I’m Queen Bee! I’m Queen Bee!
My month for choosing a block for the Gridster Bee is July 2022. I’ve been in love with this block for ages, even way back to the Flickr times, when I saw it on someone’s photo stream where they had done it for their Bee Block, too. Here it is on an earlier Instagram (when we all liked IG). Their blocks were Halloween oriented, but I have quite enough Halloween quilts.
But not nearly enough Autumn Quilts.
So I organized all my thoughts on color and put them into Autumn Leaf PatternLite. It’s color that will make or break this quilt. Take a look:
So many colors: purple, red, scarlet, yellow-green, burgundy, yellow, gold, yellow-orange, deep blue, brown, taupe just for starters. The biggest color trick that Nature does for autumn is bringing out these colors, but making them blend. Our favorite landscapes are all of sudden alive with color, but they are ALL BLENDED. You can pick out the colors, but when taking the scene in all-at-once, they work together. So that means, probably no fussy cut center squares that are objects/cute I Spy bits/cat fabric, as nothing should stand out. (More info is in the pattern.) If you notice in the block below, I did fussy-cut fabric, but (again) no objects/cute-I-Spy-bits/animals.
I wrote about this block and pattern a few whiles ago, if you want to go and read about its genesis.
Once you get the elements of the block constructed, it’s basically a nine-patch in sewing it all together. Yes, in the pattern I also give you the measurements for the four-at-a-time Flying Geese blocks, as well as the secret calculus to figure it all for yourself, if you ever want to make differently sized geese.
And like a good girl in QuiltLand, in that earlier post I also give you its heritage, and how I morphed it a bit. In the above block, I am following the Roberta Horton Rules for plaids: it’s okay if they are slightly off-grain, as that gives the block more motion.
For a signature block, I slipped a little leaf FPP block into the pattern; please make it in either size: 4-inch or 6-inch. Again, please use the fall colors and sign only what’s seen: name, IG handle, city/state.
Thank you to all my Gridster Beemates for making me autumn blocks in July!
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 
Looks like fun. I made an autumn leaf quilt a couple of years ago and have another on “the list”. Nice colors.
Ooohh. I love the plaid!! And do I Spy a pretty grunge?
I love A L L of you! Quilts!
Thanks for FREE pattern.
Connie Smith
Nature does have a beautiful way of blending it all together, doesn’t she? I look forward to seeing these leaves arrive and the quilt come together for you.
Autumn colors are my favorites and your blocks are beautiful! I’ve made 4 major large quilts in autumn colors over the years and my stash is still full of those lovely reds, golds, oranges, warm greens and browns. You’ve inspired me to try adding some purples and blues to the next one!😊
This is going to be a stunning autumn-inspired quilt.
Also, I went back to read your post from November 2021 and believe I would just like to make this quilt in solids, copying your color layout.
Thank you for the color advice. I get drawn to those beautiful patterns but then when I go to work with them, I wish I had the smaller prints. I need to start buying more that can read like a solid when adding to my stash in the future. I love how you work with color. If you ever teach a zoom or online class, I’d like to know. In the meantime, I’ll just read every blog you write.