Buzzzzzzz...

See that little badge on the right over there?  The one that says, "Fat Stash Bee"?  Yep, I joined a bee!  Quilting bees are not just for grandmas anymore.  It turns out there's this whole world of "virtual quilting bees".  A VQB is a group of people that come together, and just like a traditional grandma-bee, each person makes blocks for everybody else.
Typically, a bee has 12 members, and each member is assigned a month.  They send out fabric and directions to the other participants when it's their month, and everyone makes blocks & sends them back.  At the end of a year, every person has a whole quilt, made in part by everyone in the group.  In this bee, we're sending each other a fat quarter when it's our month, and then we get to pull from our stash of fabric.  Hence the name "Fat Stash".
March was our first month, and I just finished my block:

This is Rebecca's month, and she asked for a "neighborhood quilt".  Every person was to use some of her orange fabric to make a block with a house, or other building.  I made her a log cabin.  =)  She's expecting a baby, and mentioned that she wants to use the quilt in the nursery.  How great is it that people all over the world (we have members in Canada & Germany too!) are helping to make something for her baby?

See that crocheted flower in the picture, too?  I crocheted something!  It's been a while since I've crocheted anything.  I first saw this on Angela's blog, Fussy Cut, and have been wanting to make some since.  It's supposed to be a potholder/trivet, but I think it'd make a great scrubber too (it is made of all-cotton yarn).  Tutorial can be found here.  Now I must go and binge on our impulse-purchased Easter candy, and cheer on my Buckeyes (even though I hate basketball).  Go Bucks!

Weekend Sewing

Whew!  My sewing machine has gotten a lot of use already this weekend!  And it got a good de-linting under the needle plate... whoops, there was an embarrassing amount...
Anyway, I present to you Block-a-palooza blocks five & six:

Block #5

Block #6

These blocks were a little more challenging, with a lot of piecing & points to match up.  They aren't perfect, but I like them (especially six!).  Starting block six was hugely difficult - I could not make a decision on fabric.  I knew I wanted a red-heavy block, but I could not make my fabric play nice.  So... I may have paid a visit to my local quilt shop...  Whatever, I really like it now!

In non-quilty news, my friend Sara has been asking me to teach her to crochet.  This weekend we were finally able to meet up for it, and it was a blast!  I have never taught anyone before, but she's home now practicing her single crochet.  She'll be a pro in no time.  I thought that Sara would need a pretty new roll-up case to hold her new hooks, so I whipped one up for her.

Here it is all rolled up:

The inside:

It was fun to make, super practical (I love the needle pocket), and Sara liked it!  I made it mostly following the pattern here, with a few changes, like omitting interfacing (I didn't have enough, and it was fine without).  I kind of want to make one for me now, even though I have a crocheted one as a WIP right now.  Hmm...

Ah, if only I had a snow day...

I'd be finishing this:

Some day it will be a pillow for our bed.  Doesn't it look great with our PB Pearl Dot bedding (in the background)?  But alas, though much of the country is covered in snow right now, and we have some of the white stuff outside, it's also pouring down rain and warming quickly.  So, off to school I go!