I am really down to the wire on this one. I finished the last of my May bee blocks last night, and I’m going to try and get them mailed via machine today (are the machines available even when the post office is closed for holidays?).

This was the first month of Bee Improvisational, and Leila wanted a forest of trees. Any size, any shape, any number of trees in any configuration. But they had to be muted tones.

I’ve wanted to make a block like this for a while, it’s not unlike a wall quilt I wanted to make a friend of mine for Christmas last year. But I ran out of time and never did it, so maybe that will be a project for this Christmas.

I just sort of randomly pieced together the tree tops. The dark green fabric is from my stash, one of those fat quarters I’ve had forever, don’t remember where I got it, and am never sure what to use it in. My color palettes tend to be super bright, so this was a great way for me to play with muted fabric. Turns out I LOVE that dark green. The paisley on the bottom of the top right triangle is also from my stash, and the green on the bottom of the far left triangle is mine as well.

These are my finished trees. I had an interesting time making that double tree, the trunk on the right kind of got away from me. I could have ripped the seams and fixed it, but I really want to mail these off ASAP. So I figure, if Leila hates it she cut that one out and I won’t be the least bit offended. But I’m kind of digging the other 3 trees. I can’t wait to see how she finishes it, actually. My inclination would be to make the trees in bold colors but a uniform shape. I want to see what she does with muted colors and wildly different shapes. I think it will look great.