Grand Illusion Part 4

This week has gone really fast. Grand Illusion Part 4 is not finished, but I have started it. Mom is still in rehab and my in-laws have been here since Sunday night. Sewing has taken a backseat to Christmas and family. I did make some progress on Clue 4 and have continued to use Clue 2 as leader and enders. Maybe next week I can do some catch up sewing so I will be ready for the big reveal on New Years!

You can find others progress here at Quiltville

Merry Christmas everyone.

Grand Illusion Part 3

Thanks for a easy unit to make. Mom is now in Rehab and I still have to go see her about twice a day. She was doing really well, but as of today, things have gone south again. I have used sewing as stress relief this week. Clue 3 is finished as of 10 minutes ago. I have been using the Clue 2 units as leaders and enders and have about 80 single units done. Will continue to do the same with the next clue.

A few pics of the 2 by 4 units

Clue 2 as leader and enders, coming along.

I am really liking the colors I have chosen. I know they are the same as Bonnie"s, but I really like how bright they are.

Check out others progress over at Quiltville

Grand Illusion Part 2

This is a really short and sweet post this week. My time to work on Grand Illusion was really limited this weekend. My mom ended up in the hospital on Sunday. She is doing fine and went to a skilled nursing facility today. She will stay there for a short period of time until she gets her strength back.

I was able to try methods 2 and 3 to put together this unit. I chose to use method 2 using the easy angle ruler. I have cut all the pink and black triangles and have a good start on the neutral diamonds. Only 3 blocks sewn so far. I am hoping to make up a little next week.

Check out others progress at Quiltville

Grand Illusion Part 1

Ok, It's been almost a year since I've posted anything because I am not a blogger! I just started this blog to chronicle my progress on Celtic Solstice last year. That was my first Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt and I enjoyed it so much, of course I am game to do this one. Anyway, I don't remember how to do anything like add pictures, links, labels. Starting the learning curve all over. Maybe I should do a post every once in a while so as not to lose all these hard learned skills.

On to Grand Illusion. Going to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island is on my personal bucket list and I loved the pictures Bonnie posted when she did her workshop there. I think it is a great inspiration for a quilt, besides the colors are right up my alley!

Since last year was the first time I had done a mystery, my game plan was to begin the unit every Friday and have it complete by Sunday night. I did not want Celtic Solstice to end up as a UFO. Have to say that having the Monday link up really helped motivate me to finish. This year however, my time is not as free. I am not at liberty to sew all day or all night if I need to. My mother lives with us now which is so much better that her living in an assisted living facility. The trade off is that my free time is more limited, which is ok by me because she is happier and so am I. The plan this year is to have each part completed by the next Thursday and posted, before the Friday clue comes out. I won't feel so much pressure that way and it will not become a UFO.

Mom

Part one is almost done and will be finished by midnight tonight! All of the broken dish units are complete. I just have a few more half square triangles to finish chaining. I chose to do 10 broken dish units at a time, not too much chaining at one time and I could see progress. This worked better for me since I was having to break up my sewing time so much. My goal would be to do 10 or 20 units during a set amount of time. I will have to figure out how to break down each part as we go.

To see more posts about Grand Illusion, please use the following link to Quiltville

Celtic Solstice is finished

I am so excited! Celtic Solstice will not be a UFO. It is finished and ready to go on a bed. I have had loads of compliments from friends who have seen it. The backing fabric I found is just perfect for me. This was my first Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, but will not be my last. I really enjoyed making it.

To see other quilts from this mystery follow this link.

Celtic Solstice blocks are complete

It is early Sunday morning, but I actually finished all the Celtic Solstice quilt blocks about 10:30 Saturday night. Then I went to the kitchen to put away the applesauce that had been cooking in the crockpot. I decided to go ahead and get this picture up before I get in bed. I am so determined that this quilt is not going to be a UFO. I also want to show it off at my quilt groups on Wednesday and Thursday. Tomorrow, I plan to cut the border fabrics and sew the orange and blue triangle in a square units together. I will not have time to web the top until Monday. If I plan it just right, I may get it done by Wednesday, or finish putting the borders on at my quilt group on Wednesday. Can you find my two mistakes, I decided to leave them for right now. I may change my mind before I begin webbing the top though. I have had a really fun time making this quilt and I will probably do some more Bonnie Hunter quilts.

I have it laid out five across because I don't have room on my floor to lay it out seven across. I made the smaller size because I don't need a king size quilt.

Well, it is Monday and I am just now getting to webbing the top. I plan to finish that part today. Then I'll see if I get to any borders. Yesterday, I spent most of the day with my mom at the assisted living center where she lives, so I did not get any of the borders prepared.

Lots of other people have posted their progress on Bonnie Hunter's blog. There are some beautiful quilts.

Happy New Year's Day

Hope everyone has had a Happy New Year's Day. The football games are on and I am taking a break from sewing for a while. I've been working on Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice today. I had all of the units finished, so last night when she posted the reveal, I made one of each block. Today, I have continued working on more blocks. Right now, I have seven blocks finished. Miss Hospital Corners here is going to have to relax some "matching the points" standards or I'll never get them finished.

I decided that I would make a list of all the quilts I have "worked" on since I retired from teaching in August 2011. Then I made a list of all those I have finished or in some way contributed to. I was pleasantly surprised to see the number of quilts I have either finished (8) or contributed to (7) in some way. Not too shabby, I guess. I'm sure other people have done more, some have done less, but I'm happy with these numbers.

The number I have "worked" on is a little different. I had two Joann's Block of the Month Quilts started when I retired. When I was teaching, I liked to have something I could just go home and start sewing on without have to cut out first. The block of the month quilts provided me that. Besides, they were on half price in the online clearance section in the middle of the night. (Lakeshore Learning used to have some great sales in the middle of the night too.) This was back in 2006. Anyway, since then, I have added sixteen more quilts that I am still working on. That does not count the nine above that are finished. I seem to be really good at starting things and not finishing them. Actually, I think I've done pretty good considering how many I've finished or contributed to. Anyway, I am taking Bonnie Hunter to heart for this year - my word for the year is FINISH! I am only starting ONE more project before finishing as many of the already started projects that I can this year. I am going to try to make some kind of schedule, goals or something so I can get these projects completed. They are mostly for fun just because I liked them. A few are Project Linus things. BUT, they are getting finished this year, so I can move on.

Oh, why am I starting one new project? Because, I am taking a Bonnie Hunter workshop in February! I can't just show up with any old project to finish!

Finishes September 2011 to December 2013

First Project Linus Quilt, Summer 2012

Granny's Bible School Quilt, Summer 2012

Clay's Quilt, November 2012, Thank you for your service

Avery's Baby Quilt, September 2013

Kevin's Baby Quilt, August 2013

Ramona's Baby Quilt, April 2013 (forgot to take a picture of the completed quilt)

I also finished a quilt for my husband and a pink baby quilt for my cousin's great-granddaughter. I need to take pictures of them.
Sometimes, I think my camera loses pictures, I could swear I have taken a picture of each of these quilts. Well, I'll come back and add them when I get them. Right now, I am headed back upstairs to work on Celtic Solstice. My goal is to get at least one row a day completed. I've already done one row today, but hey, it's not bedtime yet, so I'll keep sewing.