by Fiona Carlson
Earlier this year I was invited to join a quilting bee; something I’d been interested in doing but not entirely sure I had the time, energy or bandwidth for. But when my friend Allison Ramsing (another fabulous pattern designer) reached out telling me that someone in her bee had dropped out and would I be interested in jumping in, I said yes right away.
The group is called RuBEE Star Sewists and is filled with some of my favorite quilters who, like me, are big fans of Melody, Alexia, Kim, Sarah, and Rashida (the OG 5), now known collaboratively as Ruby Star Society.
What's a Quilting Bee?
If you’ve never been a part of a quilting bee, I highly recommend joining one if the stars align and it feels like a good fit. The girls in my bee are super sweet, excited about Ruby Star Society fabrics, like me, and just generally a really positive and encouraging group of fellow makers in a space that can sometimes feel overwhelming and lonely (yes I’m talking about you, Instagram).
But if you’re unfamiliar with what a quilting bee is or how a quilting bee works, here’s my general understanding of it:
Generally, a quilting bee might take place over the course of twelve months. In this instance there would be twelve members. However, if there were only six members in the bee, then it would be a six month bee, and so on.
Each month one of the members is the “Queen Bee” which means that they get to choose a pattern and a color palette for the “Worker Bees” to sew, and then each bee member makes a block for the Queen Bee. If blocks are on the smaller side (12” or smaller) Queen Bees can ask for as many as (2) blocks from each Worker Bee. If blocks are larger than 12”, then Worker Bees will generally make (1) block only. Once blocks are completed, they are mailed to the Queen Bee. The next month another member gets to be Queen until everyone has had their turn.
*DISCLAIMER: Please keep in mind that individual bee coordinators may do things differently and this is simply based on my personal, limited experience of how quilting bees work.
Enter the Skate Night Mini Quilt Pattern...
As a pattern designer, I knew that I wanted to use my own pattern for my Bee Block. Ideally something new... wouldn't that be cool!?
I'd been playing with an idea for a quilt pattern that utilized two blocks. I wanted one. So, I played a bit with the cropping and landed on this!
Not only did the single block look amazing on it's own, it also played with gradients and had a full rainbow of colors. The pattern also encourages lots of adorable fussy cutting, and let’s be honest... if you’re anything like me, you’ve got scrap bins full of adorable fabrics just waiting to get a chance to shine as a fussy cut in a scrap quilt.
Bee Quilt Layout (48” x 64”)
3 blocks x 4 blocks (12 blocks total)
Seeing all the blocks mocked up together made me SO happy!
I loved the way the repeating block looked in a full quilt design. The pattern would come together in a really fun way, and it would look great as a scrappy finish.
I wrote up the pattern and sent it off to my Worker Bees, waiting (im)patiently for them to get to work.
Skate Night Mini blocks flying in!
So now it's July! My month to be Queen, and my blocks have started arriving. All I can say is that I am SO very happy that I decided to use this pattern for my Bee Block!
Amanda Kelly - @quiltcakes
Briana Hord - @bri.inbloom
Fiona Carlson (Me!) - @mommyandmequiltco
Lindsey Bills - @the.quilting.corner
Lisa Starker - @lizajanieco
I mean... aren’t these Bee blocks amazing?!
*Check back on this post soon; I'll be adding more blocks as they come in from the rest of the RuBee Star Sewists including Allison Ramsing - @allison.ramsing (coordinator), Ashley Perkins - @henhousequilting, Cait Moreton-Lisle - @caitlisledesigns, Hailie Davis - @hellohailie, Jenna Heather - @jenna.thecraftygal, Shasta Byington - @favoritedayquilting, Whitney Lindsley - @frenchfryquiltco.
Additional Quilt Layouts
If you're unsure what size quilt you might like to make using the Mini Quilt size of the Skate Night Mini quilt pattern, here are a few additional options to consider.
Baby Quilt (32” x 32”)
2 blocks x 2 blocks (4 blocks total)
Kid Quilt (48” x 48”)
3 blocks x 3 blocks (9 blocks total)
Throw Quilt ( 64” x 64”)
4 blocks x 4 blocks (16 blocks total)
I will be completely candid and share that I do not plan to write a full Skate Night quilt pattern any time soon, but I highly encourage you to pull out your old mix tapes, do a deep dive into your scrap bins, and get lost finding all your favorite fabrics that you probably forgot you even have to make the most epic scrapbuster quilt of your dreams!
Don’t forget to use #SkateNightMiniQuilt when sharing on social media, and please tag me @mommyandmequiltco so that I can see and share your beautiful quilt.
Happy sewing!
xoxo,
Fiona