The quilt shop Bee Block

I had so much fun making this block! In our bee, Cara wanted to make a house block quilt for a family with a baby in NICU as a hope for 'Home'. Click over there to see the other awesome house blocks.

I was inspired by the picture of Becket standing in front of a painted barn at the Quilt N Go shop in Michigan.  Started with the sketch Saturday night and finished first thing Sunday morning!

I pulled out some blank newsprint, cut it to 12" square as my usable area, and created a sort of paper pieced pattern for myself.

Cara's request for 'no applique' was taken as a challenge. I figured out how to make myself a semi-fluffy cloud. It was the only part of the block that was actually paper pieced. The rest of it was more for scale guidance.

At the painted barn, one of the quilts was made to look like the wind blew up a corner as they hung on a line. I wanted to add that detail, too. 

I initially planned to piece a little section of half square triangles, but realized it would break the pattern of the quilt front. So I braved it - did a mock up test - and actually inset the HST flip. Quilt Karma smiled on me for trying something new and tricky - I was pleased to see how nicely the wood grain matched all on it's own! I have a little pucker at the corner, but I decided it was a feature, making the wind rumpled fabric look realistic :)

It was so nice out, I rode my bike over and parked in under the overhang. Picked some wild flowers and fresh strawberries on the way.

That blue fabric Cara sent was perfect for a mini quilt!

I'm glad to think of a family loving this quilt, as I can hardly stand to send this block away. Would love to hang it in my sewing space!