Frozen Contest Winner!!!

You ladies didn't make this easy, we had a ton of beautiful entries!!!  And I loved seeing the creations for all ages, from a bitty baby bum all the way to a momma!!!  There were Elsas and Annas and all kinds of Frozen-themed dresses!  Great job, ladies!!!

Unfortunately, there can only be one winner.  It wasn't easy to pick, but we finally picked one!  This woman went above and beyond, her detailing was beautiful, the hand-drawn applique was perfect!  And I even saw in one of her comments that she didn't use a pattern!  Wow!!!

Congrats to Sue M, 

who won with her beautiful Anna dress and cape!!!

All of our members had beautiful creations in this contest and throughout the next week, I'll be featuring the rest of these talented ladies on our blog!  I can't wait for our next contest!!!

~Princess Bee~

Frozen

It's been a busy week at The Bee Hive!  We have pre-orders closing, new lines being uploaded, our June SAL is drawing to a close.  We also had a suggestion in the group involving a certain Disney movie and a contest to win some of the new snowflake batik we got in!  Ready for the details?

By now, just about everyone has seen Frozen approximately 3,259 times.  Give or take a little.  Our daughters and granddaughters have memorized all of the songs and have been driving their brothers insane by singing 24/7.  Oh, that's just at my house?  Really?  I was sure other brothers out there have been tormented by "Let it go" a time or three.

Real quick funny: Layna was watching Frozen the other day (again) and Anna was belting out "For the First Time in Forever", running along the docks, singing about how nothing is in her way when she runs smack dab into Hans' horse.  Layna, in all her 7-year-old sarcastic self, blurts out "That horse was in your way."  I couldn't help it, I was at the computer and bust out laughing at her.  She looked over and said "What?  It was."

Anyway, back to the contest.  There have been lots of designers coming out with PDF patterns for the Frozen sisters, McCalls has released a pattern for Anna and Elsa dresses in both women and children, and many talented women have been getting creative and coming up with their own versions of Frozen dresses.

Here's the one I did for Layna on her birthday.

Rules: There really aren't many.  We want to see how creative you can be!  You can imitate one of the costumes from the movie or you can make something that is inspired by the movie. You can also use something that you have already made.  But you can only enter one item, so pick your favorite! All pictures need to be uploaded in the fb group, Bee Quilted Beauties.  There will be an event created for the contestants to upload into.  By uploading a picture to the contest, you grant us permission to use your picture in our blog.

Deadline: All pictures must be uploaded by June 27, 2014.

Prize: One lucky winner will receive 3 yards of the Snowflake Batik.  If the winner is international, the fabric will be shipped with their next outgoing order.

What are you waiting for?  Get to sewing!!!  

~*~Princess Bee~*~

Pattern Review: M4M Alyssa

Last week, I got to test the Alyssa Dress from Made for Mermaids.

I was down at The Bee Hive when the tester call went out and what do we do when we're surrounded by tons of beautiful fabric?  We want to make something!!!  I jumped on the tester call and was picked to make the dress length.  The final pattern will have three lengths to choose from: top, tunic and dress.

I let Layna pick out the fabric and she picked a fun Laurel Birch Mermaid print. (Talk about the perfect fabric to use on a Made for Mermaids pattern!)  She's currently on a mermaid and fairy kick (how can any little girl NOT be on a fairy kick when she lives in a house surrounded by fairy wings) so the fabric was perfect.

One good thing about this pattern is that there are no pattern pieces.  This means no printing!  I was able to download the pattern to my Samsung Galaxy and get right to work!  I got everything cut out in less than 15 minutes and was ready to sew!

The bodice was finished in less than 30 minutes, and that included threading elastic through the back.  Megan uses casings and elastic instead of shirring on this one.  I'm pretty happy about that because shirring doesn't work too well when going through two layers of fabric.  Been there, done that. 

The bottom band is awesome because there is no gathering!!!  You just line it up and sew!  I'm one of these seamstresses that doesn't like gathering, so having a band instead of a ruffle was a huge bonus for me!  I did have to gather the skirt into the bodice, but I'm ok with just having to gather once when making something. 

The end result is really adorable!  Layna loves her new mermaid dress!

I even made some matching shorts from the M4M Lucy pattern!  Another quick and fun pattern!!!

Tuesday Ramblings-What is that fabric for???

It's Tuesday afternoon and I'm getting ready to head down to Bee Quilted Headquarters!  I can't wait to see all the beautiful fabrics we have coming in!!!  So what am I doing right now instead of packing?  Enjoying the beautiful weather today!!!

Last Saturday, I announced our next Sew-A-Long!  This one is going to be fun, because it can be a #selfcaresewing project or it can be something for your little one.  Plus, if you do one for your daughter, you can even make a matching one for her doll!  And huge bonus, the patterns are all free!  (You can get them here)  We're spending the rest of this week picking out fabrics and we will be starting our SAL on Monday (June 9) with cutting.  

We've been adding new fabric types to our group, specifically from Cotton+Steel.  I know we have all different levels of seamstresses from complete beginner all the way to advanced professional.  Sometimes, all those fabric types can get confusing!!!  Just about everyone knows about woven and knit, but what about voile, canvas, lawn???  What are the best types of projects for each of those fabric types?  I'll give you a little insight to some of the new fabric types we're carrying.

Woven: This is the most common fabric in our shop.  It's easy to work with and can be used on a variety of projects from clothing to quilts to bags.  It does not have stretch, is pretty strong, and is a good all-around fabric, especially for beginners.

Knit: Another common fabric, especially in clothing.  Knit does have stretch to it and the stretch can vary.  It can have a two-way (only from edge to edge) or a four-way (both edge to edge and lengthwise) stretch.  This fabric is most commonly used in t-shirts, tank tops, and bathing suits.  

Voile: The word "voile" comes from the French word for veil, which is an indication of the fabric's intrinsic nature: light-weight and semi-sheer. Voile's plain weave construction makes it similar to other light-weight woven materials, such as muslin, organdy and organza. Crisp, yet comfortable against the skin, voile has been used in women's undergarments and summer clothing. But it is not only for apparel; voile is often used in home furnishing applications such as curtains and window treatments.
Read more: http://www.ehow.com/list_7278471_characteristics-voile-fabric.html#ixzz33bvYbLzJ

Canvas:  Canvas is a heavy-duty fabric weave that has been used for centuries. Canvas fabrics have been used to make boat sails, tents, tarps, handbags and even air bags in vehicles. Canvas can be made out of a wide variety of materials, each with its own set of properties.
Read more: http://www.ehow.com/info_8385449_properties-canvas-fabric.html#ixzz33bw1pODc

Lawn:  Plain weave sheer fabric, originally of linen, but now also describes cotton fabrics. Lawn is made from very fine (thin) high thread count carded (prepared with a brush) yarns. Lawn is always made with an even weave using even yarns to produce a smooth, untextured surface. A crisp finish is frequently applied to lawn fabrics, and occasionally to other fabrics, which are then said to have a ‘lawn finish’. Comes from Laon in France, which used to be a major producer of linen lawn.
Read more: http://thedreamstress.com/2010/07/voile-lawn-muslin-whats-the-difference-the-long-answer/

I hope this helps some of you in picking out fabrics for your projects!  Now I really do have to get to packing!  Happy Sewing!

~*~Krista~*~

What's to come

So, this morning I had oral surgery to have a tooth extracted and instead of being a good little patient, I'm unable to lie still and rest.  I figured that writing a blog post can't hurt, at least I'm not up and moving around, right?  I am eating some scrambled eggs because I'm getting tired of milkshakes and pudding already.  

While I was trying to lie still earlier, my mind kept racing on projects I want to try and things I want to accomplish with both Bee Quilted Beauties and with MaeFlowers & JuneBugs.  I have a great sew-a-long in the works for us in June!!!  And it's one that can be done as something for our daughters, their AG dolls, or for us!  Details to come tomorrow in our fb group, Bee Quilted Beauties!

I'm also going to start up again with our Molly & Me Features, only now I'll be putting them here on the blog instead of just on fb.  I'll be doing pattern reviews with Molly & Me as well.  Let me know which designers you would like to see featured as a Molly & Me!!!  

One of my fave Molly & Me Features,

The Butterfly Sets!

As for my personal projects, I got an idea earlier today for a new corset with faux lacing on the sides.  I'm thinking some really wide, sheer ribbon would look awesome laced down the sides of a corset.  I'm also thinking about making it out of quilting cotton, so I'll be picking some new fabric out next week when I go down to help mom with the shipments coming in next week!  

Until next time, Beauties!

~*~Krista~*~

Congrats!

We had a wonderful week celebrating our birthday with our fans

and the time has come to announce our winners!!!  

There are three winners to announce right now,

one for the Grand Prize

one for the Second Prize

one for the pair of Embroidery Scissors from our fb page.

Did you win one of our awesome prizes?

First up, the GRAND PRIZE!

This winner will get

$50 Gift Certificate to Bee Quilted and More

3 pattern pack from Ellie Inspired

2 pattern pack from Izzy & Ivy

2 pattern pack from Aivilo Charlotte

1 pattern from Amelie & Henri

And the lucky Winner is:

Carol Callahan

Next, our Second Place Winner

She will receive

$25 Gift Certificate to Bee Quilted and More

Matching Girl and Doll pattern set from Made for Mermaids

1 pattern from Swoon Patterns

1 pattern from Amelie & Henri

The lucky Winner is

Teresa Moffitt

And finally, we have to draw a winner for the embroidery scissors from our facebook page.

These will go to:

Debra Huff White

We want to thank everyone who helped us celebrate this week

Especially our great sponsors:

Aivilo Charlotte

Amelie & Henri

Ellie Inspired

Izzy & Ivy

Made for Mermaids

and

Swoon Patterns

Emails will be going out shortly to all of our sponsors and winners!

Thanks again!

~Krista~

One Year Later

Just over a year ago, my mom and I started discussing plans to start an online fabric shop.  We opened our Etsy shop and officially launched our Facebook page on May 10, 2013.

Layna in her first Bee Quilted outfit

Now, a year later, we have 1,600 fans on that page, we have started a group on Facebook, Bee Quilted Beauties, that now has 600 members, we have over 1,000 sales on our Etsy page and have now launched a Big Cartel shop.  We had a blast at Quilt Market last October and met some amazing people.  We have started some monthly features like Molly & Me Mondays and Scrappy Saturdays, and now Sew-A-Longs in the group!  And it's only getting better!

Our latest Molly & Me Monday

Now that the family birthday celebrations are over, it's time to celebrate Bee Quilted's birthday!  We have put together some amazing prizes for all of our wonderful fans!

We have two prize packs for our fans to win!

Grand Prize:

$50 Gift Certificate to Bee Quilted and More

3 pattern pack from Ellie Inspired

2 pattern pack from Izzy & Ivy

2 pattern pack from Aivilo Charlotte

1 pattern from Amelie & Henri

Second Prize:

$25 Gift Certificate to Bee Quilted and More

Matching Girl and Doll pattern set from Made for Mermaids

1 pattern from Swoon Patterns

1 pattern from Amelie & Henri

Contest ends Saturday, May 17, 2014 at 12:30 pm CST

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