Save the Bees!

Today is the day for the reveal of Save the Bees! You can read all about it and find out how to get your copy of the free pattern over at Jacquelynne Steeves' blog.
This has been such a fun project to work on. I have enjoyed every step from collecting the fabrics, sewing the blocks using various techniques, and putting the whole top together.




This gold honeycomb fabric is one of my favourites in this quilt. It's called "Bee Creative" by Deb Strain.  It is the fabric that I bought for the large border.




I took this picture while attaching the side honeycomb border because I noticed that during my sewing time I had somehow managed to nick my thumb and two fingers by the knuckles. 
Can you see that?!?
Quilting is a dangerous sport!!
LOL




The hardest part of sewing the inside of the quilt together  was picking which fabrics to use for the HST blocks. I put a dark bumblebee square in the centre instead of a QST block. And I put the QSTs in the centre of the borders (instead of the corners) because I only had a small piece of the white fabric left and due to the vertical lines on the fabric, it would have been challenging to piece together long border pieces. So I used smaller border strips with the HSTs in the middle.
I loved how it was coming together.

This next step involved working with fusible applique, which I haven't done for quite a while so it was a bit of a challenge for me. I felt happy tracing and cutting the letters as the activity felt similar to playing with paper dolls when I was a child.

Here are the steps:
trace the letters onto fusible web, peel off one side of the paper, stick letter to wrong side of fabric, cut out shape following your traced lines, peel off other side of paper (this step was not included on the fusible directions so took me a while to remember!) and lay on the border. Then iron letter to border using a hot iron for 10 seconds. 
Here is my ironing board work surface. I use a mylar non stick pressing sheet so that my iron doesn't get sticky from the fusible. You only get one chance to get each letter attached correctly, and if you screw it up, you have to start the border all over again! So I recommend working slowly and carefully in order to get each letter fused just right. 

And here is my finished quilt top which measures 40.5" x 56.5". I didn't add the last pieced border as the pattern shows, and went with a narrow yellow one instead. I can't wait to get quilting and finish the quilt for the wrap up post in January. I'll be adding some hand and machine quilting, stitching around the letters to make sure they stay put, and adding the antenna to the pieced bee block. Also, I may add another appliqued bee in the borders too. SO FUN!

This month the draw prize giveaway is generously donated by Sarah J. Maxwell. You can win either a fat quarter bundle of Studio 37 fabrics for a US winner or a pattern collection for an International winner (one prize per person per month).  You can enter the draw by leaving a comment below. The draw will made next Sunday Dec. 9th.
The draw is now closed and the winner has been notified.

And be sure to visit all the featured bloggers and enter their draws too!

• The Crafty Quilter
• Podunk Pretties
• The Quilting Nook
• The Sewing Loft
• Flamingo Toes
• Kathy's Quilts (that's me!)
• Freemotion by the River
• A Quilting Life

Hop over Jacquelynne's facebook group Sew Quilty Friends to see other Save the Bees projects being made.
Linking up to Small Quilts and Let's Bee Social.