Hallelujah!

I finished, Clue 2 in the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt is finally done! Yahoo!

All 100, all clues done at this point!  I'll have to wait to see what Friday's clue brings,- I am leaving tomorrow to drive the Daughter back up to Birmingham. I am not looking forward to that, I've gotten rather used to having her here again.

I'd like to wish all my readers a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year, and also an abundance of sewing time!

Pesky Clue 2

Hello, everyone! I hope your holidays were nice.  My daughter surprised me by coming home!  Yay!
I haven't been sewing a lot, but did manage to get the Grand Illusion Clue 4 done, and am still working on Clue 2.

I feel like I have been sewing on these units f-o-r-e-v-e-r.  Ugh.  100 done,

100 to go.  Then I have to sew them together in pairs.

I drew diagonal lines on the first 30 or so before I remembered this handy this gadget.  I love this thing! I've resolved to use my speciality rulers and gadgets more in the new year as I have a tendency to forget (lazy, really) them.

And I got a new book for Christmas, too late for the row-along, but appreciated all the same.

Talk to you later!

Sweatshop

I really should have been doing a lot of other things but I felt driven today to make a dent in the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt especially clue#3. I mean it's 8-patches, how long could that take!  I started sewing at eight this morning and didn't stop until four.  Whew!  I was convinced I had overshot the goal but that turned out not to be the case.

I was hoping to get the whole lot made today but fatigue and hunger got the best of me.

Here's the finished unit.  I'm kind of regreting not going with some other colors but it is what it is at this point.  

Linking up with Lee at WIP Wednesday.  Thanks for visiting!

A Grand Illusion

I don't know why, but I did, start a new project.  My first mystery quilt via Quiltville's Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt.  I kept running into fellow bloggers doing this quilt and decided to join in.  I find the directions a bit scattered but after reading through them several times I've figured things out.

I ran across these which I have been carting around every time I've moved.  According to the dated price tag, I got them in 1991. Yup, that sounds right.  They worked great for the 280 HSTs I needed.

Would you believe this was the very first time I've used this method to make HSTs?

Using fabric mostly from my stash, this is clue#1,

I discovered quite the pile of blacks I could have used rather than buying some new ones. Oh well…

My stack of Broken Dishes blocks. Sorry for the poor photo.

Then onto clue#2 and Double Diamond blocks. These are time consuming. I elected to do the stitch-and-flip method of construction as I didn't trust my printer to print the template right.

I just cut out everything, made a few, and plan on taking it up to Alabama for when I visit my daughter next week.

And lastly, started clue#3 which is an 8-patch using neutrals, greens, and black.  I am way behind but I did start the sew along about 10 days after it started.  I also need to squeeze some Christmas shopping in here somewhere! Yikes!
Thanks for visiting!

Filling In

Sorry about the dark pictures, for some reason my camera would not flash.
I quilted at one-inch intervals the whole top and I'm now going back and subdividing into one-half inch intervals. I learned this technique from the Jacquie Gering class I mentioned prior, Creative Quilting with Your Walking Foot.

Oy, tedious does not even begin to describe the situation.  One good thing is I'm liking it better.  I am using Aurifil thread (orange spool) color number 2021 (natural white).  It seemed to match the Moda Bella white I used for the background the best.  I almost went with lilac for the negative areas but decided to stick with the white there also.  I like it!

Thanks for stopping by~

New Winner

What gives with Blogger, I continue to have problems uploading pictures. First I cannot get the popup box and then it takes for-ev-er to do its job. Is anyone else experiencing this?
Well, I got my yellow thread and finished up quilting the fabric for the main part of the bag.

And also picked up a few fat quarters of Attitude Girls. The colors are so rich, the red so luscious. I highly recommend them! I am definitely not buying any more fabric come January!

Here's the red for the gusset part of the bag. I finished quilting that today also.

I need help with this blue. It's for the handles and I cannot decide which way is the correct way, the right-side up way. The selvedge calls it a foulard, but is there a right way to it? In other words,a fleur de lis has a right way, does this foulard? What do you think is right, this way, or...

this way?

I never heard from the winner of the SMS Giveaway so another was chosen, it's

Kelly who posted at 12/02/2009 7:53 PM

Thanks again to everyone who participated. Talk to you later.

Almost Done

I would have had this posted yesterday but simply could not find my cord thingy that transfers from camera to computer. I finally had to abandon looking for it and lo and behold it turned up on the floor in the bedroom next to a chair. Odd to say the least. I finished the 9-patches for the quilt center.

I still have an inner border of neutral squares, a middle border of more 9-patches and a final border of neutral squares. I'm liking the way it's turning out!



This is a picture of a bad cat. Every once in a while Cinabella will get it into her head that she wants, needs to go to the very top of the closet in my sewing room. The problem is once up, she can't get down by herself so I cannot leave or I must retrieve the ladder in the garage! A disconsolate cat is a noisy cat! Perhaps I should add that she is half Siamese to better understand the level of meowing.

We get this Great Blue Heron landing on out pool cage many an afternoon. I've never seen him land on any of our neighbors' cages. So far we've been lucky with you-know-what!
Thanks for stopping by.

I've Been Busy...

but not with anything to do with fabric! If it's spring in Florida, then the yard-Nazis are out and about! Let me explain, we live in a community where there are those pesky deed restrictions. Everyone must maintain his yard to meet the standards. Letters go out reminding the offending people to toe the line, or else! It seems I never manage to get to the gardening before the powers-that-be do their inspections. I spent 2 days ripping out ferns which multiply like crazy here, and mulching.

And another day trimming shrubs and palm fronds. I think when they landscaped our house, this palm was the only thing left on the truck so they planted it. I don't know if you can see but the fronds have 3 inch thorns on the bottom half. Besides being painful, a stick produces a bump that takes weeks to go away.

Prior to all this flurry of outdoor activity, I did manage to do something with that stack of Victoria's Scatter Garden fat quarters.

I was going to use that fabric that went so well with this line, in the border. I do not know how people choose all the fabrics for a quilt including the borders and binding at one time. I see them in the quilt stores and am in amazement. Never works for me. I ended up using a piano key border and am pleased with the results.


An update: both chicks were okay as of yesterday afternoon. The parents roam all over looking for food, which is about anything. The chicks are required to keep up. These two look quite healthy and seem to have no problem staying with the parents. One does seem more forward than the other and is always trying to steal food intended for the other. Three years ago we had a pair nest in the same littoral area. Both chicks were doing fine for the first 6 weeks and then one of them started lagging behind as the three others moved ahead. The other chick was also like this confident one, assertive at getting enough food. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Winter Pines Too

Here's my version of Winter Pines as found in Black and White Quilts by Design. I used a very bright red for the cornerstones. I just love the way it turned out. The black and white fabrics paired with the paper piecing imparts a crispness to the top.

I would have had this posted earlier except we have been having cloudy, windy, or rainy weather which made getting good pictures tough.




I've decided to pass on the leftover scraps. If you are interested, leave a comment on this post and I will randomly select a winner Saturday morning. The scraps are assorted sizes, not large enough to make these trees. Many of them are suitable for half square triangles.

I think I've mentioned our cardinal before. I think our house was built right in the middle of his territory and he's not about to cede any of it! I brought my camera last time I was folding laundry. He actually sits there and watches me.
Thanks for stopping by and for all the nice comments about Winter Pines Too.

Batik Challenge Progress

Finished this homespun quilt I was working on.

When I started cutting the fabric for the sashing, I thought it looked way too dark.

But I like it now that it's done. It finished at 70 inches square, the individual blocks and sashing at 3 1/2 inches.

I've been working on the Batik Challenge that I am doing with Nicole, Lisa, and Kristin. Dug out my basket of Batiks (had more than I remembered, I do think they multiplied!).

I thought color sorting things might be called for. I wasted quite a bit of time oohhhing and aahhhing all the pretty ones.

After reviewing my inventory, I've decided to do this pattern. Mine will be using bright fabrics though.

These are the ones I chosen. I just love that fabric I am going to use for the border, the one with all the colors in it. They are all beach-themed and just so summery and cheery. I guess I will have to come up with a new name, Bright Pond in Florida?
Thanks for stopping by.