Bee Blocks and Project Selvage

First of all, unfortunately, my little print didn't make the 75 semi-finalists for Project Selvage. Disappointing, of course, but that's life—I'm glad I gave it a shot! And I can't thank you guys enough for all the wonderful, incredibly supportive comments about my print. To know that so many of you are in my corner is a reward in and of itself. : ) Made my day!As for the prints that were chosen, from an illustrative/design standpoint, I think every one of them is beautifully done (click here to view them and vote). There are obviously some very talented people in this group. But (and hopefully this doesn't sound like sour grapes), I have to say that I am disappointed in the subject matter and tone of many of these prints. Sorry, but to put it plainly, I think most of these designs are kinda boring. Sure, they're pretty, but in my opinion, most them look very much like fabric that's already available from the major manufacturers. And if that's the case, what was the point of even holding the contest? By my count, there are 9 semi-finalist prints with owls in them. NINE. This means that fully 12% of the semi-finalists were under the impression that the world needs yet another owl fabric. Really, Spoonflower?Okay, I'm done. Thanks for letting me vent. : ) There is at least one print in there that I love: "Windy Day" by Patty Sloniger. It's from a work-in-progress collection called "Backyard Baby." Check it out the other coordinating prints she has on Spoonflower, they are totally covet-able! I know absolutely nothing about the designer, but I would buy that collection in a heartbeat. And for those of you who are wondering: Yes, I am still planning to come up with some coordinating prints for my boot fabric, and yes, "Boots" and any future coordinates will be available for sale on Spoonflower at some point. I'll keep you all posted!Anyway, moving on! Let's look at some March bee blocks, shall we?First up, Do. Good Stitches. Ara Jane asked for these "Bits and Blocks" blocks. I think everyone in the Love circle is pretty curious about how exactly Ara Jane is going to lay these out. But aren't they great? And so quick and easy to make. Here is Ara Jane's tutorial if you'd like to whip up some of these yourself.Elizabeth requested spiderweb blocks for her month in {Sew} Beautiful, and she sent this fun Good Folks fabric by Anna Maria Horner. Isn't it absolutely beautiful? All those skinny little strips in such bright, gorgeous colors! I can't wait to see this one come together! And Elizabeth is now in the process of making 18 more of these, so it's going to be a biggie!Beth wanted a slightly wonky drunk love block for her month in the String Me Along Bee. Well, you're in luck, Beth, because "slightly wonky" is one of my specialties. : ) This was my second drunk love block in Anna Maria Horner fabrics in as many months, and I have to say, something about her prints really lend themselves well to this style of block. Love it!Last but not least, I participated in the first quarter of the 3x6 Mini Bee. In case you're not familiar with it, this is a quarterly bee in which you make blocks for your "hive" of six other people from your own scraps, so no fabric mailing is required.These are the blocks I made. I used the "Lil' Twister" ruler, which Quilt Story blogged about here. I adore this ruler! But instead of following the Lil' Twister's usual directions of cutting and turning, I mixed up the cut pieces so that the colors stayed together, and they alternated with the white background.And here are the blocks I received from my hive. I requested green, aqua, and gray blocks. I'm still waiting on one more, which will hopefully show up soon. Thank you, ladies, I love them all! I'm signed up for the next quarter and I'm keeping the same colors, so I'm looking forward to having a nice big sampler quilt eventually.