For the first month of the BEE-utiful Quilting Bee, Suzanne wanted yellow and gray blocks with an "Opposites Attract" theme. She left this mostly up to our interpretation, but mentioned that she wanted each block to have both a clean and simple section and a section that was more complex. I thought this was a great concept, so I took two steps forward, then two steps back and got started. (Okay, I didn't take the steps, but I totally did sing Paula Abdul while I was making the blocks.)
Here is the first block. Suzanne had asked that the large-scale Amy Butler print be the focus of the simple part of the block.
The concept for this block came to me pretty much immediately upon reading Suzanne's instructions. I really like having the controlled area of busy piecing "floating" on the big Amy Butler print.
I added the bees (from Patty Young's new Flora and Fauna collection).
Suzanne asked us to make a second block if we had time. I had time, but I didn't have any of the Amy Butler print left over, so I used a gray Alexander Henry print (Chitra Floral) that I had on hand. I thought that this print complemented the other one nicely. Hopefully it won't look too out of place with the others!
My idea was that the pieced areas that are bordered in cream would be the "complex" part of the blocks, with the larger areas of the floral prints being the "simple." It's funny because, when I look at the finished blocks, I actually see the opposite. The tiny pieced squares and bars look very orderly, whereas the large floral prints are kind of crazy and viney.
Anyway, I hope that they fit well enough with the concept and the finished quilt! Thanks, Suzanne for a fun project.
