My first quilting bee

I'm very excited to be part of a quilting bee. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time but lacked the confidence to take part. One of my resolutions this year is to not let fear of failure limit my dreams and goals. With that in mind, I let go of self-doubt, fear of imperfection, and self-deprecation; I joined a bee!

Finding an open bee that fits your style isn't always easy but Flickr Groups is probably the best place to start looking. I joined the group "A Twist on Tradition". I love quilts but I'm not too hyped about a lot of the traditional piecework. It's pretty and I can appreciate the effort that goes into them, but they generally don't make me giddy. I tend to gravitate to the more modern quilts so I thought this group would be a good fit for me.

Our first batch of fabrics arrived in the mail around Christmas time. At first I thought, "Who do I know in UTAH???" and was even more perplexed when I opened the envelope and found a bagging of scraps. Oh yahhh... the bee has begun!

I had a pretty busy holiday so I wasn't able to work on my blocks until recently. The originator requested pinwheels inside log cabins. I've never done a log cabin before and have been told it's simple and one of the first blocks a beginner should learn. However, the intimidation-factor was pretty high for me. I felt all my fears of imperfection creeping back into my mind.... I'll never figure out how to layout a log cabin... What if it isn't square?? What if it isn't centered? What if mine looks shoddy?? I really don't want to disappoint the lady who sent the fabric to me!

And then, I sat down and just did it. I closed my eyes, did some deep cleansing breaths and got to work (with my eyes open again).

I had some moral support from my best friend who encouraged me and held my hand a little. And now that the blocks are done, I can say that I've done a log cabin and succeeded. I can't wait to see what the completed quilt looks like!