Smash that Stash Quilting Bee 2021

Well, 2020 didn’t quite go to plan, did it? With the introduction of COVID-19 to the human race our global postal system (along with many other things) went into a combined meltdown. The different approaches between countries on how to handle the pandemic didn’t help matters much either with some countries completely shutting down while others soldiered on. Combine the pandemic with Black Lives Matter, the US election and China deciding it was going to flex its trade muscles with Australia the block swap didn’t really stand a chance! As I write this now there are still two blocks from the first swap trying to find their way across the globe.

The Team at Make Modern and I put our heads together and decided that the best course of action was to wait out the storm and try again in 2021. We decided on a reversed plan of attack that focused on local groups getting together to sew blocks for each other over the course of a year. So the Block Swap has been reborn as a Quilting Bee!

A Quilting Bee is a great way to really connect with people and forge lasting bonds. We thought that this might be of more value, given the past 12 months, than just simply swapping a quilt block and possibly never hearing from the block maker again. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s taught us that people matter.

FYI: Single Block Swap

If you participated in the 2020 Block Swap and you’re just looking for one or two finishing blocks and don’t want to do a whole year of bee block making – never fear! I’ve got you covered. Simply fill in the questionnaire and I’ll hook you up with any others out there looking for a block buddy. Only those who were registered in the 2020 Block Swap can participate in the single block swap. You cannot sign up for both the single block swap and the quilting bee. It’s too confusing for me from an admin side of things. Sorry.

The Quilts

There are 7 quilt patterns to choose from for making blocks in the Bee. The patterns were printed in Make Modern Magazine. You can either click the buttons below each quilt to purchase the single pattern issue or, get better value for money, and get and click here for an All-Access Subscription and you’ll get access to all these patterns and so much more!

Q1: Irish Pinwheel (Issue #32)

Q2: Hashtag Angle (Issue #33)

Q3: Broken Back (Issue #34)

Q4: Intersections (Issue #35)

Q5: Wings of a Butterfly (Issue #36)

Q6: Pivot (Issue #37)

BONUS: Row-by-Row (Issue #38)

The patterns will not be provided as part of the bee, they must be either purchased as part of a Make Modern issue or as a standalone pattern from GnomeAngel. [GnomeAngel patterns will be released in March 2021 and will retail for USD$12/AUD$15 each.]

How it Works

1. You get excited about meeting new people and making some quilts!

2. You read through the rules and decide you’d like to be a part of this crazy fun yearlong event.

3. You follow the link below and sign up. You provide as much information as you can during the sign- up process to help me match you with your new bee mates. You (im)patiently wait for me to email you your bee details once the sign-ups have closed and I’ve had a chance to process everything.

4. Your inbox dings and you rush to open your bee details email. You read the email and learn a little bit about the people you’re going to be sewing with for 2021. You decide to send them a hello message and share your thoughts about which quilt you might choose, which quilt they might choose, your favourite colours, your favourite fabric designer and your cat. You two get chatting and realise you have so much in common besides quilting and Make Modern.

5. Your Queen Bee will organise (with my help) the block making roster, postage dates and bee etiquette for your bee group. Your group will discuss and come to an agreement. The first bee mate chooses their quilt and colour scheme.

6. You head off to your creative space filled with excitement about making quilt blocks for your new friends.

7. You make your blocks throughout 2021. You take photos of them and share them on social media using the hashtags #makemodernmagazine #smashyourstash #makemodernquiltbee.

8. Each month you package up that month’s block with love and care and pop it in the post by the postage due date.

9. When it’s your month to be the bee mate of choice you (im)patiently stalk your mail carrier.

10. Over the course of a week you find your bee mate parcels in your mailbox and do a little happy dance. You rush to open them and find wonderfully imperfect perfect quilt blocks made by your new friends with love and care.

11. You collect all your amazing new blocks and finish making a quilt top you love. Every time you look at the quilt you’re reminded of all the amazing friends you made and you smile.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

Here’s a rough outline of your responsibilities for those of you that have not participated in a Bee before:

• Once sign up’s close I will organise the bee groups. The groups will have a maximum of 12 people in them. The reality is that they’ll likely be half the size of this based on sign up’s.
• Your Queen Bee and I will work together to assign people a month of the year. Everyone gets 1 month assigned to them.
• In your month you will be responsible for choosing your pattern (from the 6 patterns listed above) and your colour palette. See rules and etiquette below for information about choosing and using colours and fabrics.
• In your bee mates months you will be responsible for making 1 block as per their chosen colour scheme and pattern. This means you’ll be making 1 block per month for the life of the bee. Eg. if there’s 12 people in your bee group that’s 1 block per month for 12 months.
• You must post your blocks out as per the arrangements within your bee group. If you hit a problem with making and supplying your blocks please let your Queen Bee or myself know immediately. Failure to do so will result in you being removed from your bee group and blacklisted.

The goal is at the end of your month that you’ll have a head start on enough blocks to make your own quilt top. You may negotiate within your bee group for members to have additional months if you’d like to continue on. Given the many variables in people’s lives the requirement is for bee mates to only make 1 block per month so if you’re short on blocks you all might enjoy continuing the bee on.

My Role

I will help facilitate the Bee Groups. I will collate all the responses and organise them, as much as possible, by location and interests. My goal is to form bee groups that are within the same postal network so that we can try to avoid, where possible, delays and lost parcels.

This may mean that groups will not have enough members to run for a full 12 months. However, in this instance the group might like to make more than one quilt. You may even like to pick other quilt patterns within Make Modern to make as a group.

I will appoint a Queen Bee for each group. This person will have indicated on their sign-up sheet that they would like to have this role for their group. If there’s no one available in the group, I will reach out to the group members with a couple of options for running the group without a designated leader.

I will be available to help troubleshoot set up, provide you with an example of how to structure your groups and facilitate getting the groups off the ground. It will be the responsibility of each group to keep their momentum going and make sure members participate as per their rules, etc.

Queen Bee Role

The Queen Bee will have the responsibility of facilitating the group. This means you’ll keep the correspondence moving, help members make decisions, troubleshoot any questions, etc. and generally be a cheerleader for keeping the blocks flowing.

This role is all about the administration and momentum of your bee group. You can be as structured and involved as you like, or as laid back as your group would like. I will provide you with help in getting things set up so that you’re not on your own.

Rules & Etiquette

Keep Your Word. Please do not sign up for the bee if you are unable to complete your commitment. Your bee mates will be counting on you. They will be spending their time, resources and talent on making you something special, so you’ll need to be prepared to reciprocate that effort.

Do Your Best Work. Not perfect, best. Be sure to use an accurate quarter inch seam but be prepared to get blocks that are a little small or a little big. It’s one of the best things about a bee, it’ll teach you how to cope when things don’t go to plan (in case 2020 hadn’t already sorted that out for you).

Respect People’s Requests. Please respect what people have asked for and deliver what they asked. You’ll be expecting it of the bee mates you receive from, so please don’t disappoint someone else.

If they ask for pink, orange and purple blocks and you pop brown in there that’s considered bad sportsmanship. If in doubt, ask your bee mates before you start cutting and sewing.

Be Flexible. This is all about smashing your stash so we don’t want people to have to buy fabrics if they can avoid it. While you might have your heart set on a quilt made entirely of Heather Ross it’s highly likely that not everyone will have these fabrics in their stashes. To help alleviate the pressure I’m just going to ask you to specify a colour palette for your block(s) and then ask you about things you don’t like so that people can best match your needs from their stashes. However, be prepared to get some fabrics that you might not love. You can specify a specific brand of solid and their colour that you like but be prepared for someone to match it from a competitor’s brand. This is all about scrappy stash busting quilts, not winning the Houston Quilt Festival.

Communicate with your Bee Mates. This rule works for all aspects of life, not just quilting bees. When bees are sorted, I’ll give you the contact details for getting in touch with your bee mates. Use these details to reach out and make new friends. This is a perfect opportunity to make a new connection with people you already have three things in common with; you quilt, you like bees and you read Make Modern!

Mail Inclusions. While it is always nice to receive a little something extra in your bee parcels this is not always viable for bee mates for a number of reasons. For the purpose of this bee it is not a requirement that there be any other inclusions in the bee parcel. Please be mindful that inclusions may cause unintentional embarrassment on behalf of your bee mates if they did not include anything but received extras. There will be a question about this on the sign-up form and I will do my best to match likeminded bee mates, but this may not always be the case. Please respect your bee mates wishes.

Keep Your Queen Bee Updated. I know that sometimes the best laid plans go astray – it wouldn’t be life without some ups and downs. If you find yourself in a position of not being able to deliver on your swap commitments, please let your Queen Bee know as soon as possible so we can make sure that no one is unintentionally impacted negatively.

Blacklist. There may arise the need to blacklist a participant for failure to deliver. Every opportunity will be provided to participants to explain or make right anything that comes up; however, it will remain the organisers right to deny participation in the interests of the greater community.

Important Dates

Sign-up for the 2021 Bee will open on the day Make Modern Issue 38 is released (15th January). They will be open for three weeks (until Friday 5th February). A week after they close, I will send out an email confirming your registration and the timeline for when you can expect to hear from your Queen Bee and find out who’s in your group.

Sign Up

If all this sounds like something you’d like to be part of then click the button below and sign up to be part of a Quilting Bee in 2021!