Celtic Solstice top - DONE!

After months of no sewing

I have been really productive on my UFO's:

I just finished adding 

the final border on Celtic Solstice!

Yeah, the 2nd top completed this week.

Both old Bonnie Hunter mysteries

that got stalled in the border stage,

my usual dilemma...

Wow, I really love this quilt top!

The colors, the design,

just everything!

Glad I got it moved 

to the 'to be quilted pile'

and can now concentrate on starting

  Bonnie's new mystery Allietare!

Sure hope this time I will get over 

my border phobia... ha ha.

Linking up to Jo's pre-mystery link-up.

Well, technically I am a bit past-mystery,

but a finished top is always good, right?

Hope you are enjoying 

the long weekend

as much as I do,

Barb

Grand Illusion top - DONE!

Today I finished adding 

the borders to my GI top

which means: a happy dance

and a finished quilt top!

Just hours before 

the next Quiltville mystery starts.

Wow, that was just in time

and I surprised myself 

that got it done in time.

(not a great pic, but it has to do)

Linking up to

  Jo's pre-mystery challenge post.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Barb

Pre-mystery UFO challenge

Jo from Jo's Country Junction 

has this pre-mystery UFO challenge going:

to finish a Bonnie Hunter mystery UFO (or other) 

before the next Bonnie mystery starts

during the Thanksgiving Holiday.

What a great idea - 

and I have been plugging along 

on my Grand Illusion top:

  

I had opted for a smaller version of Grand Illusion

with a 4 x 5 block setting - 

and am stuck at the point 

when I should be sewing my borders on.

The short end of the pieced border 

is approx. 1 inch too short:

My usual dilemma - and I am ready to give up.

I tried pressing and pulling, but to no avail.

What now? 

Marking and sewing the pieced border

to the inner yellow border 

at a smaller distance?

Meaning the inner border ends up

being maybe just 3/4 inch finished size?

Help!

Thanks Jo for hosting:

you certainly made me buckle down

and get a Bonnie top closer to being finished!

Barb

Design Wall Monday

Somehow through a link

on Judy's stash report

I came across the

  350 Blocks Project.

What a neat idea:

join and sew blocks,

for a total of 350 a year,

Goal for January is 20.

Sounds more doable for me

than committing to full tops

or completed quilts.

So I signed up with Shelly

at Prairie Moon Quilts - 

and selected my blocks.

First off:

Swoon block # 3,

a long ago UFO

that lingered due to a

major cutting operator error...

Had to add some additional seams,

but I finished 1 new block!

Next up I had seen Pat Sloan's

Hip to be Square challenge,

Before: 

It used up some scraps

and no longer loved white fabric.

After: I got one 8 x 8 block done -

The single square size is 2 1/2 inch.

And lastly my real project Grand Illusion,

now working on the border.

Before:

After: 6 blocks completed.

Yeah - a total of 8 blocks

for the 20 blocks in January challenge.

Not quite there yet,

but am committed to sew 

more GI border blocks

to hit the goal.

Linking up to 

Judy's Design Wall Monday,

what's on your wall?

Barb

Design Wall Monday

Tadaaa: 

check out my Grand Illusion top -

4x5 block setting without borders.

Yes, it is wild - and I love it! 

Thanks to Bonnie 

for this fabulous mystery!!!

And now all the bits and pieces of fabric

are gone from my living room floor - nice!

Not sure if I will add the border or not.

Haven't sewn a single border unit yet

and my time may be limited here

with lots of traveling coming up.

Will be linking up to

  Judy's Design Wall 

on Monday morning.

Barb

Hawk's Nest - top done!

I am catching up on things,

unreal but true!

Have a look at my

completed Hawk's Nest top:

(Bonnie Hunter pattern)

Instead of an extreme border 

with over 400 HST's 

I saw this fabulous fabric

and took the easy way out - 

love it!

Well,

I see lots of quilting in 2015

to make a dent in my stack of tops.

What's next?

Can I finish one more top 

in 2014?

Barb

Design Wall Monday and Grand Illusion Part 2

So how did your sewing go this week?

All caught up with Bonnie's mystery units

or working on the last holiday gifts?

Well, I mainly cut and sewed 

mystery units 1 and 2.

Current count:

83 unit 1

6 double diamonds

and a ton of prepared single diamonds (with pink only).

And sure enough: Bonnie gave us 3 methods  

to sew the Double Diamond blocks - thanks so much!

I used method #3 and 

cut my fabric with Accuquilt dies

which I already owned - nice!

Then I had another look at my 

Hapi Mystery quilt - gone wild ;-)

And added the fabric 

I am considering for calming 

(ha ha, who am I kidding)

setting and corner triangles.

Not too bad -

I think I like it!

Need to go and check for Bonnie's

cutting list of setting triangles, 

calculated by block size.

Linking up to Bonnie's Link up 2

and Judy's Design Wall Monday.

Keep on going

and get sewing,

Barb

More "nest" blocks!

I have been quite busy

and added 5 new blocks

to my Hawk's Nest quilt:

(pattern by Bonnie Hunter

from her book "Scraps and Shirttails 2")

Total count: 26 nest blocks!!!

There will be a decision time coming soon

on how many more rows

I want to add.

I just love how it is coming along!

And the fact that I am sticking with it ;-)

- at least for now...

Okay, back to sewing HST's,

and some hour glass blocks as well,

Barb

Design Wall Monday

My Sunday evening design wall:

 I made some progress 

with my Hawk's Nest quilt

(pattern by Bonnie Hunter).

Latest count shows 21 nest block!

Here it is in on-point setting:

I will probably need

9 more nest blocks

or maybe even 14

to get a decent size lap quilt.

Can I make it 

before my next workshop

with Bonnie at the end of September?

Will join the DWM link list

on Judy's blog on Monday,

Barb

Hawk's Nest - update!

Please have a look 

at my latest Hawk's Nest status:

18 nest blocks!!!

I surprised myself -

and hope to add a few more

during the month of September.

Barb

Design Wall Monday

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Wow, it seems like my computer and blog and flickr

are not cooperating today

and taking it sloooow.

Update on Hawk's Nest - 

a Bonnie Hunter pattern in her book

Scraps and Shirttails 2 -

I now have 12 nest blocks!

Wohoo, they are coming along,

slow and steady:

Still need quite a few more blocks,

but won't go for Bonnie's size of 73 x 84;

just a good lap size quilt

will do it for me!

Linking up to Judy's

Design Wall Monday .

Enjoy your Labor Day,

and add some sewing to your schedule ,

Barb

Design Wall Monday

Wow, what a busy week it has been!

Lecture with Bonnie Hunter at the GLHQ guild -

(sadly no pictures since I was a quilt holder).

And Saturday her workshop "Hawks Nest"

with a ton of HST's:

3 blocks done in class,

and added 4 more today!

Just counting the actual Hawk's Nest blocks,

not the hour glass blocks.

Love the quilt -

you can find the pattern in Bonnie's book

Scraps & Shirttails II.

This is Bonnie's original!

What a great time we had - 

find more pictures

on Bonnie's blog!

I also got the center part

of the Hexagon top sewn:

So, how was your sewing week?

Linking up to 

Judy's Design Wall Monday

and to HSTeria Quilt along:

16 HST per Hawk's Nest block should qualify

Total 504 HST's (!!!) for the blocks +

438 HST's for the extreme border...

That's a LOT of HST's;

I am opting for a smaller size quilt

and will see about the border later :-)

Have a great week,

Barb

Paper Piecing Party

A long overdue gift

finally got completed last week

and sent off.

A paper pieced journal cover for Judy,

and she loves it!

I used Artisania's Lil' Fox pattern for the front

and Bonnie Hunter's Pineapple block for the back

(in her String Fling book).

The fox is smaller than the original pattern

due to some printer issues:

it's about 5 x 6 inches and 

I just love how it turned out!

Linking up for the first time to 

Quiet Play's Paper Piecing Party.

Happy sewing,

Barb

Design Wall Monday

Guess what: 

I have finished my Sandy-Streak of Sunshine top!

Following Bonnie's instructions,

I added the leftover strips to the bottom and top,

then a 2 inch and 5 inch border

and the final size is 71 x 84 inches.

I also finished all 192 grey / white 4-patches

for Bonnie's Easy Street Mystery

and started step # 2.
Am running out of white-black fabric,
but all purple units are cut (and then some):

And then there is still a charity quilt on the frame,

ready for quilting...

Will test run the zig-zag EZ boards

and hope it will work.

Linking up with Bonnie's Easy Street mystery

and

Judy's Design Wall Monday.

Design Wall Monday

I have done some mindless sewing today

and followed Bonnie Hunter's free pattern

Streak of Sunshine - The Sandy edition.

It's a Trip around the world pattern

in twin size using the tubing approach.

Here is my first quarter 

and the rest of the panels before they become a tube

and get cut into the staggered blocks.

(Poor light, sorry)

I hope to have a quilt for Hurricane Sandy victims here

in a few weeks!

I also found a great Santa tutorial

by Sara

and finished a Santa block for Victoria 

at Bumblebeans.

It's still in the mail,

but she should get it shortly.

Let's see if she can find a spot for him

in her Santa quilt...

What's on your design wall?

Linking up to Judy's patchwork place.

Bonnie Hunter in Ann Arbor!

Guess who I saw today: Bonnie in Ann Arbor at the QG. 

As always loved her lecture and wished 

I could have gotten a spot in her Texas Braid workshop.

Despite longer planing somehow I ended up going on my own, 

but I had a  different kind of company - 

Marybeth this is for you!

Ok, maybe you thought you are dreaming,

but I have proof that you were there:

 at the guest check in,

looking around at all the action,

at the library 

in the auditorium,

and with Bonnie, buying her book!

Yep, you got it signed, too!

Photos of Bonnie's quilts were hard to get right -
but here is one of my favorites
and on my bucket list:
Pineapple Crazy:

It was a great guild meeting\

and I think I will be coming back for more!

Barb

Stash Report

I am just coming back from the airport where I dropped off Bonnie Hunter. She was visiting our Guild and gave a lecture + 2 workshops. This was my first quilt workshop - and it was great! It helped my stash, too... I started a Star Struck quilt in lap size and used 3 yards! And nothing came in!

Stash Report Week 44 / 2010:
Fabric used this week: 3 yrd
Fabric used year-to-date: 184.4 yrds
Fabric added this week: 0 yrds
Fabric added year-to-date: 128.4 yrds
Net used in 2010: 56 yrds

Please go to Judy's Patchwork Place and check other stash reports!

Fitness wise I had 'help' from Bonnie as well: we fit in 2 evening workouts at LifeTime Fitness. Perfect counter action to sitting and sewing at the workshop!!
Bonnie, I miss my workout buddy already! Could you please come back?

Now I better get sewing on the Secret Wedding Quilt - I finished 140 flying geese yesterday and was quite impressed with myself!
Happy sewing,
Barb