Lots of progress this weekend!

I had a 4 wonderful days off from my real job.   Between eating tons of turkey and black Friday shopping I got a ton of sewing in too!  It was helpful that we had a ton of leftovers and I didn't need to cook all weekend.

I decided this year that I needed to do the Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt.    It had been a few years since I had done one.    It was Celtic Solstice.  My daughter has since stolen that quilt.  Here is a photo of it on her bed.   I changed the colors from Bonnie's choosen colors and I loved how it came out.

The picture below is my completion of step 1.   I got all the blocks done and assembled.   I was originally going to use Bonnie's colors for this but I think I am going to change it up a bit.  Again.  I bought some coral fabrics from Whittles but I am just not a huge fan of that color.  I am either going to go with yellow or purple.   I have tons of those fabrics so I am going to use whichever one I have most of for the last color.  Probably purple.

I also have 2 baby quilts in progress.   They are identical and are gifts for 2 sisters that are both having babies in January.   I wanted the cousins to have matching quilts.  I managed to get the first one on and off the longarm this weekend.  Feathers in the border with cross hatching in the center.

There is also some machine applique on this quilt as well but I will share that on another post when I have both quilts completed.  The baby shower is this weekend so I better get moving!

Today I am linking up to Bonnie's blog, http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2017/11/on-ringo-lake-mystery-monday-link-up.html.   I can't wait to see everyone's progress!  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

WIP Wednesday 7/2

I did some more work on my Jamestown Landing quilt (from String Fling: Scrappy, Happy and Loving It!).  I finally have all my HST's sewn into broken dish blocks.  There are 210 there.  Phew.  I have 67 string blocks there and I need 156.  That's going to be my next goal.  We are moving into a new place in the next couple months and I really want this ready for our new bedroom.  I feel like I am over the hump.  I really love how this is coming out.  It has a combination of scraps and specially bought fabrics in it.  I didn't have enough blue and creams so I had to get some more.  I threw in a jelly roll of Indigo Crossing by Moda.  Every strip is represented somewhere.  I LOVED that jelly roll.  It matched perfectly.  I also bought a fat quarter of every neutral and blue I could find on Connecting threads.  Don't you just love that store?  Then mix all that in with my scraps and I think I ended up with a great mix.

I promised myself I wouldn't start any new projects this month but here it is, July 3rd, and I have one in the works.  But for a good reason!  My Aunt and Uncle are becoming foster parents to a beautiful little 10 month old girl.  She is painting a room for her in the colors of pink and brown.  So obviously I had to do something for her.  :)  These are the fabrics I pulled.  I am torn between doing something easy and quick and something more intricate.  I have never been one for the quick and easy quilts. 

This is a sneak peek of a finish I am going to show you on Friday!  This is the very first time I have ever quilted something with just straight lines!

This week I am linking up to Freshly Pieced and Esther's blog.  

WIP Wednesday 6/26

I finally made a dent in my Jamestown Landing quilt.  Its all I worked on all weekend.  It can be found in String Fling: Scrappy, Happy and Loving It! by Bonnie Hunter.  I finished all 840 half square triangles and I finished about 70 of 156 string blocks.  I started sewing the HST's into broken dishes blocks too but I didn't get a picture of that.  I can't wait to get this quilt done.  Its for my bed and the first quilt I have kept for myself in a long time.  I have been looking into sending it out for quilting because its going to be pretty big but I just don't think its going to be in my price range.

I posted awhile ago that I purchased these totes for organizing scraps and I would share my thoughts after using them for a bit.  I purchased two different sizes.  Here are the links to both:

Whitmor 6754-491-5 Plastic Document Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors

Whitmor 6754-977-5 Plastic Organizer Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors

I love them.  I think I prefer the wider flatter size.  They are not super sturdy as they are just thin plastic but they are great for small pieces.  I have my scraps sorted by color now.  The only complaint I have is that if you pack them too full the cover won't stay on.  But I had some small adhesive velcro dots and that fixed that issue.  I put all my bigger pieces, fat quarters or larger, in that tote on the bottom.  Now I just need to find a place to store them in my teeny tiny house.

This week I am linking up to Freshly Pieced And Esther's blog.  

 

Errors, Errors and more Errors

I finally finished part 3 of Lazy Sunday Mystery.  It took me a lot longer than I thought it would.  Perhaps if I didn't make 300 errors it would have been better.  I was listening to an audio book while I was sewing and was so very close to finishing it.  I was listening to The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.  It is part of the Wheel of time series.  Anyway, I was very intently listening to the last two hours of the book and I realized a bit too late that I had sewn every single block the same.  So instead of two piles of 78, I had one pile of 156 all with the same orientation.  Luckily that was after sewing only one of the white squares on and not both.  But at this point I had already trimmed that corner and there was no saving my mistakes.

This is my sad abandoned pile of squares.  The good news is that I can trim the ends off and end up with 2 1/2" half square triangles.  I think I am going to use these to make a pillow or pillowcase to match the quilt.

And to top that off after I cut 78 more rectangles and white squares I proceeded to sew another 20 or so wrong again.  But this time all I had to do was unstitch.  Sigh.  But I finished my book and it was amazing.  I already downloaded the second one and started that as well.  Do any of you listen to audiobooks while you sew?

I also picked out fabrics for my next project.  I don't really need another but there is a quilt along over at Quilting Gallery that I really wanted to join.  It's called Aiming for Accuracy.  It looks like a fun quilt and I owe my son one since I am pretty sure my Lazy Sunday is going on my daughter's bed.  He picked out orange and blue and I am going to use black for the background.  There are a couple colors in there I might pull out but we will see how it goes.  I needed 24 fat quarters but most of these are half yard cuts.  I think I am going to duplicate some colors.  I have been collecting fabrics for a quilt for him for awhile and I don't want to buy any more.  Click the banner below if you want to check out the quilt along.  

This week I am linking up to What a Hoot Quilts.

More Lazy Sunday Mystery!

I got part three of Lazy Sunday Mystery this weekend and was able to get a lot of it done.  I got the blocks above pieced.  There were 24 of those.

And then I got all of these pieces cut out for the next step.  Bonnie used mostly white and blacks in her quilt but I decided to use all white on whites or cream on creams.  A few years ago I bought a huge amount of them on sale and I wanted to use them up.

I just love this picture.  This was after I trimmed all the dog ears off the small blocks.  The little triangles look like confetti don't they.  I had to keep shooing my kitty away as she just wanted to play with them.

This week I am linking up to let's get acquainted blop hop.  This week it is being hosted by Life's Rich Pattern.  Its a way for blogs that don't have a lot of followers to get to know each other.  Sounds fun doesn't it!  All you have to do is go the link and and share a link to your site.  Then you go visit at least two blogs on the list and all the people who follow you.  

 

I am also linking up to Lily's Quilts for another blog meet.  Its the same general idea as the other one.  Now I have lots of new blogs to read!

Friday Fun!

Don't you just love all that color?  It totally says spring doesn't it.  It finally feels like spring has hit Maine.  Today it is supposed to hit 90 degrees.  I think the hubby is going to spend the afternoon after he gets out of work putting in our air conditioner.  We just have the ones you stick in the window.  I have a love hate relationship with them.  I love the cool air but it really makes our house dark.  

Anyway,  the above picture is my Lazy Sunday Mystery progress.  I took this photo a couple days ago.  This is part two.  I did manage last night to get all those triangles sewn together into hourglass squares but I didn't take a picture as I just wanted to get to bed.  So I now have part 2 completed.  Well except for the dog ear trimming.  There are still dog ears on almost all those loose blocks.  Part three has been released in the newest Quiltmaker.  People are getting them but I haven't recieved mine in the mail yet.  I hope to get it tonight so I can start part 3 this weekend.  

I am really loving the whole mystery quilt idea.  I have never done one.  I honestly didn't think I would like it. I love this one.  It could be that its in my color way.  I love bright colors.  

I did get a little more stitching done on this block.  I have just those little rust colored leaves around the middle left to do and that yellow pieced in the center.  I know, it doesn't look yellow but my camera really had a hard time getting that color right.  Its a really pale yellow.  I hope to get this finished this weekend so I can get started on the next block of the Jingle Belles BOM over at One Piece at a time.

This week I am linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts.   

What? A Monday Post? A Giveaway?!?!

I don't usually post on Mondays but this week there are several really exciting reasons why I am.  First of all, it is because I had one of the best weekends.  Friday I spent the day at a Bonnie Hunter workshops learning the ins and outs of her quilt Jamestown Landing found in String Fling: Scrappy, Happy and Loving It!.  Saturday I went to our quilt guild meeting and got to hear her talk about her quilts and see her trunk show.  I have loads of pictures to share sometime (if they come out well.)  I took them all on my phone.

Jamestown Landing by Bonnie Hunter

Bonnie was great.  She was so down to earth and I learned so much from her. I feel like I have a better grasp on using her preferred specialty rulers.  It turns out I was using them the slowest way and she really sped up the process for me.  My half-square triangles are more accurate.  We also learned how to string piece.  I have actually never done this before.  I love it!

The picture above is what I have done so far.  This quilt has 840 HSTs!  So I have a LONG way to go. There are 3 sandwich bags there that each have 10 blocks in them.  I am not sure how many squares are in my basket.  I haven't really been counting. 

I will share more about Bonnie another post because I have another exciting announcement.  I am going to do my first giveaway!!

 

I have this Quilt Halo in my desk drawer and its been there for months.  I bought it and only tried it once.  Its a great product but its not just for me.  I have been machine quilting with just my hands for way too long.  I thought it would be a great item to pass along for someone else to try without having to purchase it.  It was an expensive notion so this would be a great way to save a few dollars.  So that means a chance to win for one of you!  All I ask is that you comment on my post about what quilty things you did this weekend and I will randomly choose a winner in the evening of May 10th.  That's the only requirement I have.  I would love it if you became a follower but its definitely not required.   

Since this item is kind of heavy I am leaving this giveaway open to US residents only. (OOOPS, I posted this in the international section so I am opening it up to everyone!) Sorry!  Also, please make sure you are not a no-reply blogger or leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you about your prize.  If there is no email I am going to draw another winner so make sure its there!

I am linking up to Sew Mama Sew for her giveaway day.  Welcome to my blog if you are visiting from there.  If your one of my regular followers be sure to click the link to check out all the other giveaways.  I know I am going to enter a few myself!

Comments are now closed! I will announce a winner tomorrow morning. I spent the night at a mother son dance tonight and my son wiped me out. Bed time for me!

Friday Fun!

On Friday's I usually do a post focusing on any finishes I had in the past week.  I just had one and I already posted about that this week.  Here's the link if you want to see it.  Gift Bags and a Tutorial.  I would really love some feedback about my tutorial.  Its my first one I have done for my blog.

Today I am spending the day with Bonnie Hunter!  I couldn't be more excited.  I have been following her for about a year now and have always admired her work.  I love the scrap quilts she makes.  Scrap quilts have always been out of my comfort zone.  We are doing her Jamestown Landing quilt from the book ,String Fling: Scrappy, Happy and Loving It!  Its such a great book.  I bought it specifically for this class but there are 4 quilts in it that I added to my to do list.  Now I just need a better collection of scraps.  I bought a bunch off one of the facebook swap pages but I still don't think I have enough neutrals.  I am crossing my fingers that I have enough for class at least.

I am going to try to link up to Crazy Mom Quilts today!  I hope everyone has a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Finish it up Friday 4/26/13

Last week was a busy, busy week.  I don't even know where to start.  Last Monday, as you probably know by now, was the Boston Marathon.  Every spring my in-laws always come to New England to support my brother-in-law in this race.  Thankfully, he was done and out of harms way when the explosions finally happened.  Facebook is an amazing thing.  About 10 mins after I heard about the explosions and after a few frantic facebook stalking moments, my brother-in-law finally posted on facebook that he and everyone he was with was ok.  Phew.  My deepest sympathies to those that were hurt.  :(  

The Vancover Modern Quilt Guild has started a drive to collect handmade flags to support the citizens of Boston.  All the details can be found here.  I plan on making at least one to send down.  I am a member of a guild but just as a floater so I am going to send them directly to the person running this drive.  The address can be found in that blog entry.

Now for my news.  I got a lot done this week!  

I finished these blocks for Bonnie Hunter's mystery, Lazy Sunday, that's in quiltmaker.  I just have to finish a few more small blocks and I will be done part 2 and all caught up.  I mentioned that this quilt was going to be twin size in the presence of my 9 year old daughter and she promptly claimed it.  And more than likely will end up with it.  

I started cutting up some more fabric for the Bonnie Hunter workshop I am attending May 3rd.  I have carpal tunnel so when a quilt has lots of tiny pieces I have to cut a little at a time.  I have asked for an Accuquilt for my birthday/anniversary in June so hopefully my husband took the hint.  :)

This is pieced block #2 from the free block of the month over at One Piece at a Time.  My points on the yellow aren't great so I might have to fix that.  Its bugging me.  There were a lot of seams right there.

And this is Applique Block #2 from the same BOM.  She is releasing the next block this weekend so I am all caught up on this block of the month too!  I wish I could be caught up on all my block of the month clubs. However, I am about 6 months behind of my Dear Jane and about 3 months behind on my Baltimore and Bali.  I want to enter my Baltimore and Bali in a quilt show next year so I better get going on that.  Its all hand applique so it will take a bit of time. 

Today I am linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts.

WIP Wednesday and OMG, I get to see Bonnie Hunter!

A couple weeks ago I found out that Bonnie Hunter was coming to Maine!!!  And not only was she coming to Maine but to the next town over from where I live!  Even better.  And wait for it...... it gets better.  Even though the deadline to sign up had gone by there were still spots!  How does that even happen?  Its Bonnie Hunter!  Why are there spots open???  Within about 5 seconds of finding out there was a spot I had my checkbook open.  I sent off my registration and a few days later got my confirmation!!  The class I got into was for her Jamestown Landing quilt, which I have been drooling over for forever.  Here is a link to a picture of the quilt, Jamestown Landing.  I am not sure if I can steal a picture from her page to show here so I won't.  But go click.  I'll wait.  It's gorgeous isn't it.

I have been following Bonnie's blog for about a year now.  I haven't made any of her quilts yet though I have wanted to.  I don't have much of a scrap collectionbut it is slowly building.  I did start the Lazy Sunday mystery quilt that is going on in Quiltmaker right now but I am only part way through part one.  They just released part two.  I had a few baby gifts to get done so I used it as a leader/ender project.  Another one of Bonnie's methods that you can read about here.

I have been working on my stash of blue and creams for this.  Last night I started to cut my fabrics down into strip sets.

This is what I cut up last night.  She has asked that we have our fabrics cut in to strips so she can give us a lesson with her preferred method of making half triangle squares.  She uses the easy angle ruler.  I have used this method before but sometimes I find cutting them to be cumbersome so hopefully she gives out some good hints.  

Here are some blues and some neutrals.  I think those darker browns may be too dark.  I am not sure but I really like them.  I am trying to decide just how much I should cut up.  The quilt we are making is a scrap quilt but there is no way I have enough scraps so I have to use my stash.  I purchased the strips I already cut above and the top row of fabrics in this picture from Connecting Threads.  They are all fat quarters and I only paid about $1.50 each for them.  Awesome prices.  

Here are some more fabrics I set aside.

And these are more blues from my stash.  I am going to try not to cut into these.  I am saving them for a blue and orange quilt requested by my son.  

This is my only work in progress for this week.  I just finished a baby quilt Monday night.  I only have a few days before my in-laws get here for a short visit so I thought I would use this time to get ready for this class.  It's May 3rd.  I wanted to make sure I didn't need to find more fabrics but I think I am ok for the class at least.  This is not a quilt we will finish that day.  

I am linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced this week.  Click below to see what everyone else is working on.