Long Time, No Post!

In regards to my last post, and going to Japan...the long and short of it is that we didn't go.  We were supposed to take a military flight (called Space Available) from Seattle to Japan.  But, just as the name indicates, that's only if they have space available on the flight.  And they didn't.  Oh well!  We got to take a tour of the Pacific Northwest, which turned out to be a great little vacation for us. 

And as a nice bonus, I happened to be in Portland on the night of the June meeting for the Portland Modern Quilt Guild!  Yes, that's right, I'm so addicted dedicated to the MQG, that as we were driving down to Portland, I checked to see when their meeting was.  In all honesty, I didn't want to go, because that's just way too out of my comfort zone - driving around a city I don't know, walking into a group of quilters that I don't know, etc.  But my husband was really encouraging me to go.  I'm so glad he did, because as soon as I walked in, I felt right at home.  These were my people!  I got to meet Monica of The Happy Zombie, which was awesome.  Her blog is one of the first I started following, so it really was an honor to meet her.  Really, the Portland Guild is just packed full of talent, and I was so glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone, listened to my husband, and went.  It was a great experience!

As soon as I got back from my trip, I went to work on Katie's blocks for Bee Happy Round 2.  She asked for two blocks - one Christmas tree block, in either red or aqua (she sent me red), and one any-kind-of-tree block in rainbow colors (she sent me orange).

I did the Christmas tree block first, and this is what I came up with...

But I thought it was missing something.  So I went back and free motioned some stars over the trees...

And here's my orange tree...(I feel like it looks really bumpy in this picture...I made the mistake of ironing it after I was done, and it put all those ripples in it.  I'm hoping after it's pieced and quilted and washed, that part won't be noticeable.)

I free motioned the tree trunk, and completely borrowed the idea from Rachel's Mosaic Tree from Stitched In Color, although hers is much better!

To say that I've second-guessed myself with these blocks and questioned if they're good enough, is quite the understatement!  Panicked is more like it!  This is the first time I've done blocks for someone else, and I didn't really expect all the insecurity.

But I think I just have to be okay with it.  I told myself when I first started sewing and quilting that I wouldn't be paralyzed by my insecurities, so even though I don't think they're perfect, and I can pick out every flaw, I'm leaving them alone.  For now.