Quiltville (Bonnie Hunter) Mystery

It's time for Bonnie Hunter's Annual Mystery.
October 31 Bonnie released the introduction for her newest mystery quilt:  On Ringo Lake.  You can use the information below if you want to check it out.
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2017/10/on-ringo-lake-quiltville-mystery.html

I started thinking about fabric choices.  Rather than use Bonnie's suggestions, I'm putting together my palette.  I have two possibilities:

1.  While checking out Bonnie's paint chips, I picked up some extras for additional ideas.  One card gave a "top-pick color" then showed colors that you can mix and match.  I picked four choices from that card.

colors:  Upholstery Red (1008-3A), Johnny Cake (3001-6A), Notre Dame (5006-1B), and Virginia Soil (1003-9A)
I always wonder how they come up with names!

2.  As I have done in the past, I selected a piece of fabric and used that to select my palette.

Of course, the color is off.  The colors are black, yellow-green (3), orange-red (20), and aqua blue (8).

I have two weeks to make my final decision.

Thanks for checking in.

Two more finishes (almost!)

I took a guild class with Peggy Martin, Quick Paper Piecing Feathered Star and I've been working to finish one quilt for a guild challenge.

I haven't quite finished the binding, but I'll have it ready for the next
guild meeting.  I used the floral fabric to pull my coordinates, then fussy
cut it for the center.  Rather than quilt a design in the setting triangles,
I quilted around all the black.  It needs more, but I'm not sure how
far to go.  I'm taking a class next week on Thread Painting, so I think
I'll take it with me and discuss it with the instructor.  Other than
the foundation quilting there's not much quilting in this quilt.

I introduced this quilt in my last post - but now it's quilted.

The guild challenge was to use only solids - fabric and thread.
I couldn't decide on what to do and then while cleaning/organizing
the studio, I found an old class project.  I was about to throw it away
knowing I'd never finish it when I realized - it was all solid fabrics!
Sooo ..... I cut it into half-square triangles, put with black, and
went to the design wall.  I originally planned to quilt feathers
in all the black, but decided on lines instead.  I used a stencil I had
in my drawer - equilateral triangles with fill lines.  I still need to
do the black around the center.  I held off to think about what I
wanted to do.  I'm going to add more lines.  I'm excited - this challenge
is not due until November and I'm finished!!

Thanks for checking in.

Two finishes and two ready to quilt

A friend came to visit and we spent three days sewing.  I got a lot done!

This is for my newest great-nephew born January 1 2017.  I actually have it quilted and bound. I hadn't even decided on the pattern, but Anna had good suggestions.   The size was determined by the amount of border fabric I had purchased.  I just did the math!!  This gets a stack of fabric off the table and the left overs put away.

50 x 50 inches
 

We had both purchased a kit for this pin cushion and decided to work on them together.  I had to use a BIG button to cover up the hole where all the pieced came together.  This qualifies as a UFO for my guild since I bought the kit 1 1/2 years ago.  And . . . . I got a small box out of the studio.  Now I have a pretty cushion instead of a clear box.

I started the truck in a collage class, however I like the truck so well I didn't want to cover it with flowers.  (Laura Heine pattern)  I have the backing ready, so I just need to layer and quilt.  Not sure what I'll do, but I will add some threads to the grass and leaves.

Not sure what I'll do with the quilt.  We have a 51 (red) Chevy truck in the family.  It's been around for a really long time.  Every family member that sees the quilt wants it so maybe I'll work out a custody schedule.  I'm hoping to find ownership records.  My grandfather purchased it sometime in the late 50's or early 60's.  I'm just not sure how to do that.

44 x 44 inches

The challenge for one of my guilds is to use all solids in a quilt related item.  I kept putting it off because I couldn't come up with an idea.  While cleaning out old projects I came across a class project that I knew I would never finish.  All solid fabrics - what would happen if I cut it up??  The foundation quilting is done, now for the fun part.  This gets a large basket off the floor and all the solids are now back in my stash.

34 x 35 inches

As you can see it was a very productive week.  I'm happy to finish (well, almost - I do have two fully complete) all of these items.  I'm continuing on with "finish it and get it out of the studio".

Thanks for checking in.

TQS Block of the Month and two finishes

I'm back.

Friends and I are participating in the Block of the Month program through "The Quilt Show".  I got REALLY far behind, but have spent the past few weeks playing catch up.  Last Friday I finished up through September!  What a relief.

Finished size is 87 x 87.  I want to figure out an additional border to make it at least 90 x 90.
That's a better size for my bed.  The last border is Delectable Mountains, which is quite large.
I'm thinking I need to add the extra border now and end with DM.  Another half-square triangle??

I'

Even though I haven't posted, I've been busy at my machine.  Following are some of the projects I've completed.

My sister requested a tree skirt with a snowman theme.  This was a pre-fused
kit from Shabby Fabrics - but it was a table runner.  I pushed out the edges
to make it round.  That proved to be much more difficult than I anticipated.
I spent three days just moving stuff around.  Of course, I added lots of crystals.

I stitched around every one of those tiny (!) pieces.
I'm excited that I finished this before Christmas.

This is my finished product from Gwen Marston's class last summer.
Everyone kept saying "just quilt lines"  but I couldn't get started.  I
was truly blocked.  I finally quilted the Baptist Fan design, but used
rulers with my domestic machine.  I've been collecting the rulers -
now I need to use them.  Good practice.

Six friends and I went to the outdoor quilt show in Sisters, Oregon, this past July.  I was downtown very early to watch them hang the show.  The firemen drew quite a crowd.  They only hung quilts on this one wall, but there were over 1400 quilts throughout the town for that one day.  

My hiatus in blogging started when I lost my camera (April?).  It's in the house somewhere, but it hasn't turned up.  I held off for several months, not wanting to buy another camera.  I finally borrowed one from a sister.  I'm still waiting for that camera to jump out of a container somewhere.

Thanks for checking in.

March 2017

March was filled with quilting.

Early in the month I made St. Patrick's Day "cards" for my great-nieces and nephews.  Today I finished Easter cards as well.  I forgot to take a photo of the St. Pat's cards before I put them in the mail.  I've been having fun making something to send the kids.

I didn't create this design.  It's from Embroidery Library.
For the St. Pat's cards I scanned a shamrock and used
IQ Designer on my Destiny to create the design.

I actually finished a challenge quilt one month BEFORE it was due!  That is truly amazing for me.  I actually scrapped my first attempt and created a similar second version to use for the challenge.  That means I completed two table runners in about one week.  Of course, this was only possible because I was working ahead.

Two table runners.  The top one is my first attempt.

I cut the pieces with my Sissix, then just quilted, thinking I'd cut it down to size

afterward.  However, I liked the quilting and didn't want to cut it 

off, so I made the second one.  The challenge was black & white, with the

red fabric given to us.  There are actually three different blacks, but even in person

you can hardly tell.  I didn't want to make a 24 x 24 piece, so decided the table runner

could fit the size restriction and be something I would actually use.

I didn't want to cut off all the feathers.

I had to use a recognizable piece of the given red fabric. I made red piping.
The quilting is similar, but I marked the outside edge first then stayed
within the boundary.  

This is the quilt I gave my sister this month in honor of her award.  I
tried making a beaded fringe, but it wasn't adding to the quilt.  I cut
off the beads and left it plain.  Actually a good choice.

I started my block of the month for The Quilt Show.  (no photo - just because I didn't take one)  I had finished month two, but took it apart to correct a size error that would only grow as the quilt progressed.  I know in a couple of months I'll be glad I did.  So even though tomorrow is the end of March, I'm actually only one month behind.  Not bad for me!!

I have three quilts in Best of The Valley quilt show.  April 7 - 9, Lindsay CA.  Although I never expect to get a ribbon, it's always exciting to see if there is one on the quilt when I get there.

As I finish writing this it doesn't seem like a lot of projects, but it felt like I was at the machine a lot this month.  I'm still working on finishing projects and getting them out of the studio.  That's why I finished the challenge.  It's already delivered . . . . . out of the studio!

Thanks for checking in.

En Provence is on the bed! and another finish

I finished the binding on En Provence and it's now on my bed.  In my 30+ years of quilting I have not made many bed-size quilts.  Two for the same sister and a double size that was on my guest bed for years - so I probably slept under it at some point.  I didn't get a photo in time to post on Bonnie Hunter's web site
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2017/02/mystery-monday-link-up-finale.html

I added an extra row to make En Provence 90 x 90 inches and it fits the bed very well.  Just like Goldilocks!  Not too big, not too small, just right.

I may go back and add quilting in the area of the "blue" squares.
I just couldn't decide what to put there???

I had fun with the border section.  In hindsight I wish I had used a light,
lavender thread.  The white hardly shows, but it does add texture.
I think the red piping adds a little pop.

I also finished a quilt from a workshop with Jean Impey.  I think the class was in 2015, but I'm really not sure.  My sister is receiving an award next month so instead of sending her flowers, I'm sending her a quilt.  It will certainly last longer.  I still have a couple of weeks, so I'm thinking it needs some beads!

25.5 x 23.5 inches

Unusual technique:  cut out the flowers and pin them to the background, then quilt.
No fusing, no glue.  You intentionally want puckers.  If I do it again I think
I will skip the step where she had us use white thread.

I need to select my next project to finish!  Two down.

Thanks for checking in.

It was a crazy January

I'm back.
January was hectic and full !!!
1.  Two friends came for our third annual New Year's retreat.  We sewed in the new year.

2.  I finished the first of my family quilts.  The top was complete, the back was ready, so when my niece selected this one, I went for it.  She was home from WA state so I finished it and was able to give it to her in person.  We had to mail it later since she was already at the limit for luggage on the plane.

One down!  Some of the tops not selected by family and that I didn't want
to finish, I donated to the charity division of my guilds.  It was a win, win, win.
I reduced by stack, the guild got finished tops, and one top was auctioned
at the meeting for a cash donation to the guild.  Another win - that person has
a queen size top ready to quilt.  I gave another top that was pinned and ready to
quilt to a friend to finish.  It's her's to do with as she wants - donate, keep, gift.

3.  I finished my En Provence top and was folding it up to put on the stack then stopped myself.  Remember:  Finish it and get it out of the house.  I pieced backing and started the quilting.  It's ready to be bound then it goes on the bed!  The first bed size quilt I've finished for me.

4.  A friend was unable to attend Road to CA so I took her place.  The class was not something I would have selected for myself, so rather than start a new project, another friend prepped the fabric and I made blocks for her.  The class was a lot of fun and I learned some new techniques, but I'm happy I don't have another project in process.  And yes, by the time all the bills came in, the "free" class was very expensive.  However, I'm now in the mind set to attend Road next year.  We're looking for a hotel that can house 5 of us together.

5.  I took two sessions of training for my Babylock Destiny machine.  My dealer has great follow up classes and they are free to customers who purchase the machine from his shop.  It was good to go back and hear some of the basics, but I loved the day of IQ designing.  I took his ideas and created Valentine Day cards for my great nieces and nephews.  They go in the mail tomorrow.  Two are headed to Australia.  Of course they won't make it in time, but they're used to me being late.  They're getting their Christmas ornament in this mailing as well.  I think that family would all fall down in disbelief if I had a package to them BEFORE the holiday!

Finished Valentine Day "cards".  Approx 5.5 x 5.5 inches.
I loved that I had all the supplies on hand to make these.

To cut down on hand work, I treated it like a pillow top for the backing.
Finished the raw edges, overlapped, and sewed around the outside eidge.
Turned, inserted extra batting, and top stitiched the edge.
When I quilted around the heart it basically closed the opening.

I stitched them out two at a time.  All done in the hoop.  The background is quilted
with cross-hatching.  It just doesn't show in any of the photos.  The IQ Designer
was the reason I purchased the Destiny.  I get excited when I acutally use it

6.  I did a demo at my guild of different ways to make half-square triangles.  I started with making paper templates (I never actually did this, but in the dark ages of quilting it was how it was done!) and moved to adding 7/8 inch and cutting along the diagonal.  I also included paper piecing, Bloc Loc rulers, and my favorite Dragonfly Triangle Marker.  The only source I know for the last item is Wendy Mathson, quiltsbywendy.com.

In between all of this was Soroptimist meetings, choir, church 50th Anniversary celebration weekend, 4 guild meetings, and life.  I purchased a new refrigerator.  Mine was acting up and I'd been closly watching it since November.  The sales were good so I researched and made my decision.  After a lot of reading online and at the library, I was so confused I almost gave up.  Decision:  LG French door.

Thanks for checking in.

En Provence Top Complete & TQS BOM

Yea!!  I finished the top for the Bonnie Hunter 2016 Mystery - En Provence.  I changed out one color.  I used aqua blue rather than yellow.  As I did in 2013, I used a fabric to select colors, but that fabric does not appear on the front of the quilt.  I'm excited about how it turned out.  For the third year, friends and I have sewn in the new year.  A great start to a new year.

UPDATE:  I've started the ditch work for my quilt.  Yea!
Here's the  link to see what others accomplished in the mystery.
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2017/01/mystery-monday-link-up-part-6-7.html

All the parts.

Finished!  I added an extra row in the border so it will finish 90 x 90 inches.
My "neutral" was white with black.  Looks gray here.

Two versions of the same quilt.  

The Quilt Show does a Block of the Month each year.  In previous years I have collected the patterns, but have never made the quilts.  This year, several friends and I have challenged ourselves to actually get it done.  I was originally  going to order the kit, but ended up finding other fabrics to use.

Background required 11 yards.  (white)

Happy 2017!

Thanks for checking in.