The Quilts Unscripted Bee is well into our second year, and I wanted to take a moment to revisit all the blocks I made for the bee in 2022! (Here are the blocks I made in 2021.)
Quilts Unscripted was started by Ellyn Zinsmeister and Sarah Goer. For our first year, which ran from June 2021-April 2022, the other members were E.A. Cox, Chris Davies, Emily Lang, Elizabeth Ray, Isabelle Selak, Carole Lyles Shaw, Chris Simon, and Loide Wasmund. We kicked off our second year in May 2022 with a few changes — Loide and Chris S decided to take a break, and we added Charles Cameron and Allie McCathren. That keeps our total at 11; each person is assigned to one month, and we all take a break in December.
We are primarily an improv-focused bee (hence the “unscripted” in our name), and use primarily solid fabrics. Each month, one person chooses a theme or prompt, and provides guidance for the color palette and size/shape of blocks if they have a specific requirement.
Here are the prompts from 2022, and the blocks I made for each one!
In January, Emily asked us to use analogous colors and “growth” as a theme. I made these two blocks, which were a nice way to kick off our year. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this color palette!
In February, Ellyn asked for improv log cabin blocks featuring the Kona color of the year — Cosmos. I love the other colors she selected to go with it! (Here is her finished quilt, which was juried into QuiltCon next month!)
In March, Sarah requested wonky sawtooth star blocks in a specific color palette, with three different tons per block (inner, outer, and star points). I LOVE a good star block so of course I was excited about this prompt!
In April, Isabelle asked for “most of the colors” and a theme of confetti, with each block featuring small pieces within the overall design. It was fun to just pull whatever color caught my eye in my scrap bin!
In May, E.A. asked us to make hope blocks — that literally included the word “hope.” This was a great prompt, but came on the heels of the tragic Uvalde school shooting, and my first block — the black one — reflected that. A few days later, I was able to make the second wonky, unsteady hope block. (Here is E.A.’s poignant finished quilt.)
In June, Chris asked us to use two intricately painted Ukrainian eggs as inspiration. These blocks both reflect motifs that I saw in the images Chris provided. After having my sewing room in disarray for a couple weeks that month due to house painting, these were a fun way to get back into quilting. (Edited in 2023 to add: here is the finished quilt.)
In July, Charles provided each of us with three starting colors and asked us to “mix some paint” into large blocks. I added some similarly-toned pieces to the mix. Everyone got a different set of starting colors, so I’m really intrigued to see how he brings all the blocks together. (Edited in 2023 to add: here is the finished quilt.)
In August, I was the “queen” bee! I asked for blocks inspired by the recently released James Webb Space Telescope images. I have a plan for these — the photo above is from September, when I trimmed each block into a circle — but it involves a technique I haven’t done before and I’ve been a bit intimidated. I hope to get moving on this quilt soon!
In September, Elizabeth asked for improv fan blocks in a pink/yellow/blue color palette, with a unifying black triangle in the corners. I was apparently so excited to mail them to her that I didn’t take my own photo, so she sent me this one! (Edited in 2023 to add: here is the finished quilt.)
In October, Allie requested colorful ladder-inspired blocks on a white background. There were simple and fun to make, and will surely result in a dynamic “climbing” quilt when Allie puts them together.
And finally, Carole wrapped up our year in November with a request for half-rectangle triangles with saturated colors on one side and black on the other. She also invited us to add a bit of black and white stripes, and fortunately I had a couple scraps to put in the mix!
Isabelle has kicked off 2023 for us with an architecture prompt. I’m looking forward to another fun year!
I really love that you linked to a finished quilt when you could in the post. It’s really inspiring to see these blocks and group projects come together. And your James Webb telescope inspired quilt is going to be great; you can do it!