for the pair, Heidi!

Bubbles and butterflies on top from Beryl, a blah blah blah B from Julie

 Newspaper fabric with stories about the Titanic in a B from Terry, who is a faithful reader of the newspaper I write for, and fun spool fabric and dots from Rene

Tonya's fancy B in two text fabrics and birthday wishes from A R Baugh (sorry, you didn't give me your first name on your return address.)

And here's all the recent acquisitions. Don't see yours in there? My mail has been slow, since I get emails saying a B is in the mail and then it appears two weeks later. And if you still want to play along, I'm happy for more. leave me a comment and I'll send you my address.

I'm trying hard to keep the names attached to each block, but not all of you sent your blog address, so I'm missing some links.
I'm looking forward to putting this together in May, in time for my birthday at the end of the month.

Thanks for the works of your hands

Thanks to all of you who have put your hands to work making a B for my upcoming big birthday at the end of May.

Terri sent me this one made with violets to cheer me up in case spring hasn't sprung up here in Winnipeg. The snow is melting and we're preparing for the Red River to flood, but it's not really spring here yet.

I've received lots of Bs this week, reminding me of the creative hands out there

and how much I depend on the use of all my fingers to sew and create and just perform ordinary functions.

My dad injured his thumb badly on Monday and he had big time surgery on it and now and his right hand is immobilized until the thumb heals.

'Thanks to those who used their hands to make these Bs. This week I appreciate it more than ever.

Bee--you--tee--full!

I've had fun getting the mail during the last week, with a B or two landing at my house nearly every day. Here's the week's haul:

From top left: blocks from Iris, Debbie from Esch House Quilts,  Jill from Quilt Rat, Dordogne Clare, Cyndi,  Jenny, and Janet. I love the variety of letters and colours and fabrics. I've learned something about making a B from this exercise. Take a look at the curved piecing Jill did to make this lovely B. Click on the photo to see the curved piecing in the background.

Here's all the Bs I have so far, on an uncropped picture of my design wall and clutter beside it. For the record, I didn't pick that wallpaper and it's coming off this summer. For now, I just ignore it.

I'm happy for more capital Bs to help celebrate my upcoming Big Birthday (50). I set an initial deadline of early April, but if you get it in the mail by Easter, that's fine.

I've tried to respond to everyone who has left a comment, but some of you are no-reply bloggers or anonymous. I can't send you my address by email if you don't leave me a email address. If you are mtnquilter, please comment and leave an email address, or email me directly. thanks!

The Bs are buzzing in

I've been shamelessly soliciting capital Bs from my blogging friends in order to make a quilt of liberated letters in honour of my upcoming 50th birthday. This is out of character for me, since usually I'm asking people to help me make a quilt on someone else's behalf. But this one is all about me....and you. If you're interested in making a B for me, check out this post on Brenda's Big B Birthday B. Making a B shouldn't take more than about 20 minutes, a few scraps, and maybe a dollar in postage.

I got my first B in the mail yesterday. Thanks Michele of Nostalgic Cafe for the fun fabrics in this great letter.

This one is from my mother, Blogless Meg, who nailed it in her first attempt at free-pieced letters. She used scraps from a quilt we're making together for this B.

Here's what I have so far on my design wall. I've been seeing a few Bs popping up in the blogosphere, including these over here at Unruly Quilting.

My mother also brought me these fat quarters from the sale bin in a quilt shop in Mesa, Arizona. I love the text prints and the bright colours.

These prints are Disney Elements. The one at the left has words from Snow White and the other from Pinocchio.

Brenda's Big B Birthday Bee

I'm having a big birthday soon, and I'd like to make a quilt of free-pieced Bs, (for Brenda's Big Birthday), with your help. I'm inviting you to make a capital B, any size, surrounded by a generous amount of background, so I can put together a liberated "B" quilt from my blogging friends. Even if you've never made a B before, give it a try. I'll even give you a hand if you click here.

I

I've started already, but there's room for about 45 more...

Get out some fun fabrics

or some text prints

or some quilty fabrics

 or some fun colours

or send me a message with your fabrics

I'd love some "B"irthday wishes from you.

Check out this page for a tutorial on how to make a B.

Deadline is April 6, 2011. Leave a comment and I'll email you my mailing address.

"B" alert

warned... 

alert....

careful....

Some "b" challenge is coming your way....more details soon!