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

Getting Ready for Retreat!!

I only have 2 more days until I leave for Retreat - yay!!!!  The most interesting and different thing about this retreat is that I'm the teacher!  Yikes! How did that happen?  Well, here's what happened..........

To some of you, this will look familiar.  This is the 9 Patch Pineapple quilt I made last year to present as a program for our guild.

I presented it as a mystery quilt, starting with a 6" strip and showing how all the units were made until you ended up with this block.

Here's the finished quilt (before borders).  It is absolutely beautiful in person - so rich with the rusts, browns, reds and greens.  After I presented this I was approached by the Azeala City Quilters' Guild in Mobile, AL to do a program for them, and I decided on doing my One of a Kind Quilts.  I was then asked if I would be interested in being the Retreat leader and did I have a project in mind.  I immedeiately thought of the 9 Patch Pineapple.  Done deal!

We all agreed and I decided to make a smaller version in another colorway to help the girls get inspired :).

I ended up with this Christmas quilt using only 9 blocks mostly from the Grace fabric line.

It's going to look so pretty on my table this year.  It's been over in Mobile visiting for several months, so I'll have to get busy when I get back.

There are 42 girls signed up - two are even coming from New Orleans!!  I've started doing the instructions and my design wall and I will admit there are a few little butterflies forming.  But it's a great bunch of girls and I hope they all have fun.  I'll let you know how it all turns out.....  I'm REALLY excited!!!!!

Until next time,

Karen

Mystery Quilt Revealed!!

After weeks of clues and many guesses from you, here's the mystery quilt! Isn't it amazing? I am presenting a program tonight for my guild based on this quilt. I'll be showing all the clues but waiting until the end for the reveal.
I took these on a sunny day on the back porch, so the colors are pretty true. It has a very warm, woodsy feel to it. What always amazes me about scrap quilts, is how random some of the fabrics look at the beginning, but how they all fit together at the end.

Here's a reminder of the 9 patch block. What was so unexpected to me was what happened at the corners when the 4 little triangles came together. Just by looking at this quilt, it's hard to tell where the block is.

The pattern comes from this book. All of Cathy's quilts are wonderful - but the Pineapple Nine Patch really caught my eye.

Cathy did hers in reds and creams - which I love. But I've pulled all my reds for Orca Bay (which had to take a back seat for a while) so I wanted to use something different.

Remember how it started with the big triangles? 80 of these guys.

Then there were 120 little triangles. Plus all the other units.

Here it is on my design wall. I just love the circles that form and the way the border strips form the complete little corner blocks. They sort of look like pinwheels. I'll be adding an outer border to it. Hopefully it will get quilted soon.

Thanks for following along on my mystery. By the way, this is also another "free" quilt. All the fabrics came from my stash. It's always amazing to me when I can make a quilt this interesting, and I didn't buy a single piece of fabric!

Until next time,

-Karen

Last Mystery Clue

Well, it's time to share the final clues in my "mystery quilt". Here's a description of all the segments below:
1- the triangle and the hourglass block using 4 varied triangles
2- the big 60 degree triangle and the small triangle
3- a 2 1/12" strip and the unit with 2 small triangles on each end
4- the big triangle cut in half
5- 1 1/2" strips sewn in pairs of 2, cut 4 1/2" and 2 1/2"
6- corner unit using the small triangle and the 2 short log units
7- the big triangle cut again in half - should have 4 logs
At this point you would have lots of varied triangles all cut into 4 logs. You would choose four and turn them all upside down. This is when the magic happens!!
Here's a close up of the 4 varied logs sewn together and attached to the corner unit.

At this point, it's put together just like a 9 patch block. The hourglass block goes in the middle, and the other units are attached. So here's the finished block!! It will finish at 13 1/2". I'm sure some of you may have guessed which pattern it is and which book it's from, but the big reveal will be tomorrow. If you still have not seen this book, I think you will be amazed!

Hope you're intrigued, it's been fun!

Until next time,

-Karen

Getting Closer

The clues are almost finished and so is my mystery quilt. Here are the next three units. These blocks finish at 6". I love mixing prints and batiks. Since these are all scraps from my stash, the only thing I worried about was value - making sure there is enough contrast between the lights and the darks.

These strips are cut 1 1/2" sewn in random pairs. They aren't this green looking. They are more neutral, but there are light green included. Sewing long strips and then sub-cutting goes really fast.

Here are the main units all together. There is one last unit that I didn't get a picture of.

As you can see, I used anything in my stash "ala Bonnie Hunter". See the Moda Challenge fabric from about 2004? It's perfect in there. The thing I've come to love about doing these kinds of quilts is that when there are so many fabrics included - nothing looks wrong!!

The reveal is coming soon. I'm off to sew :). Any more guesses????

Until next time,

-Karen

Next Mystery Clue

I do not know where time goes!! I've been working on this project - it's got so many little pieces :)!! These little blocks are 2 1/2" high - pretty little but soooo cute. I needed to make 84 of them - not too bad.
Here they are compared to the big one which is 6" high. These colors are so warm and wonderful. This is another scrap quilt that will be made completely from my stash - love those "free quilts"!!!

I thought I'd give you the update on my ironing board cover. I got lots of wonderful ideas. So far, I've cut a piece of fabric and pinned it to the old cover. Actually it works pretty good and is so much better than that old thing!! At some point I'm sure I'll get tired of looking at it this way and finish it. This is the life of someone who is NOT "Type A" - stuff like this just doesn't bother me.

So I'm sewing away. I'll post another mystery clue soon. It's a published pattern ...any ideas so far????

Have a great day,

-Karen

Been busy.... having a ball!!

I honestly don't quite know where almost 2 weeks has gone! I have been doing contract work at the law firm to help them close out, so that has taken some of my time. These blocks are part of my program that I'll be doing for our guild in February. I've been busy trying to get this project done, but there are lots of steps. I'm doing it as a mystery quilt which I hope will be a fun program.
Then I realized I still have TONS of hand quilting left on my log cabin quilt, which needs to be done so I can enter it in our quilt show in mid March! "Wedding Memories Linger" is a perfect name. I have loved lingering over all the fabrics from my kids' quilts.
Here's a "shadow" picture so you can see the next area I have to quilt. It's acutally the border - yea!!!!!!!!!!!!! But as you can see, there is a lot of quilting. But I do love this quilt and I do love to hand quilt - it just takes forever!

But this is what has distracted me for the last 3 days...... Karen K. Stone! She came to Pensacola and I got to take 2 workshops with her, and then attend a GSQA meeting where she presented a trunk show. Oh my goodness, this girl can quilt! She has been a hero of mine for a long time and it was a true thrill for me. Seeing her quilts in person makes you realize that pictures just don't do them justice. They are incredible

I took lots of pictures of her quilts, I'll share more later. But here we are, the two white headed Karens :). She is an absolute doll and I came home with my head spinning. It will be hard to re-enter the real world tomorrow.

Hope you've a great weekend - mine has been wonderful.

-Karen

PS- my ironing board is still not done, but I do thank you all for the great ideas. I'll get to it eventually :)