Celtic Solstice - Part 4 and 5

Home again!!  We were out of town for the holidays and I got a little behind on the Celtic Solstice mystery, so I'm including pictures of last week's clue also.  I can't believe I'm actually on schedule!!  Bonnie said if you only had time to make a few, then make a few.  I've taken her advice to heart.  We were up in NC for 8 days, so I haven't been able to make anywhere close to the number of blocks needed - especially for these last 2 clues. You can see more here.

These are the latest blocks, fun and quick to make and they turned out pretty good.  We got home Sunday afternoon and 6 blocks was all I could manage before I crashed.

The green and orange blocks were last week's clue.   These 4 patches were super fast and easy and I had time to make a few before we left.

Here is everything I've made so far.  I'm off to work tomorrow, but maybe this week I'll have time to play catch up.  I am very intrigued to see where this is going.  I hope I don't feel disappointed to see the finished quilt.  These are SO not my colors, but I keep telling myself I'm stretching my creative boundaries :).

Here are my precious wee ones on Christmas morning.  Notice how all 4 kids are looking in different directions!  We had such a good time.

This is my mom with her 8th and youngest great-grand.  We had a short but sweet visit with them.

Here are my folks with 3 of their 6 grandchildren and 4 of their 8 great-grands.  I know I've said this before, but I am blessed.

Happy Stitching,

Karen

Celtic Solstice - Clue 3

First let me say thanks for all the sweet comments on my win in the DWR Challenge for Organic Pink Pickles.  It has been such an unbelievable experience.

But in between all that and shopping, wrapping, and getting ready for Christmas, I've managed to find a little time to play.

I'm still not too sure about these colors....... they are kind of bright.  And kind of orange!

But I'm trusting Bonnie to know best.  I've kept the color swatches up on the design wall to help me when I pull scraps.

I've got a lot more of the chevrons to do.  They are really fun, but kind of tedious.  I've been thinking of another way to make these that doesn't waste quite so much fabric - I'll see how it works out. 

This is my cutting table and I can hardly find room to cut!!  I'm using 6 different rulers and I keep losing them under the piles:).  At least I'm using up some of the wild colors.

Have a great day,

Karen

A Sweet Ending for Pink Pickles

This is a post that I never quite thought would actually be written.  If you're anything like me, you write lots of posts that never get published.  They all sound good, but for one reason or another, they somehow never get written or posted.  Since I started this quilt last summer, I have posted many times on the progress of this quilt, but this is one that I never, ever imagined I would write.

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I found out yesterday that I am the Grand Prize Winner of the NYC Modern Quilt Guild DWR Challenge for my quilt "Organic Pink Pickles"!  I got an email last night from Victoria Findlay Wolfe saying that the judges had chosen my quilt.  I can't even begin to describe the feeling - even today it doesn't seem quite real.  You can go here to see all the winners.  There were so many great quilts submitted.

I had lunch last week with my quilt buddy Kim Brackett.  We came back to my office to catch up and I brought Organic Pink Pickles for her to see in person.  She took these pictures on her phone.  The colors are actually pretty true.  (It's fun to see my Courthouse Steps in the background.)

To those of you who have followed this journey with me, it's an ending that I knew was a possibility but one that I never seriously considered.  I am very honored to have won this contest.  I'll be sending off my "baby" later this week.  So this is the very sweet ending for my happy, wild quilt.  When I set out to make a Pickle Dish quilt I could never have imagined this.  It's really wonderful to be a quiltmaker.

Have a great day,

Karen

My Fourth Time - Celtic Solstice

It seems I'm a sucker for a mystery - especially one from Bonnie Hunter.  And this year (for the first time) I'm doing it right.  This will be my 4th mystery quilt by Bonnie.  All the other three I waited until it was over to see if I liked it, and then decided to make it.  Which is kind of like cheating, but it's a lot of work, and I wanted to make sure I was willing to put that much time into it.

These yellow and green chevrons are Clue #2.  They are really fun to make.  This time I am making this quilt in the same colorway that Bonnie suggests.  The last 2 times I have changed her suggested color choices.  This is not at all my normal palette, but surprisingly I had fabric in most of the colors.  I bought a few 1/8 yd pieces but for the most part I'm stash busting which really feels good.

The neutral and gold triangles were step #1.  Bonnie recommended using the Tri-Recs ruler set, which happens to be one of my favorite rulers.

I used this ruler set for my Pineapple Nine Patch quilts that I did last year.  Love it!!

So here is where I am at this point.  Bonnie's suggestion is to make some of each step so you can get an idea but you don't have to stress about making the entire amount.  Bonnie's quilts are always HUGE - and this year she's offering a smaller version.  But I'm guessing it will still be big.  So I'm not making the total number of blocks at this point.  Hmmmmm, I guess I still want to see what it looks like before I totally commit :).

And here's an update on"Jubilee Tribute".  The 1/2" crossed hatch quilting is about halfway done but  I still have a long way to go.  I'm trying to do a little bit every day and I can see progress.  This is the most hand quilting I think I will have ever done in a quilt.  It is such a special quilt but it still speaks to me :).

Stay warm, happy stitching, stay healthy.

Until next time,

Karen