Mystery Quilts

Why is it that all the mystery quilts seem to start at the same time.  I have 3 going on right now. -  2 from guilds,  and one online.  And I know that Bonnie Hunter's mystery will be starting in a few weeks. Maybe I can avoid getting sucked into the New Years Day mystery overload I've done the last few years. The current mysteries are somewhat long term,  running until the spring,  so they should not be too much work each month.

These are my blocks from one of the guild mysteries.  The dark is my background,  and the light is my accent colour -  so I keep having to remind myself to switch the dark and light in the instructions.

As this quilt progressed, I realized that my choice of fabrics was somewhat unfortunate.  The light grey has dark grey in it. The dark grey has light great. And the red has both dark and light grey highlights.  I did some fussy cutting, to try to minimize the overlap between the greys. But in the end,I think my blocks look a bit mushy.  However, I did decide to go with the original layout, with no border. That makes this another perfect donation quilt, and I'm sure someone will love it.  It's all sewn together now, although this picture doesn't show that.  Added to the pile for quilting.

Allietare!

Allietare is done!  I finally finished sewing the binding on this quilt, and tried it out on my bed.  It fits almost perfectly, and I think will make a great spring/fall quilt.  I love the way the borders came out, with the brown tucked in there and then used for the binding. I decided not to do the scalloped border that Bonnie had on hers - partly due to "I don't wanna do that"  inertia, and partly because I like a square edge on my bed quilts.

This is the first time I made a full-sized Bonnie Hunter mystery, and I'm really glad I did. I quilted it with the "Tickle Too" pantograph which is light and airy, with a few spirals thrown in.  The quilt is busy enough that I thought it did not need any detailed quilting.

Design Wall Monday - Jan 13, 2014

It's "get it done" time for Bonnie's Celtic Solstice.  The final reveal was posted on Jan1, and the final link up is Feb 3. At this point, I just want to be done. Bonnie makes beautiful quilts! But she must have a world more patience than I do.

I knew I didn't want a large quilt (it came in 2 sizes - large, and really large :) ). So, following Bonnie's advice, I made about 1/2 the blocks.  Then, we are supposed to figure out what we want in the end, and make any additional blocks required to get there. Great idea!  So I made "about" 1/2 - cut a few strips, made the segments it would make, and stopped there - no sense having 1/2 a strip cut and not used.

In the end, I had 12 of one block, and 8 of the other.  12 & 12 would have been perfect.  I tried - really I did.  As I sewed those 20 blocks together, I gave myself pep talks about cutting the remaining bits to make the missing blocks.  I was also missing a bunch of border pieces (1/2 a quilt takes way more than 1/2 a border).  But ... the missing pieces are all tri-recs.  I have discovered a deep-seated hatred of tri-recs.  Even though the tri-rec blocks were actually the easiest to assemble at the final stage, I just *really* don't want to cut more of them  And piece more of them.  30 orange tri-recs, and 8 neutral ones - it doesn't seems like that much, but I just can't talk myself into it.

It doesn't help that I really don't like my colours.  Bonnie's quilt is beautiful. But I don't really like scrappy.  So I decided to do this one non-scrappy, because that worked so well for my Easy Street last year. But now that it's done, I really don't like the way the colours are playing.  I think they're too dark - it needs more value changes in there.  But I was browsing Bonnie's linky party and saw a post that didn't look like Bonnie's quilt. I hopped over there, and learned about some alternate layouts for this quilt.

So, I took my 20 blocks, and started playing. 

I found lots of layouts that might look fine - if they were actually finished. But I don't haveenough blocks to go around, and that's how I got here in the first place.

How hard can this be?  20 blocks makes a 4x5 layout, which makes a 36x45" quilt before borders.  I can make that work as a donation quilt, if only the blocks would play nice.

Getting better.

But maybe this one is best.

 A quick count of border blocks, and a redesign there too.  And maybe my celtic solstice will actually see completion.

Drop by Judy's blog for more design walls today.

Back to Square One Mystery

After spending all week catching up on the Sept & October clues for the Back to Square One Mystery, I was thrilled to see that this months clue consists of "sew the borders together and attach them". That might even happen before the last minute this month.

Here's what my quilt looks like after the October clue  - not enough room for all the border blocks, so just a few are on the wall.  And apparently I guessed wrong, so I'll have to remember to switch the orientation of the log cabins before I sew them together. 

Drop by Judy's blog today to see all the wonder mystery quilts.

Mystery Quilted

I finished quilting my Border Creek Station mystery quilt this past weekend.  Now I just have to finish the binding before the show & tell Oct 4.  I really like this pattern, and am pretty happy with the way the colours worked out.  I have to give credit to the owner at my local quilt shop for that - she helped a great deal with the colour choices. 

I did an all-over pantograph on this, with a light brown thread. As I hoped, the thread blends with the colours, and stands out a bit on the background fabric.  I think it adds a bit of the interest to the sections that I found a bit bland.  And it doesn't overpower the applique sections.

The pantograph is a bit denser than I usually use, and I had a few moments of concern while I was quilting. But the quilt is still nice and soft and drapes nicely so it worked well.

Design Wall Monday - Aug 5

Happy, happy day.  It's a holiday today, and I plan to spend the whole day in my sewing room.  It's been a therapy weekend, and an extra day of sewing is just what I needed.

I pulled out a couple of half-finished projects - victims of my mother's visit in June when I cleaned up my sewing room.  Time to get back on track and finish these two mystery quilts.  The first one is up on the design wall.  I stopped right at the last clue.  But now that I pull the fabric she calls for, for the borders, I don't like it at all :(

Apparently I hated it so much that I didn't even take a picture of it.  It looks like this one, except the blue was a green fabric instead.  I tried replacing it with the blue, but I really don't like the way the border fabric plays with the dark brown.  They blend too much.  I really wish the border fabric was the same as the focus fabric, but it's not and I don't have nearly enough of that left.  And since these are all batiks, finding a matching fabric at this point is pretty much a lost cause.

So I put up a few other choices.  First, I tried adding an additional border in the green, to help the outer border fabric.  I like that effect, but now I really don't like the blue in there.

Taking the blue out and replacing it with one of the light fabrics helped a lot.  I'm kind of liking this, but the brown/green/multi outer border feels a bit heavy.

So I removed the brown border, and left the green.  Getting better, but it still seems to be missing something.  I'll have to ponder this some more, so my design wall will likely look like this for a few days.

While it hangs out, I can contemplate the big empty spaces.  They seem a bit lost and lonely - like maybe they need applique added to spruce them up.  Of course, applique is not my favourite activity, but Ricky Tims did provide some inspiration and a desire to try new things.  So something might happen there.

Check out Judy's blog for more design walls today.  And leave your thoughts on borders & applique in my comments below :)

Catch Up Day

I have been neglecting my Back to Square One Mystery quilt for a few months.  The August clue was posted a couple of days ago, and this reminded me to dig out my progress.  I put the quilt top away in May, and haven't had it out since.  Looking at the clues, I know why I avoided it.  Clue #4 was square-in-a-square, in a square.  A bit intimidating, and with visitors coming I had the perfect excuse to put it away. 

However, it's time to get back on track.  I pulled the top out yesterday, and started to work on the May clue.  I wanted to get caught up in time to post my progress on the July clue, so I had some work to do.  Clue 4 finished - 20 blocks.  And low and behold - clue 5 was 20 more of the same block in different colouring!  Those, I left for today.  But I pushed through, finished all the blocks, and attached the borders to the quilt.  Clue 6 done.

Clue 7 at least was a change of pace - 24 log cabin blocks.  Little strips, finishing at 3/4", but at least there are no triangles here :)  I finished those too, and I am now officially done all the clues up to and including July.

August is more square-in-a-square. I think I will take a break for a week or so, before I tackle those.  But hopefully they'll be done before the end of the month, and I can stay on track again.

Drop by Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing with their quilts.

Design Wall Monday & Back to Square One Mystery

My design wall today has 3 blocks from my Block Party quilt.  I delivered the fabric and instructions to everyone last weekend.  I should get 11 blocks back from the rest of the group, plus the one I picked up that day.  And then I want to make 4 more, to make the quilt 4x4 blocks.  3 down, 2 to go.  I can't wait to see what everyone else has done.

The other block on my wall is a poor little circle attempt.  Still waiting for friends and a better job of sewing.

Today is also the 1st of April, so I'm linking up to Judy's Back to Square One mystery posting.  I showed this a few weeks ago, when I finished the last clue.  This month we are working on a pieced border, so lots of sewing to do.

Drop by Judy's blog for more design walls.

Design Wall Monday - Jan 7, 2013

After a hiatus over Christmas, my sewing room was buzzing this weekend.  Judy's "Get it Done" challenge inspired me.  I pulled out my projects, reviewed all my monthly projects (listed here), and decided to jump in and tackle some of them.  My design wall now has a mix of 3 different projects on it.  On the top right are the blocks from my guild's mystery quilt.  Below that, Dancing with the Stars.  And on the left, the mess of fabrics I received in the guild "Ugly fabric" exchange.  The dark fabrics are my (not ugly) addition to the set.

First on the agenda this weekend, I pulled out Dancing with the Stars. These paper pieced blocks are really time consuming, so I need a pretty big chunk of time before I'm willing to tackle any of them.  I have to wash the fabric (by hand, because the pieces are so small in the kit), dry it, cut the pieces, and paper piece each block - most containing upwards of 40-50 pieces.  This was my main focus this past weekend, and I successfully completed 4 blocks in 2 days of work.  Two blocks left to go, and I think this entire quilt is complete and ready for assembly.

Then, I needed a break. Something a bit more mindless. So, rather than jump into another of my "Get it Done" projects, I pulled out the guild mystery quilt.  This mystery started in October, and I've been collecting instructions but had done nothing with them.  So I am 3 months behind.  I found some lovely fabric this past week, at the LQS anniversary sale, and now I'm all set to go.  I jumped in and cut & sewed, and in about 2 hours I have caught up on this mystery.  And, I think I know where it's going.  Taking the blocks from the top picture, with the 8 1/2" focus blocks, and the strips I have cut out, I can see a pattern forming.

And now, it's time to go back to work. After 2 weeks off, this is going to be a bit of a shock, and my quilting will, I'm sure, suffer for it.  But on the good side, I have lots of progress to show for this weekend.

Current progress on "Getting it Done"

1. Catch up on Dancing with the Stars BOM - 4 blocks done, 2 left to go
2. Catch up on Gardener's Alphabet stitching.
3. Quilt Grant's quilt. Loaded, and 2 passes quilted
4. Make 2 quilties for guild this month.

Stash Report - Jan 6, 2013

The first stash report of 2013. And already I have a bunch of fabric used, that I forgot to track as I cut it.  I think this year I am going to make a change in my reporting methods.  I will continue to report only stash out, as incoming stash is not (currently) an issue for me.  And, this year I think I will report stash used when the top is complete, backing when it is loaded on the long arm, and binding when I attach it.  That should help me keep track, and avoid double counting (or missing completely) any fabric.  Especially for those on-going block of the month projects I have so many of this year.

So, for this year's first stash report, I have one completed quilt top, and one quilt loaded on the long arm, so I can count its backing.  That's 5 yards for backing. The quilt top used 5 1/4 yards, plus 2 1/2 yards for borders.  But I counted 1 1/2 yards last year, so that's 6 1/4 yards I can count today.  And the end result of those 6 1/4 yards is my version of Bonnie's Easy Street Mystery.  A smaller version, with extended borders.  It measures about 60x80, and is just right for a twin bed.

Those who participated in Bonnie's mystery may note that I did not choose my "dark grey" very well. It blends completely into my black&white background fabric.  However, I still like the end results, desipte that missing feature.

Total stash used this week:  11 1/4 yards

Check out Judy's blog for more 2013 stash reports.  And on Monday I'll be linking up to Bonnie's Easy Street reveal linkup.

Easy Street part 7

I have been very neglectful of my Block of the Month and other on-going projects over the past two weeks.  And today I just noticed that Bonnie's Easy Street mystery is close the end.  There's a clue tomorrow (New Year's Day), so I thought I'd better get caught up before that comes out.  So, I sat down today, turned on Pride and Prejudice, and sewed the last 3 clues together.  From those results, this is what's on my wall now. 

I'm making the (probably wrong) assumption that part 6 was the assembly of a number of setting triangles for a quilt on point.  Tomorrow, maybe I'll see whether I guessed right.  There are still a number of units in my box which were made and have not been touched, so it will be interesting to see what Bonnie has in mind.

No Easy Street link up today, but Judy's over at Patchwork Times and I'm going to drop by to see what everyone else has been working on.

Decision made

I think I've made a decision on the Monday Mystery.  While I really like the starburst effect of this layout (and many commenters agreed), it feels like the alternate blocks are out of place in this one.  They don't seem to fit in with the rest of the quilt.

This layout incorporates them better in my eye (and I guess in the designer's too :)  I'll follow the plan and put the quilt together this way. But I think I'm going to sit down with EQ and see if I can come up with something using a different alternate block to go with  the starburst setting.

Monday Mystery

Putting the blocks together is today's step in the Monday Mystery. Trouble is, this is the layout the designer planned. 

But this is what I've been expecting and envisioning for the past 3 weeks.

Decisions, decisions.  Do I go with the plan, or forge ahead with my own vision? Which layout do you prefer?

Just loafing

This is Cari - making herself comfortable as can be, in my bread basket.   Silly cat. I guess I should know better than to leave out something that she fits into so well. 

After extracting the furry loaf from my bread basket, I headed upstairs to sew.  After all, it's Mystery Monday today, and I have clue #10 in my hands.  And, here is the result of that one.  For now, I've taken this mystery down off the wall - 9 blocks are much easier to keep together than all those little bits would have been. 

Now to decide what's next.  My current "active" list is:

1. Quilt the indigo quilt - still looking for inspiration on the quilting design
2. Finish Mystery Monday - whenever the clues complete - still have assembly and borders to go
3. Dancing with the stars BOM - one more block this month
4. Blogger's BOM - all caught up until the next clue comes out on the 25th
5. Mexican star - still need to hand-stitch all the turnouts of the folded triangles

So, faced with that list of in-progress quilts, most of which are waiting for something before I can do the next step, I've pulled out my March UFO (#8 from Judy's draw this month).  That seemed like a better idea than cutting into the new quilt I want to start.  That orange corner sticking up on my design wall is a piece of it. I should have something significant to show later this week.

Design Wall Monday - March 5

The incremental changes to the Monday Mystery continue.  Last Monday, we put together the small 1/2 square triangles.  I'm still auditioning corner settings, while I wait for the official plan. Today the next clue will, I hope, finish the blocks and then it will just be borders left to go.

The other blocks on the wall are from Dancing with the Stars.  The March package is available, and the first of two blocks is complete.  This one is Viennese Waltz, and Polka will join it soon.

I was a bit worried about this block of the month.  I don't do paper piecing in general. I tried it several years ago, and it was a complete disaster, so I swore off the whole thing and have studiously avoided any project that required paper piecing since then.  However, I fell in love with this quilt when I saw it, and I just couldn't pass it up.  So, I am commited to 30 blocks, paper pieced.  Last month, I cheated.  The block was pretty simple, so I converted it to regular piecing, and put together those 3 connecting blocks.  But the star blocks are not going to work that way.  So, this weekend I jumped in. Drawing on my vague memory of my last attempt at paper piecing, I carefully cut the pieces, reduced the stitch length on my machine, and made one part of the first block.

Imagine my surprise when it actually came out correctly, and all the points matched.  Eight more block sections, and I was able to assemble my first ever paper pieced block!  Now I can't wait to start block number 2.  And I'll even do next month's connecting blocks with paper piecing.

Also on my design railing, is the next quilt I need to quilt.  I like this quilt a lot, and want to do it justice with my quilting, but I'm not sure what to do.  I feel like I want to echo the increasing sizes of the stars, but I don't know if that would work, or exactly how to do that.  What would you do in the star points and plain areas, given the varying sizes?

Check out Judy's blog for more design walls today.

Mystery Progress

Monday's clue came out, so I spent yesterday making a bunch of 1/2 square triangles.  Then I put them all up on the design wall, trying to see where this is going.  4 corners equals 4 different possibilities.

I think the lower right is the most likely option, and hopefully I'll find out next Monday.

Design Wall Monday - Feb 20

After all the work at the retreat, I have a few quilts to finish.  None are actually up on my design wall this morning, because I haven't even unpacked yet.  This quilt is what will be going onto my wall, as soon as I find everything in my suitcase.

I'm really happy with how this mystery is turning out, and I can't wait to see the next step later today.

You can check out more Monday design walls over at Judy's blog.

Design wall Monday - Jan 16

I didn't do much sewing this week, but I did steal away for a few minutes, in an effort to have something to show today.  On my design wall is my last Monday Mystery project.  It's almost done - I just have to attach the top border.  The original design was a table topper.  I added a few blocks and moved all the border pieces to one long edge, to turn it into a baby blanket.  I haven't decided yet if it needs a border, so I think I'll just let that stew for a few more days.

Check out more design walls over at Judy's blog.

Mystery Progress

I finished all the blocks for my mystery quilt yesterday.  Now I have to find a layout I like.  Several options come to mind - and the mystery writer suggested one I never came up with.  I've played around with them a few times, now I think I'll let them stew for a day or two before I move on.  My design wall is too small, so these are just parts of the quilt - the top and bottom rows are missing.

The good news is that, as I hoped, the brights are toned down a bit in the final quilt. I think I like this quilt.  While I might have put the colours in different locations if I'd had the design to work from originally, I think the end result is nice.

Taking the pictures down for now, because I realized there might be others still working on their mystery.  I'll post a finished pic in a couple of weeks, instead.