Our guild, NELA Modern Quilt Guild, has run a 10 month/ 10 member traveling quilt bee that is now coming to a close. It has been such fun and more challenging than I expected. Many of us were at a standstill as we tried to get started on blocks for the quilts of the other members. We really had to get out of our comfort zone and try new things.
Some of us set themes, or color schemes, and some were ‘anything goes’. Mine was a Louisiana theme and my quilt top made it home just this past weekend.
Starting at the top left corner, you can see St Louis Cemetery (New Orleans), piano keys (think jazz), Who Dat Owl for LSU (because who doesn’t know LSU football?!), raindrops (and I love the rain! :-D), there is a paper pieced crawfish and alligator, a turtle, farms and catfish ponds, Louisiana state block (flying pinwheels), an oil rig and in the center the very first block, a map of New Orleans! And the quilt is so much prettier in person. The colors are brighter. There’s Essex Linen in some of the squares that look awesome. It is such a fun quilt and I’m so proud to have it home.
Kelly started my quilt with the map of New Orleans and included these cards for everyone to write a note. This was awesome! They included notes or backstories on why certain blocks were created which just made them more special. They also included my name and address. That helped everyone remember whose quilt they were working on. Very helpful! I definitely want to include that idea for next quilt bee we do.
A huge thank you to everyone in this bee. It has been so much fun to watch everyone’s quilt come together. And it has definitely made me exercise my creative muscles.
If you would like to see the other quilts as they are completed, go to our Pinterest board. I’m loving the quilts coming in!
threadtime 
I love them all! The oil derricks were fun to do. By the way, what is that odd shaped circle thing in the middle top? Just can’t figure that one.
You talking about the brown owl?? As in Who Dat / ‘Hoo’ dat.
Very cute quilt, I can’t wait to see how you decide to quilt it.
This is so wonderful. It’s great to see how different people interpreted the theme and came up with such clever blocks.
Thanks, Rachael. There were some interesting quilts come out of this Traveling Quilt Bee. It was a lot of fun. And a challenge!
It’s great to see your top finished but not quilted. It will be even more interesting to see it quilted! Let me know if you need a long-arm quilter–going crazy on this one would be F U N ! It’s impossible to choose a favorite block on this one. I’m amazed with the talent and time some of us put into it! And I wish I’d thought to include note cards with my first block. As soon as I saw them, I was jealous of the idea!
Those notecards were suggested when we started, but I had no clue how meaningful they would be. When looking at some blocks, I now remember the comments behind it.
Did not know you were a longarm quilter. No wonder you are through with yours already! And that you did such an awesome job. I just love yours!
Hi Ramona,
This is random, but I’m looking for someone with your name who may have left a comment on my recent giveaway (a giveaway for the book, Quilt Local). If this is you, your comment was selected as the winner, but your email address seems to be incorrect, so I can’t get in touch with you! I’m hoping you’re the right Ramona!
Thanks,
Ashley (filminthefridge.com)