Living on Easy Street...

I actually don't live on Easy Street.  I'm sure I have struggles like the next person, but I sure love it when Bonnie Hunter hosts a mystery quilt and I can get distracted by something fun to do.  And I really, really love the name of this latest mystery started on November 23rd ~ It's called "Easy Street" and Bonnie has said in the online posts that she's had a busy year and so have we and that it would be a simpler quilt!  So, with that, I decided to dive in and start this mystery, even though I have wanted to avoid starting anything else until the UFO pile is shortened.  I am weak.

The link to Bonnie's blog for the pattern is here.  She's chosen some gorgeous and fresh colours for this mystery quilt.  Me?  I have just finished 2 purple quilts, and turquoise in Orca Bay so I am just not feelin' it for those colours.  So I looked at the colour wheel and decided that I am going to do the grey constant with the black on white.  That was my starting point.

Here are my step 1 four patches in the grey with black on white (and happy little dance for me ~ they're done!)

Don't these remind you of a winter sky?

The second clue came out yesterday and I am literally in shock that it's Saturday night and I'm done step 2.  What got into me?  I'm never caught up.  But anyway, here's my step 2 flying geese.  My red is Bonnie's purple.

My other colours are a cool blue and school bus/dijon yellow.  I love the yellow with the grey, and the red with the grey and even the blue with the grey, so I'm quite sure I will love this quilt and I have a suspicion that it will look modern.  That will be a twist on my previous Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts.  They have all looked very traditional.  This will be more edgy.  I can feel it!

I've also cut out my bricks for the future (which is what the early birds got to do!)

Here are both steps and the bricks happily tucked away in their box awaiting clue #3 due out next Friday:

I'm loving these colours and it's been a very enjoyable project so far.

Gee, what can I maybe finish off while I'm waiting for clue #3??

Until next time,
Mavis

Retreat time!

When you hear the word 'retreat' you probably think of solitude, quiet, relaxation, and time away from the rat race.  When you pair that word with 'quilting' you get...noise from laughter and discussions with friends and the hum of machines, friendship instead of solitutde and focus on projects rather than relaxation...unless you find quilting relaxing...and WE DO!!

And I probably don't have to tell you how satisfying it is to come home with projects completed or at least mostly completed.

I just got back from here after 4 nights away with the girls in my satellite group.  I wanted to focus on getting UFOs done and I got these finished:

ROLL ROLL COTTON BOLL 

At long last, my Roll Roll Cotton Boll is completed and ready to quilt.  I'm so excited to have this one done.

After Roll Roll Cotton Boll, I worked on Tuscan Hillside.  I just needed to work on the appliqued vine and grape leaves.  I still have to stitch down the raw edge applique of the grape leaves but for now they are fixed down by Steam a Seam 2.

TUSCAN HILLSIDE

And lastly, Orca Bay!  I got the top done and I'm thrilled with it but I had some trouble with the borders.  I put on a white border like Bonnie Hunter's instructions said (no picture shown of that) but after measuring in the middle, it was about 3 inches short on each side.   Not a happy camper!  Anyway, this is where the quilt fairies come in (aka retreat friends).  After  agonizing over the border dilemma I've decided to take off the white border and add a wider black border and then square it off from there.  I've got almost all of the outer border units done although I ran out of units so I couldn't finish it, but here's a picture of the quilt without the borders.  I'll update with another blog post once all the borders are on.

ORCA BAY

I'm very happy with what I got done at my quilting retreat.  Now to get them quilted!!

Until next time,
Mavis

Some finishes...

I had a great week which included some finishes.  Among these were:

The Curly Birds of Bend

All quilted, labeled, bound, and done!  I started this in July of 2012 while in Sisters, Oregon.  The fabric captivated me in Bend, Oregon and that night in the hotel room, I started cutting and piecing this very easy quilt.  The pattern is called "Shenandoah" and is great for focus fabric that you can't bear to cut up.

And this one has gone to the longarm quilter, Teresa Ranson, to be finished as it's a king-sized quilt for my bed.  This was a Bonnie Hunter mystery a few years ago which was entitled "Carolina Christmas".  Well, Miss Bonnie lives in North Carolina and I live in Canada, so mine is called "Canadiana Christmas".  This quilt should be home in plenty of time to adorn my bed for the Christmas season.

I'll have another finish this week.  I'm just finishing off the binding and then I'll shoot some pictures to upload.

Until next time,

Mavis

Design Decisions

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've now started two of the Disappearing Fat Quarters mystery quilts, the second one so that I could help my friend with the instructions she missed.

I took both quilt tops to class today and here's what I've decided:

This one is done.  It will be a Christmas table topper and I love it just the way it is.

So I will just be quilting it as is and binding it and it will be done.   I really love this colourway.

This one is not done and I've been struggling with what to do next:

I only got some dark green borders on it after this point and then I packed it in and decided that before I cut fabric and waste it, that I would do some designs in EQ7 first.

I narrowed it down to these two:

Option #1

Option #2

I've decided I like the second option more as it highlights the flying geese and doesn't fight with that border.  I also like the way it looks like ribbon and adds some nice curve illusions to the quilt.

I'm going to sleep on it and see if I still feel the same way tomorrow.

Until next time,

Mavis

Doubles...

I liked the Disappearing Fat Quarter SO much that I was envisioning this one in this colourway and started making a second.  My justification:  my friend couldn't take the class on Saturday even though she was enrolled, so I needed to help her get through the homework.

Here's where I got:

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This is just the centre medallion.  It still needs the strata strips and the geese but I like it!  It will be the winter version.

Mavis

Disappearing Fat Quarters, the Sequel

Yesterday I posted about my mystery quilt Saturday workshop.  I finished all the flying geese and the four cornerstone blocks.  They were very quick!  I think it took longer to iron the geese than it did to create them.

And here is where I got to last night which is all my homework now done.

I love it!  And funny, I've got two of my former quilt designs swimming around in my head.  I think it's a familiarity thing,.  It these two:

The top one is my own design called Corn & Beans in Provence.  The second one is another Kelly & Arlene mystery and I think it was called "Dash to the Finish".

Well, it's Monday morning and the coffee is almost consumed so I better sign off and get ready for work.

Mavis

What I'm working on...

Good rainy morning!

We're having our first rainfall in a lot of days.  The west coast is nicknamed the 'wet coast' for a good reason.  It rains lots here.  But not this summer/autumn.  It's been very dry and I know of at least one well in our area outside Victoria that has dried up.  Not a drop of water to be found.  So, needless to say, the rain is welcome.

As I write this, I can hear the constant tapping of the raindrops on our metal roof and it's comforting.  I don't have to be outside thankfully so bring on the rain!  Our gardens and lawns need it so badly, as does our reservoir.  It's one of those days where you just want to hunker down, put on a cozy fire, make a pot of tea and enjoy an indoor activity.

And here's what I'm working on today:

I received back yesterday "The Blessing" king sized quilt for our B&B King Suite.  It is now officially a quilt after the loving stitches added by Arlene MacKenzie of On Point Quilting Studio have sandwiched it together.   It's a LARGE quilt (understatement much!) and Arlene did a beautiful job on her long arm machine.  I'm now busy sewing on the polka dot binding.  I'm so happy with this quilt and I hope the guests who get to sleep under it will be blessed.  I named it The Blessing because this year our B&B business has been blessed and I wanted to name it something that would count as a spiritual monument to help us remember a year of blessing.

Here's a picture of "The Blessing".

and a closeup of Arlene's quilting on the back:

Yesterday I also attended a mystery quilt workshop through our guild.  It was called "Disappearing Fat Quarters" and our workshop teachers were the same Arlene MacKenzie who quilted "The Blessing", and her sidekick/co-creator of the quilt pattern, Kelly English.  They have done lots of mystery quilts and other classes at our annual retreat held at Pearson College and I've been in at least 3 of their classes, so I knew it would be a fun day.

The hardest part is choosing colours when you don't know what the pattern is.  You can usually glean a few hints from the description.  They used terms like 'modern' but that didn't give me enough to go on to feel comfortable.  But never fear, our fearless leaders are always available to answer anxious questions about whether fabric choices are suitable.  And Arlene gave me some necessary feedback about adding more variety, so I did just that.  And I'm pleased..very pleased.  Here's where I got to yesterday:

 The centre medallion is 4 blocks (before the triangle setting blocks) and they are a Double Disappearing Nine Patch. Here's a tutorial from a blog that I found that illustrates the method well:  tutorial for Double Disappearing Nine Patch.

Math is amazing and when Arlene and Kelly told us that they could get 4 setting triangles out of one fat quarter, I confess that I thought they were math heretics!  But I'm now a believer!  A FQ is 18x22 in most cases.  What we did was cut a 17 inch square from one fat quarter, then added a 2 1/2" strip on all four sides then cut into 4 smaller triangles (like an X).  And they fit perfectly!  Wow!!

We also learned about 3-D flying geese which is a COOL method and so quick!  Here's a link to a you tube video of Ricky Tims demonstrating the method.  3 D Flying Geese Video.  The time is in the cutting but after that the geese units are done in a flash.  So I'm now at the point where I have to make 48 of those to fly around the quilt and then 4 of a block called the 10 Minute Book as the cornerstones.  Here's another video demonstrating those blocks:  10 Minute Blocks.  The last half of the workshop is next Saturday so I'm really hoping to get a lot accomplished this week since my DH is out of town visiting his best buddy and not back until next Sunday evening.  We will be considering border options next week but until then, I have HOMEWORK to do!

After all that creative stimulation yesterday I had busy brain last night while trying to go to sleep.  All I could see was all my UFOs stacking up in their little bins under my quilt frame.  I knew that I had today started another NEW project on top of all the UFOs.   Oh my...so I took the first step...I updated my list to include UFOs (unfinished objects), PIGS (projects in grocery sacks) and WIP (work in progress).  The UFOs and WIP are really the same thing.  Work in Progress sounds way better than UFO, don't you agree?  PIGS include all the new projects I've got in my head and in some cases, fabric pulled and kitted up with patterns ready to go.  I just need to finish a few of the UFOs to be able to give myself permission to start 'another' new project.  I told myself no new projects this year until all my UFOs were done.  Right!!  Like that was going to happen.  Anyway, I am going to finish some things this week and I'll report more and upload some more pictures, but for now, I hear The Blessing call me from the other room, begging to be finished, so I'm off to bind that quilt and listen to the rain.

Blessings on your Sunday,

Mavis