Good Fortune is a top!

It is all together! I met my goal of having the top completed by the end of January. The last 3 years, I have not been able to complete my tops by the end of January. The tops languished until right before the next mystery came out. Not this year. I was determined to get it done. Now to get it onto the longarm and quilt it. This one is for my bed, so I'm eager to get it finished. I'm going to piece the back with leftover scraps and it will be bound with the background fabric.  The outside border floats with the light binding and looks very nice. My colors turned out very well I think. The quilt just kind of glows. Love it! Great design, thank you Bonnie Hunter.

The colors are actually brighter in person. I took several pictures, but they all turn out muted like this picture.

I've been working on a few other things. One is a wall hanging for our local quilt show. It was a bee challenge. We all began with the same 5 inch square. This is what I chose to make. A friend is doing the hand quilting for me. The design is based on a picture of a pillow I saw online. The back is a floral with big mums in the orange color. I named it Bright Blossom.

The second thing I began working on is a red and white quilt. Someone posted a picture of a quilt from a movie she had watched on Quiltville Open Studio. A few minutes later, a very talented quilter had posted the blocks with measurements and fabric requirements. Thank you, thank you!  A red and white quilt has been on my backlist for a long time. I just loved this one. The focus fabric has red roses all over it  The rest is a coordinating red batik. The background is various white on whites. Two blocks are made and I'm getting the rest cut and kitted up to take to a quilt retreat next weekend. Hopefully, if all the pieces are cut and ready to sew, I can get most of the blocks made and ready to put together. That is the goal anyway! 

In other news, I finally finished the binding for Ringo Lake. I am very pleased with the way it turned out. This quilt will also be in our local quilt show.

Update since I wrote this post. I was invited to a quilt retreat where I finished putting my red and white quilt top together. This picture shows it before I sewed all the blocks together. Now on to deciding on the borders. Love the way this one is turning out too! I'm calling it Laying in a Bed of Roses.

Be sure to check out all the other quilts at Quiltville .

Good Fortune The Reveal

First, let me say, I love the look of this quilt. I like six of the mystery quilts I have done, but this is well on it's way to being my favorite. And, best of all, I like my colors too! I knew I wanted to use one fabric for each color this year and I chose batiks to get the look of movement and variation of color without having to go scrappy. Don't get me wrong, I love scrappy and Bonnie's colors are always great, but I needed something different this year. Actually, I was not crazy about the green I chose, but it has worked out well.

The first thing I did when I saw the reveal was make one of each block. They looked like this...

Ok, I love the look of the blue one, but the green one was not exactly what I had in mind. Too much green, I wanted more of the lavender. So, remember these?

Well, I cut them up and made these......

I like this block so much better! Here they are side by side.  (Knew I'd find a place for those shorties, I even have a good start on Emerald City in String Frenzy.)

           

I was able to get a few of each block made so I can really see what it is going to look like. I think with the border, it is going to be just perfect. I am not changing the green triangles in the split half square triangle border, so I'm thinking I may try to add a skinny lavender border somewhere. Have to figure that out later.

I'm hoping to have the top finished by early next week. I still have to finish the binding on one side of On Ringo Lake and I don't want this one to take a year to finish. Check out Bonnie Hunter's blog to see more.

Good Fortune Clue 6

But it's so hard to WAIT!

Sooo...  I worked on this!

See what the others (who didn't have to wait) got done this week at Quiltville!


Happy New Year everyone!

Then, I realized I had taken of picture of the wrong fabric! The green is not the neutral! This is. Glad I followed directions and worked on something else.

Good Fortune Clue 5

Good Fortune Clue 5 is all finished and put in it's bag waiting with Clues 1, 2, 3, and 4 to be sewn into the 2018 Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt. 

I used a different method than the one shown by Bonnie to make my blocks. I learned a new (to me) technique of making 4 quarter square triangles at a time. It works for me as it makes the bias edges easier to deal with. Not so much need for me to worry about stretching. 

This method involves putting 2 squares together, marking and sewing 4 short seams, then cutting on the diagonals. If you sew with the light fabric up, the light fabric that ends up on the right of the quarter square triangle. If you sew with the darker fabric up, then the darker fabric will be on the right  side. I do not know who developed this method, but it works really well for me. I did have to sliver trim a few blocks once everything was all put together, but that's ok.

 After making these little units, I combine them with the larger blue triangles to finish Clue 5. 

Then, I had the rest of the time this week to finish shopping and wrapping. All of the cooking for Christmas Day was done by my husband, daughters, my cousin and his wife. All made by loving hands. They all did a wonderful job and I cleaned up. Fine by me!

Pork Butter with Ciabatta

Eggplant Lasagna

Veal Parmesan

Cioppino

Focaccia

Panettone

Ricotta Cheesecake

Pistachio Cookies

Sugar Covered Cherries

We do a different country every year for Christmas Dinner. This year was Italian, next year will be French. We have one Vegan, two VERY picky eaters, three that have survived stomach cancer, and four that will eat anything . On occasion, we have one who can't be around fish at all, so on those years we have no fish. Sorry, no pictures. I didn't even think to take pictures of the different foods!

I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas and is enjoying the holiday season.

Good Fortune Clue 4

This was a very easy clue for me. Since I am using only one fabric per color this year, all I had to do was cut the units. No strings for me this mystery. After I did this....

it only took me a few minutes to get them all cut. I am really liking my color choices. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

The rest of the day was spent working on the binding for On Ringo Lake and decorating for Christmas. Ready for Clue 5!

Can't wait for my copy of String Frenzy to get here. I have some fabric all ready to use for strings!

Check out Quiltville to see progress others have made.

Good Fortune # 3

Finished Clue 3 Sunday night.

Just some quick pictures today. I'm very happy with the way things are looking right now.

Check out more at Quiltville

Good Fortune 2

Merry Christmas to me! My husband walked in Friday and gave me an envelope of money to redo my sewing room! I've been thinking and dreaming about it for a while. Watching Bonnie Hunter get Quiltville Inn all fixed up has inspired me to really get busy and get this done. Several weeks ago, I went to an Estate sale and found a picture for the wall. It is a print called "Pieced Quilt" by Don Finley.

This is what I imagine my great-grandmother might have looked like. She quilted, my grandmother did not. My grandmother crocheted and sewed garments. She could take someone's measurements and make a garment with no pattern. Good thing, she raised 5 girls during the depression.

This is the one quilt I have that my great-grandmother made. Love that it is a double wedding ring. My aunt is actually the one who gave it to me. It was given to her for her hope chest, but she never used it, so she gave it to me. How lucky is that?!

I managed to get all of my Clue 2 units of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt done on Friday. If I keep up with them, I have a better chance of completing it before the end of next year, haha. 

Go to Bonnie's page to see blocks done by others.

Good Fortune 2018

Good Fortune 2018

Good Fortune will be my 6th Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt. The colors for my quilt this year were inspired by a picture of hydrangeas. I wanted my quilt to be lighter colors this year. I also chose to go with only one fabric for each. Although I usually do scrappy quilts, I wanted this one to be different. My neutral is a very pale periwinkle color.

Dark purpley blue is Bonnie's blue

Lavender print is Bonnie's red

Light Blue is Bonnie's orange

Green is Bonnie's green

The really dark purple in the back is not being used in my quilt, just didn't get it out of the way.

I have completed Clue 1 and have On Ringo Lake on the longarm to be quilted. A new pantograph design is on the way and as soon as it gets here I will get started. I had hoped to have it finished before this years mystery began, but a broken wrist set me back several weeks. Cast is off and therapy is really helping get it moving again.

Clue 1

  Haha, night picture.

  Day picture.

Check out all the info for Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt.

Chugging Along on Clue 3

Clue 3 was finished yesterday.  It took me a few trys to decide how I was going to do them. Cutting rectangles and squares and then drawing lines was just not going to happen. I finally decided to make a template to tape to the back of my easy angle ruler. Worked great for me. I stitched and pressed in batches of ten trying to vary my neutrals as much as I could.

This is a good sampling of my pieces.

Here is my little template that I used. Several others made the same type of thing.

I have been using fat quarters. Using this template instead of cutting rectangles, I was able to get 5 units from each strip. Had I cut rectangles and used the flip and fold square technique, I would have only gotten 4. I cut 2 strips at a time, right sides facing each other. That gave me my mirror images. Then I used the other end of the ruler to cut the triangles. For me this was the best option.

Ready for the next clue!

I'm linking up with Bonnie Hunter's On Ringo Lake.

Next Step of On Ringo Lake

My geese have been finished since Monday night. I am just not very good at getting a post up as soon as I finish.

These are all of my coral fabrics. I had most of them in my stash. A friend and I went to a quilt store closeout and I couldn't pass them up.

Most of the neutrals had to be purchased because En Provence took of most of what I had last year. It was fun looking for lots of them to replenish the neutral tub. I think I have eleven or twelve. 

I'm linking up with Bonnie Hunter at   Quiltville .

Getting Started On Lake Ringo Part 1

Well, I didn't get around to sharing anything about Bonnie Hunter's 2016 mystery quilt En Provence. I didn't even get the logo. I did, however, make the quilt. The top is complete and I found a backing so now it needs to be quilted. When it is complete, a picture will be posted. I am going to try to be better about sharing how things are going this year with On Ringo Lake.

Part 1 nine patches are complete and ready to go for this year. My goal this year is to have each clue complete by Sunday night. Hopefully that will give me time (and the incentive) to work on some other things during the week.

Love the colors Bonnie chose this year, so I didn't change them.

I'm linking up with Bonnie Hunter's Mystery On Ringo Lake today.

Allietare Part 3 and 4

Well, I did not get to post last week. My daughter and I went out of town for the weekend for a cousin's wedding. I was tired when we got home, so no sewing and no posting even though Part 3 was done. Part 4 is still in the works as is Part 5. We had company for Christmas, so no sewing time last week or for much of the weekend. I will be sewing this week trying to finish Part 4 and 5 before Thursday night. This weekend promises to be another busy one. Catch up with others progress over at Quiltville.

Since I decided to use solids this year, the yellow is my neutral. Four patches are fun, I can sit and do them all day.

Part 3

When I saw the block for Part 4, I decided to use this print instead of the yellow as the neutral. How will it turn out? It's a mystery! (I always loved that line in "Shakespeare in Love") There are two oranges in this quilt, one is a very red orange and the other is a lighter yellowy orange. They really are very different even if they don't show it in the pictures.

Part 4

Here's hoping I make my goal of finishing Parts 4 and 5 by Thursday!

Allietare Clue 2

This was another busy week. I finished these yesterday, but did not get around to posting about them. I used the rulers that Bonnie suggested and they worked well for me. I have more trouble keeping my quarter inch seam accurate. May have something to do with my trying to go too fast. Oh well, these are done and the right size! To see progress made by others please click here.

This is gonna be one bright quilt!

Allietare Part I

Well, I am hurriedly getting this done. I finished part 1 of the new Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt Allietare. Changed up the colors and decided to do all solids and they are very bright! Found a fabric that I liked and decided to use those colors. Funny thing was, when I got to the cutting counter another lady commented that they were the same colors as in the sweater I had on! Not sure how all this very bright solidness is going to work, but I'm giving it a try. You can catch up with others on Bonnie's blog by clicking here

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