A New Finish and Chair Seats

Finally got my Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt completely finished:

 

The pattern is from Bonnie Hunter and will appear in a future book.  She offers a mystery quilt each year around Thanksgiving.  This one has colors that were inspired by the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan.  Mine is half-size--that was enough for me and I added the narrow black sashing around the blocks.  See Bonnie's original here. 

The best thing about a rainy couple of days is that I really worked at getting my studio cleaned up.  My friends will be amazed--you can actually SEE the chair seats in my two cozy chairs and could sit in them if you wanted to visit:

It's been quite some time since those have seen the light of day.  I also cleared off the cutting table, mostly, as I am cutting Tumblers and 1.5" squares for leader/ender projects:

AND, I cleared off the ironing surface--that had way too much stuff piled up on it:

Next up, I'll machine quilt the Box of Wine quilt--jumping into free-motion with fear and trepidation but the determination to get it done in a satisfactory manner:

And the design wall has been freed up now that I finished the Simple What Nots Club sampler, shown here:

If the studio still looks messy to you, all I can say is "You should have seen it before".  This is a vast improvement and I feel free to create and make it messy again.  Several more projects have to get done before this year is over but I'm getting there. 

I hope you had a great 4th of July celebration--let freedom ring!

Let's quilt! 

Barbara

It's a Mystery...

How it got to be January 16 already.  And how it's been a month since I posted.  And how I get myself wrapped up doing mystery quilts before I know what it's going to look like.

I've been under the weather for 10 days with the head crud my husband caught at work.  I'm still coughing and feeling less than 100%.  This week I had to postpone 2 quilt classes and did not go to my monthly guild meeting--only the second time in 26 years I've missed a meeting.  The good news is I'm feeling better and plan to teach a great class tomorrow.

The next great news is I just finished my  Grand Illusion Mystery quilt, from Bonnie Hunter's blog.  Mine is half size and has some variations.  I have more than enough projects going that I had no business starting this one BUT:  it's so easy to get excited by the fabrics and the units as they are released.  So, here is MY version:

Bonnie Hunter selected the colors based on colors used at the Grand Hotel in Michigan and I liked these bright, vibrant colors, especially for winter sewing.  When the reveal came, I decided to change the layout somewhat--here is what Bonnie's quilt looks like:

It took much longer to complete than I anticipated.  I'm glad it's done and know what I'll be doing with this one.  And I really mean it:  no more mysteries until I know what it looks like--OR I finish 20 of my PHDs:  projects half done.

The NEXT great news is:  we found out the sex of our grandchild.  Take a look at my son's
Announcement! video.  We are thrilled!  It's 20 weeks and all is well!  Their due date is June 4, 2015.

It's a new year and I trust I am getting all my sickness out of the way for the whole year.  The coughing has been tough and I've mostly read and slept for the last 10 days.  I'm ready to get more sewing done--that grandbaby will be here before we know it.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

UPDATE:  Go to Bonnie's Link Up party to see what others did with their Grand Illusion.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I decorate with quilts (!) all year but especially at Christmas.

 

A wonderful, lucky find at a Trade Day sale a few years ago.  This is an antique, professionally dated circa 1875.  Because the fabrics are all solids it's hard to get a definitive date.  Besides the lovely feathered hearts and cable quilting, there are 2 small quilted motifs:  one is a "W" and one is a dragonfly.  Oh my!  My husband's last name starts with a "W" and I LOVE dragonflies, often wearing one of many dragonfly pins on my jackets.  This was meant to be mine.  It lays out on a unused guest bed just for the month of December so I can enjoy it and wonder about who made it, what her life was like, and what she would think of my world.  The green was home dyed I imagine--there is one tiny place the green has turned blue.  One of my best treasures!

 

 

I made this years ago, the first quilt I had long-arm quilted.  It was featured on the cover of McCall's Quilting, December 1997--one of my first "cover girl" opportunities.  It hangs in the living room for the month of December and sometimes on into January or February or... The house looks ready for Christmas just as soon as this quilt appears. 

Over the years we have put up less decorations, just our most favorites.  Our sons and their women are only here a day or two and we don't entertain others very much so it pleases us to keep things simple.  I used to feel bad about this but now it feels right.  With a new grandchild on the way we are thinking of doing more next year, time will tell.  Here is the mantel with one very special new stocking in the center--for Baby Mac--what our son and daughter-in-law are calling their baby until they find out, next month, who is in there! 

 

 

In digging through my quilt stash last week, I came upon this quilt:

It is a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt from a few years ago, Roll Roll Cotton Boll.  I named this one Limeade with a Dash of Peppermint.  It is a half-size version of hers.  I thought "this looks like a Christmas quilt" so it is now displayed on the back of our red sofa--very festive! 

Last week I wrapped up the first session of the Simple WhatNots Club at Patches & Stitches, my local quilt shop.  It was a 6 month club that met one Friday night a month for a lecture/demo of small quilts designed by Kim Diehl for Henry Glass Fabrics.  Collection 2 starts in January.  Maximum capacity of the classroom is 30 chairs so that is how many we will have.  At our wrap-up party we had great goodies to share:

And a few people actually brought a quilt to share.  Here is a great one by Anna:

 

It is called Widdlytinks and she used those fabulous acid green buttons instead of the extra small yo-yos called for in the pattern--great little quilt!

My demos were on all the facets of finishing quilts, trimming borders, simple quilting, how to make and apply both straight grain and bias binding, how to sew the border down by hand or machine, and how to add a sleeve and a label--musts for me on all the quilts I make.  Even if the label is nothing more than my name and the date written on the back in Sharpie.  Most of the time my labels are more involved, but not always.

 Now, waiting for one of those very involved labels is Celtic Solstice Fanfare, our guild Raffle Quilt:

The label will list the name of the quilt, the fact that is the 2015 Fanfare Quilt show and sale Raffle quilt, the name of the pattern designer, Bonnie Hunter, and the names of those who pieced the quilt as well as the long-arm quilter.  I have to get that done very soon as we will be unveiling this quilt later this week at the guild's December meeting, our annual Holiday party.  Guild members donated fat quarters 6 months ago in the requested colors and they all seem to play nicely together.

This past week I caught up with Bonnie's 2014 mystery quilt.  Grand Illusion uses colors from the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.  Her instructions are for a large quilt, so I am just making half the units currently until I see what the finished quilt looks like and decide if I want a big one or not.  Parts 1, 2 and 3:

And, now that I am caught up, here is what my cutting table looks like:

It so rarely looks like this!  I will enjoy it for today, then it's back to finishing a few Christmas gifts I need to have ready by Thursday.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Rush

Well, not really. It is December, after all, everyone is busy.  I've been happily content in my studio since returning from Houston--no tax classes or staff meetings to attend--wow, it feels so good to have that part of my life behind me.

First up is my "must do" for today--attach the sleeve and binding to our guild Raffle Quilt:

Celtic Solstice Fanfare--pattern by Bonnie Hunter, used with her permission

I have 10 days to get the quilt completely finished to show at our December Guild meeting.  I'm hoping the crowd will be pleased.  We asked for fat quarter donations of those bright fabrics, added one primary background and I am happy with how the colors came together.

Then I am eager to get back to the latest Bonnie Hunter Mystery:  Grand Illusion Mystery.  I was not going to start this until the mystery was revealed but got sucked in by all the great units people were showing on Facebook.  I have limited myself to half the units in each clue, in case I decide not to make the full 88" x 88" quilt. 

The four Double Diamond units at the top are step 2, some folks have had difficulty with this one.  It's a great way to learn to improve your piecing, making units that are less familiar to you.  The bottom shows four units from step 1.  We don't know how these units will go in the final quilt--I'm just playing with design here.

Then there are these Christmas quilts I have to get done:  12 Days of Christmas in Red and White:

This pattern is from Temecula Quilt Co.  Every other day from December 1 to December 24 their blog will have the directions for each simple 3" block.  Day one has one piece, day two has two pieces, etc.  They did this pattern in 2010 and I made two then.  Now I am in the middle of three more, using fabrics left over from my Red and White--By the Numbers quilt.  Simple yet a sweet Christmas quilt. 

At night I am hand quilting my first baby quilt for our grandbaby, due June 2015--at least I'll have the baby quilt done on time:

Another pattern from Temecula Quilt Co:  Little Letters.  This was easy and fun to make in between all the other things I've been working on the past month.  In January the kids will find out if she's a girl or a boy, and I'll do the binding then, pretty purple if it's a girl, wild green if it's a boy. 

That should keep me busy this week.  I'm linking up to Bonnie's Monday Mystery Link Up and Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.

Have a great week--Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Small Projects Finished

In two weeks the first Simple WhatNots Club will be wrapping up at my local shop, Patches & Stitches.  I plan to devote this session to finishing techniques.  So I've gotten a few of these little quilts quilted and bound, or partially bound, so I can demo a few methods. 

 

"MEANDERING":  This one I bound with one of the fat quarters of striped fabric in the collection .  I usually bind with straight grain cut the width of fabric but stripes lend themselves to being sewn on the bias.  I also machine stitched this one in place after turning it to the back--I'll have some tips on how to do that.  Approximately 18" x 24".  The buttons are sewn on the teal blocks to cover some funky stitching--I free motion quilted the petals--still have a long way to go with that but the buttons cover the majority of the "issues" with the quilting.  Finished is better than perfect.

"WIDDLYTINKS":   This one called for tiny yo-yos--I opted for buttons instead.  This binding shows what NOT to do--cut and sew straight or your corners will be "pokey" like these.  Approximately 12" x 15"

"LILY":  My favorite in the first collection.   I quilted this with the walking foot and will use it to demo how to trim the outside edges and how I join binding strips--with a bias seam.  I add a hanging to sleeve to 99% of the quilts I make and will demo that on this project too.  28" square.

The second collection of The Simple WhatNots Club has been announced and the shop is doing this club one more time, from January to June, 2015.  See the projects here.  We only have room for 30 people to sit for the two-hour monthly demo.  Many in this first club are signing up again--they love Kim Diehl fabrics and have learned a few things. 

Another fun project I completed was a Quiltalong small mystery quilt from Lori D of Humble Quilts.

 

This she calls Cascadia.  I've done several of Lori's little quiltalong quilts--they are fast and easy and I enjoy making something fairly quickly. I had a bunch of 2" finished four-patches already completed  so that made it easy to get this one done.  18.5" x 17".
Folks in the string block swap I put together have decided what colors/design they want for their blocks.  I wrote about that here.  That tutorial showed how to split the block exactly in half with two different colors.  Three of the seven of us want a 1" finished strip down the center of the block, like this:

 

This takes a little care, lining up a 1.5" cut strip exactly down the center of the paper foundation.  I pin that to hold it, then add strips on either side.  These are blocks that were made for my in a previous swap--I want light colors on one side, dark colors on the other.  There are many design possibilities with these blocks, just like Log Cabin blocks. 

Finally, I started Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt, even though I said I would not until I got a few more things done.  There are over 23,000 people on her Facebook group, Quiltville's Open Studio, and I think most of them got started this Friday November 28, when the first clue was released.  Click the Grand Illusion link below to go to Bonnie's Blog--then  click on Grand Illusion Mystery in the heading--the introduction and Part 1 are posted--or click here.  Each Friday until the end of 2014 she'll have another part of instructions.  Here are my first little 4" finished units:

I am not in a hurry to complete this so I'll use it for my leader/ender project.  The fun part for me is picking all the fabrics and I wrote about that here.

That will do it for now.  I'm almost finished Little Letters and will have that to show next time.  Linking up to Bonnie's Monday Mystery and Patchwork Times.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara