bear paws + spooky treats + jack-o-lanterns

Happy Halloween! But first things first, here are my last pair of bee blocks for the Far Flung Bee. Bear paws for Essie.

She has a great tutorial for them on her blog and asked for autumn colors on neutral backgrounds, suggesting the scrappier the better.

My scrap bin has grown a lot recently and includes fabrics left over from my own projects, as well as scraps I received from swaps with quilty pals and purchased from various brick and mortar and online quilt shops.

It was fun being able to pull exclusively from my scrap bin and these blocks were a blast to make. I'll probably do a wrap-up post for the bee once I've received all my blocks. It takes a minute for things to travel from Australia, hence the name Far Flung Bee!

Now back to Halloween, have you seen the sale section over at fat quarter shop?! They've got tons of Halloween prints 50% off and I just couldn't resist. I don't usually do novelty prints but I love a good deal and now's the time!

I picked up this fat quarter bundle and a few other basic blender prints from Halloween lines that aren't Halloween specific and can be used in other projects too. I think it's safe to say I'll be making a spooky quilt for next year :D

And here's a look at our jack-o-lanterns, mine is on the right, Jon's is on the left. Don't they look so happy together?! He had hoped his would look more menacing but it just can't help looking smitten.

I've got candy lined up for the trick-or-treaters and a race horse costume ready for the dog. Can't wait!
What are your plans?



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my wonky house neighborhood

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!
You know what's fun? Getting mail from Australia. They have really cute stamps over there and need to use a LOT of them to send stuff across the globe. I forgot to photograph that though, so use your imagination. (think tropical fish, sea turtles... coral reef!!)



These are the wonky house blocks Erika, (@guildthelily on instagram) made me for  the far flung bee we started a while back. Someone got creative! The little weenie dog is my favorite part, not to mention the clothesline and vegetable garden. That confetti sky... I adore them.



The group shot so far, a little funky neighborhood being built block by block by a bunch of quilty peeps across the globe. Gives me the warm and fuzzies, I tell ya. Happy Wednesday!

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wonky house bee blocks

My mailbox is starting to fill up with my Far Flung Bee blocks! Essie sent these lovelies all the way from Australia and they arrived just a few days ago.

Aren't they darling? I love the flower gardens in the one on the right, as well as the owl perched up top on the roof. She says the one on the left is a house full of "Bennet sisters," inspired by the book/movie Pride and Prejudice. How neat is that?

As for Elizabeth's blocks, she had some inspiration as well. Since I've spent the last few months falling madly in love with my fiance, Jon, she thought my houses should be in the shape of a heart! I think it's a totally cute idea and am so pleased she thought of it.

While the fabric, style and size of these blocks differ quite a bit, by the end of our six month bee I will have plenty of others to mix in to make a unique, quirky, little neighborhood of happy houses. Have any of you all participated in bees? What do you think of them? This is my first and so far it's been a blast :D