It’s been a while….

So, I didn’t fall off the face of the earth!  But it looks like I did fall off the quilting/blogging/reading websites/keeping up with tweets and emails/pretty much everything else bus!  Things around here have been so busy, the poor sewing room is in disarray and I just keep adding to the fabric piles.  (Apparently I have lots of time to shop online for fabric, just not actually use any of it!) I’m hoping to pick things back up soon, now that our nights aren’t filled with catching up on tv shows (hey, I’m being honest!) or other random things!  Somehow, my little newborn baby is turning 1 year old next month!  I’m not sure how that happened, because I was certain I just had her a few months ago!  Crazy how time flies, I fully understand that statement now!! Little Mister is also on his way to being 3, so a co birthday party is in the works! 

The quilt blocks below were created for the 4×5 Bee (sign up’s for the 2nd quarter are going on now!), and it’s another original Parfait Cafe design.  (I always feel a little weird using the word original, as I feel it is very difficult to create anything truly original these days)  This design is based off of a Dresden Plate, and this one is all machine pieced similar to the last Dresden that was posted.  The middle circle is hand sewn on as an appliqué.  I’m loving the rainbow one, I’m going to have to make an entire rainbow sampler quilt now!

And now, about the tutorials.  Tutorials for the blocks will be posted, and the Diamond Blossom will be first up, but writing out the steps and documenting the process is taking some time.  A few of the tutorials will be “mini” tutorials or overviews, since we just can’t get on paper everything we want to express about creating a certain block! I’m very sorry for those that have been patiently waiting for tutorials to pop up, and I am very sorry for not responding to emails in some time!  I’m getting right on that!  

What’s this?  A blog post?  Could it be?!  It seems The Parfait Cafe took a little bit of a hiatus these past few months!  To be honest, I had a pretty rough year last year, a couple personal issues arose that made me fall flat on my face.  My sewing room seemed lifeless,  I had a hard time picking up any projects, and couldn’t find the time or energy to work on tutorials (and I’m sorry for that, they are not forgotten!).  This all seems melodramatic, but the truth is I just could not “get with it” in terms of sewing and blogging.   So let’s get past all that! 

I am a member of the Neutral and Not bee, my first true 12 month virtual bee!  The focus of this bee is to use only two colors, one neutral and one not (yellow and gray, blue and white, etc) to achieve a strong design and contrast. The first month belonged to Esther, who requested a 12.5″ Dresden Plate block in green and brown.  She gave us free reign to create any dresden, which I was quite happy about!  I’m not sure what to call this block.  No Appliqué Double Pointed Dresden?  Everything-is-sewn-in Dresden?  I have no idea.  The pointed plates are all machine pieced, as is the center circle.  The entire “plate” was pieced into the background fabric (which was cut out and removed).  Lots of flipping and sewing!  There will be a tutorial for this up too, but first we need to catch up on the 4 other tutorials that are needing to be finished!

Here is the finished set of the 3×6 Bee blocks, Diamond Blossom.  I am absolutely in love with this block, in every color way!  But I think my favorite is the rainbow one.  I love it!  I almost kept it for myself I loved it so much, haha!  Each diamond is a different shade of Kona cotton.  It is assembled a little differently than the others, so it took a little longer to complete (individually cut diamonds).  Speaking of assembly, tutorial making is at a little bit of a stand still.  I thought they would be posted by now, but there have been lots of things going on and no chance to work on them!  But they will get done! They will! I’m hoping the first one will be up in a couple weeks. (hope!)

Onward!  4×5 Bee Blocks, done!  This has been a very hexagon filled bee quarter for us, hah!  Aside from working on bee blocks, I’ve been trying to rearrange the website a little bit.  I added a Google Friend Connect button, share buttons, updated my Twitter, and hopefully figured out my RSS feeds.  I’m a little behind on social networking it seems, hah.  I’m also trying to work out adding all color variations of our bee blocks to one page.  Still working on that, tehehe.

I also want to say a huge heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who has emailed and commented!  I am so happy people are interested in tutorials for the blocks, or just want to chat!  I try to reply as quickly as I can, but Little Mister also wants to “reply” (and subsequently deletes some emails, ack!)so it might take a bit longer for me to get back to you!  Again, thank you, I appreciate every comment! 

I should also explain the “us” that pops up in my blog posts.  (Us, Me, We, I….not really one for consistency am I? …there it is again!)  I consider The Parfait Cafe to be a collaboration between myself and Mr. Parfait.  We work as a team (Team Parfait!  I need to make shirts…) and share roles when it comes to designing, creating, sewing, color/fabric choice, and more.  We’ve been doing this on and off for 11 years, and we have definitely figured out our rhythm and what works the best for us (or so I think, haha).  That’s not to say we don’t have crazy “Artistic Spats” sometimes, and it is hard sometimes because we are both so bull headed (sorry honey, hehe).  But we have a lot of fun together, and we are thankful to have an outlet like The Parfait Cafe (I’ll explain the name sometime soon) that we can share our projects and designs! 

Here’s the first set of our 3×6 Bee Blocks this quarter. I love looking at these all together, the colors in this hive were fantastic! I’m really starting to open up to different color combinations, and that’s the great thing about these bees! I’m finding so much color inspiration and having so much fun finding new and interesting fabrics!

I have been getting some emails regarding tutorials for these new blocks, and I promise, they are coming soon! Tutorials for all three new blocks will be posted as soon as all of the blocks are finished and all of the bee commitments are fulfilled.

Also, I wanted to post a little information about the “Bee Blocks” and what they are for. I am currently part of three “Virtual Bee’s” on Flickr, the 3×6, 4×5 and the EmbroiderBee. Upon joining the bee (they usually run in quarters), you are assigned a “hive”. Everyone (5-6 people) in your hive has a color scheme they are looking for, and they post an inspiration mosaic of their colors. You make a 12.5″ block of your choice, same block design for each member of your hive, in their posted colors from fabrics in your stash.  That is why we make so many blocks in different colors of the same design!  

Sometimes quilt blocks do not work out.  At all.  Sometimes trying to fix the problem just makes it worse, so it’s back to the cutting table to start all over!

Here is our second block for this round of the 3×6 Bee!  Took a wee bit longer to create than planned, but the end result was well worth it!
Now to make 6 more….. o_o

(I’m apparently really bad at writing blog posts and couldn’t think of anything interesting or witty to say about this new block so I’ll just leave you with the truth…which is….that I’m really bad at writing blog posts! Hah!)

One of the great things about virtual quilting bees, for me, is working with color combinations that I would never usually work with.  Now, I know I am showing you our block for the 3×6 bee made in my chosen colors, but my hive has some great combinations posted and I’ve spent the week going over fabric choices!  I really fell in love with aqua and tangerine while working on a bee block last period, and now purple, orange, and gray have me a little interested!

The cutting table is covered with little stacks of fabric, one stack for each bee member.  I like to have a block design finalized and printed out, taped to the wall (I have an obsession with blue painters tape), then move on to choosing fabrics and
colors.  I drive myself (and my Husband, hehe) wacky trying to find just the right fabric, color, print, and pattern.  I replace fabric after fabric, pulling out fabrics over and over again, moving this way, switching that one….over and over!  We just had to laugh the other night when I kept saying “No, not that blue, it needs to be more like this blue!  No…wait…that blue does looks better…wait…no…”   But then you find that great combination, that “A-ha” moment that pulls the block together (granted, this moment comes after taking a couple nights off from looking at fabrics and coming back in with a fresh mind…and pulling out the same four fabrics you cast aside earlier), and you can’t wait to move on to choosing more fabric for more blocks!

Another bee block!  This block is the test block for the 4×5 modern Quilt Bee, quarter three.  I’m really excited about this bee, but am starting to get a little nervous in regards to fabric choice!  I’ll have to really think about which fabrics I choose so they will show well in the block! But, there with be nothing going on upstairs in the sewing room for now….it’s 101 degrees here! 101! What is that! Thankfully I have Rita’s Water Ice rootbeer flavor and custard to cool me down, and Downton Abbey and various Korean Drama’s to occupy my time in the much cooler downstairs!