Honey Bee

The day after I finished the red/white Twisted Sisters, a quick group charity quilt I finished a major project that I have been working on (on and mostly off) for more than a decade - the Honey Bee quilt which I shall title "Bee Scene". Ruby taught the Honey Bee block in a Quay Quilters session then at the American Museum in Bath I saw a quilt featuring Honey Bee blocks with alternate plain squares. I opted for the background fabric after admiring a fellow class member's choice. By the end I didn't like it so much, retribution for envy! I lived in Kuala Lumpur for a year and and appliqued many "wings" while travelling around - Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and different parts of Malaysia. Once done I decided the bees needed some flowers to feed on and made applique blocks, not my usual technique. I found the preparation a bit tiresome but once done enjoyed the sewing. I drew on various sources but especially Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine patterns but I rearranged the elements so the quilt could be placed on the bed any way up. The original Bath quilt had scallops in the borders but by border time I was done so quilted a honeycomb design instead. The whole thing is handquilted and the wadding is Hobbs Tuscany wool which has a lovely soft and drapey feel to it. It was like butter to handquilt through. I used a fine crochet thread. It measures 85" square.

I won't be able to take a better photo until it hangs in a show which won't be till next year sometime.