Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt Part 2

Friday part 2 was posted for the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt, and once again Facebook was full of fervor and flooded with so many participants posting about it.  So many of the participants were in total despair and complaining about struggling with the construction of the unit  and or not understanding the directions.

When I was reading the directions, Bonnie Hunter, started out by telling us that she was going to give us three ways to accomplish this unit.  Reading through the first two I knew I would not be following those directions (paper piecing and speciality ruler). By the time I got through Bonnie's third way of making this unit I knew that I could and would be doing these units doing it this way.  So all was good in the neighborhood.

The directions called for the neutrals to be used, and I felt a little uneasy about the amount of actual"Thimbleberries" neutrals that I had, and really wanted to try to stick with just the line of Thimbleberries fabric.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I had more scraps or fat quarters of this fabric.  Then the light bulb went on!!!!!

Quite a few years ago, (while I was working) I participated in a monthly program through Keepsake Quilting called Thimbleberries Medley of the Month.  Every month they would send you 6 fat quarters of the different lines of fabric that came out throughout the year.  I think I participated for about three years.  But I had them up high in the back of a closet, so they were kinda out of sight, out of mind.   I squealed with delight (I think the dog thought I was crazy) when I came across 12 fat quarters of neutrals!!!!  Finding these, I now know I have enough for the parts of this mystery quilt.

This picture shows the first two units that take six individual pieces.   I need to make 100 of these units.  By the end of the day Friday, after cutting out all the pieces, I managed to get about one fifth of the units done, (update:  by end of the weekend I constructed 35 units, more than a third of the required 100, considering we had a trade show this weekend and I could only get some sewing in Sunday night!) including the constructions of these:

As a bonus, it was suggested that the cut of portions of the top and bottom of these units could be made into these half square blocks.  When all the part 2 units are done, there will be 400 of these blocks available to be used for a bonus outer border of the quilt.  I will be doing this, by alternating a black and a red all the way around the quilt, framing the finished quilt.

This just gets better every time a new part gets posted!!

I will be linking up on Bonnie's site here.

Warmest...

Colors and Fabrics for Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt

I received a nice commet asking me what other colors was I going to be using in this Mystery Quilt, so I thiught I woule give you a gander.

Bonnie Hunter, the leader of all this fun, posted the colors she was going to use as part of the introduction to this years mystery quilt.  You can read all about how and why she chose her colors here at her introduction post.  For the next month, there was fevor of the likes I have never seen before of participants scrambling to obtain the exact colors that Bonnie posted in her introduction.  Bonnie posted paint chip cards from Lowes (Valspar Paint chips to be exact) and then pulled fabrics from her scrap basket of varying types of prints along the spectrum of these chip cards.  Women were posting on Facebook almost every hour about either obtaining the chips or  being upset about not having a Lowes or Valspar paint chips available to them.  It went so far that those who had the chip cards were getting extras and sending sets all over the country and even across the continents so that everyone who wanted and felt they needed them could have a set.

I read whole fervor as it unfolded on Facebook trying to decide whether or not I wanted to participate in this frenzy or not.  Since we are always at Lowes for one reason or another, (remember the greenhouse?) just for kicks, I picked up the set of paint chip cards.  Once I had pulled one of each and took a good look at them I said "yuck" to myself.  I don't mean to rain on these participants parade, but I am just not a fan of the modern bright colors for my quilts.

I picked up these cards about a week before the first clue was to be posted, and keep telling myself that I didn't want to do this Mystery Quilt, because 1.  I don't have these colors in my stash, and 2.  I certainly wasn't go to buy any new fabric, and 3.  I wasn't sure about doing another mystery quilt, only to have it go down the drain like I had so many times before doing this type of quilt.

But then, I saw a post about last years mystery quilt by Bonnie, called Celtic Soltace. Saw just how beautiful they were, and came across a participant who had done one using a different color way, specifically Thimbleberries.  So, the day before the first clue was to come out, and 30 days later after the introduction of Bonnie's colors came out, I went to my Thimbleberries stash, and came up with more than enough to do this year's Mystery Quilt.

My green is her turuqoise, my red is her pink, my gold is her yellow, my blue is her green.  And of course I am using black and neutrals along with the way Bonnie is using hers.  The darker brown in the upper left hand corner is a 108"wide backing fabric print that I will use for my backing when the quilt top is done.

I realize I should have posted about the color selection first before doing the first clue, but better late than never.  Thank you for the reader who asked the question of what other colors will I be using.

Warmest...

Grand Illusion Step One Completed

It has been exceptionally chilly here in the Pacific Northwest, and I have spent the days inside rather than outside (doing the rest of the fall garden clean up).  I was busy making candy (peanut brittle, billionaire clusters, crockpot crack, reese's peanut butter cups, fudge, pay day bars, and mixed nut toppers), and working on completing step one of the Grand Illusion Mystery quilt that I wrote about in my previous post.

While making 100 of the 4 1/2 inch units, I had a close inspector and helper, Junior.  Although in this picture, he was taking a little nap, only because he got very bored tired towards the end of the process.  

Here are the completed units.  I have put them in groups of twenty as I was completing them, so I would not have to keep counting to know when I had reached the 100 unit mark.  I had a few extra yellow and black 2 1/2" squares left over from the WOF strips, so I went ahead and made a few more units.  That way if I need to change units when we start to put the whole quilt layout together I will have a few to play around with.  If nothing else, I can make them into a side table runner or a pillow.

Warmest...

Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt

I have been following Bonnie Hunter's blog Quiltville for some time now, and have been fascinated with her scrappy quilts.  Then I discovered this November, that she has a Mystery Quilt every year.  I grabbed her button if you would like to follow along with this Mystery Quilt process.  The requirements were posted about a month ago and the first clue was posted last Friday.  A new clue is posted every Friday until the the first of January.  If you have lots of stash and scraps, and have some time and want to join in the fun, then head on over to her blog and check it all out.

Also, every Monday after each clue has been posted on Friday, there is a link up party of many participants who are actually getting some of the clues done to show off to each other.  This Monday link up and be found here by clicking on Quiltville Link Up.

I decided at the last minute, Thanksgiving Day actually, to pull from my stash and scrap baskets to participate in this Mystery Quilt.  I have had lousy luck in the past with Mystery quilts, but Bonnie Hunter's scrap quilts and past Mystery Quilts, are just gorgeous and I would like to use up some of my stash and scraps to something other than a simple nine-patch.

True to myself and what I like best, I went with Thimbleberries fabrics from the numerous past projects I have done.  I was able to pull enough fabric (and then some) from the baskets, and will be able to make the whole quilt which will measure 88" X 88".  The gold is the consistent fabric through out this quilt, just like the yellow is in Bonnie Hunter's color way.  The rest of the colors will be totally different prints of each color way to make it truly scrappy.

Below shows two units I put together just for the link up party today.  I have most of my half square triangles (280 sets) done, and will be putting together these units the rest of the week, so that I will be ready Friday for the next clue.

Warmest...

Microwave Bowls

I have seen these around blog land for a couple of years now, but didn't really give them much thought, until my neighbor actually showed me one and shared with me how much they used theirs.  Then the other evening, I went to lift a glass bowl of heated liquid out of the microwave and almost dropped it because it was to hot to hold onto.

It was then I went looking for a pattern or tutorial on how to make a set.  I landed on this tutorial on Pinterest and dug into my stash to make a couple of cute bowls.  I found this chili ristras print to use in making the first two bowls.  I cut, quilted, darted and finished them in about an hour and a half.  Super easy, super cute, and super practical!

Warmest...

Making Christmas Progress

I am making a little progress every day.  I am so excited because I will have it all done by the fist or second week of December.  No stress of working right up to Christmas Day.

I finished the Dallas Cowboys quilt for one of my sons:

This is a close up of the quilt with the backing and the binding all done.

Here it is folded and ready to go into the matching pillow case to be used as the wrapping paper.

I used the same "piano blocks" for the top part of the pillow case, and one of the lighter colors for the middle band.

I know it is hard to see the quilting on the back of this quilt, but if you enlarge it you can see I traced the stars on the front middle panel.    I came out really nice and I think he will really enjoy it.  The size came out to be approximately 50" X 68".  A good size for a throw quilt.

Next up is a octagon tabletopper that I made for a neighbor of mine who has a couple of cats that she adores.  The center has all kinds of cats getting into Christmas mischief.  

This picture shows the backing I used, and I also used it for the binding, as I always like to do a diagonal type binding if I can.  I quilted it doing a straight line method of outlining the octagon shape spacing the lines about 3/4" apart going around continually.

I took some time out of sewing to get some canning done.  This last summer, my chickens were giving me about 9-10 eggs a day.  Way more than we can consume.  So I stacked up about 14 dozen in our spare refrigerator, to can at a later date.  Fresh eggs need to rest for quite a while, about 6 - 8 weeks, in order for them to peel without half of the white parts staying attached to the shell.  When canning eggs, they need to be perfect without any craters or cracks in the white part.  We canned them in a red chile flake and peppercorn brine this year, giving them the red color.  The men in my life eat them like candy.  Me, no, not so much.  

Warmest...

Next Christmas Project

Yesterday, I spent most of the day working on this quilt for my other son for his Christmas present.  He is an insane avid fisherman.  He spends every spare minute either fishing, planning a fishing trip, or doing prep work for fishing (like tying flies).  He is such a die hard, that when he works on finding that "special hole", sometimes hiking in 5 miles just to do a little fishing.

I picked up this pattern and the fabric about 5 years ago, with the intent of making the quilt for him at some later date.  Well, this is the year that I have enough free time to do the quilts for both boys (30 year old twins).

This pattern is true to it's name, it takes 5 minutes to shop and 10 minutes to cut it out.  Layering the eleven fat quarters and cutting them from the diagram included in the pattern, really lets you get it cut out in 10 minutes.  Credit:  5 & Dime, by All Washed Up.  It looks as though her blog has been idle since 2011, but you can find this pattern all over the internet by just googling All Washed Up.

This is the focal point fabric, a Robert Kaufman "Wilderness Ridge".  It is a screen print, rather than a woven design or pattern. This is a close up of this fabric, which includes fishing poles, flies, lures, bobbers, etc:

Here is the completed top.  the smaller blocks cut from the eleven fat quarters includes prints with fish, river bed rocks, grass, woods, sunrise/sunset, sand, and other fishing gear. 

I chose this simple pattern, because he also, like his brother, like things simple.  So I will be doing some simple quilting on his as well.  Probably some straight line quilting from top to bottom about 4" apart.

Warmest...