Grand Illusion Link-up for Clue #5

The clue for the Grand Illusion Winter Mystery by Bonnie Hunter was very easy and quick.  I loved that because I was so busy with Christmas that I really appreciated the extra time to myself so that I could also work on another project.  This has really stumped me since I can't figure out where the little double four-patches in green and neutral with one black square go.  Perhaps they are the sashings?  Maybe they are the borders?  Only a little more time to go and I will know the answer.  At first I thought the broken dishes units appeared to be like those in Bonnie's Scrap Crystals pattern, but it didn't have the little double four-patches.  Well, she couldn't very well copy the same pattern, could she!  So, I think the quilt will appear to be like Scrap Crystals.  Now, where do the four little 4-patches with black, yellow, and pink go?

Grand Illusion Link-up for Clue #4

I have tried to get all of the steps completed before Christmas Eve, and I have made it happen! Yes, Bonnie Hunter's Winter Mystery Quilt, Grand Illusion, is all caught up in my home. Friday will be the next clue, and I will be ready for it. No shopping for me; it's just cutting and stitching. This mystery quilt has been really easy to put together, especially with the Easy Angle. Love it! This morning, I just finished a "diaper" with lace on the rear portion for a sock monkey I made which will then be given to my granddaughter. A few weeks ago, I made another one to give to my son and daughter-in-law at the shower for their first baby. It was so cute! It also had a diaper, but no ruffles because we don't know if it will be a boy or girl. An old sock top became the hat and a pair of newborn socks finished the sock monkey. You can see my progress on all of the steps in the mystery quilt. The first photo is clue #4 and the second photo is all of my steps together. It is going to be a bright and cheery quilt. Love it!

Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt - Clue #3

Grand Illusion

The stack of my 8-patch units from clue #3.

Well, hello to all of you. I have been so busy trying to complete all clues to Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, Grand Illusion. So far, all three clues are completed as of 11:30 am today! Clue 3 had me using the seam ripper because I sewed the two checkerboard strips together on the wrong side. All I had to do was rip out the old seam and just sew on the other side. Yea, like that was easy - my fingers were sore from pulling on the threads. Oh, well, I recovered! It is still a mystery to me how the last clue will fit within the same units we previously made. The colors Bonnie chose (and I followed with her choice) are so cheerful! I keep telling myself that the next mystery quilt will be one in which I use my own color combinations, but I don't seem to have the nerve. Maybe next time.

Grand Illusion - Clue #2 Progress

Since last clue, I was waiting for the next one with anticipation. Yes, I was wanting more to do on the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt. However, other things got in the way since the last clue - reading so I can finish the books before their due date, knitting a gift for my stitching group, finishing a sock monkey for a baby shower for my daughter-in-law

, going to the baby shower (fun!), and just being a wife and mother. So, I am a little behind in my progress, but I do have some of clue #2 finished. I have even tried arranging the units to make a block, which I'm sure won't be the one Bonnie intended for us to make. It is so much fun to try to figure out what the quilt will look like. I'm really enjoying the bright colors Bonnie chose and then I also chose. Dark and muted colors are fun but I'm not ready to be in the winter doldrums yet. Keep those bright colors coming! Well, I'm in Blogger and I can't seem to add the photo I took. Sorry. If there is anyone out there who can help me, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

Go to Bonnie's Quiltville.com site for more information on the Monday Link-up for Grand Illusion Winter Mystery Quilt. Here is the link:
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2014/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html

Clue #1 of Grand Illusion Winter Mystery Quilt from Bonnie Hunter

Here is my progress so far on the Grand Illusion winter mystery quilt. Bonnie has a way with fabrics and I know that these fabrics will make a beautiful quilt. Can't wait for the next clue! As you can see, I have all of my fabrics purchased for the mystery. My pizza box challenge quilt from the Preble County Stitchers used many of the same colors. In fact, I could have use

d all of them with the blocks. So, I think Bonnie did a super job on choosing fabrics. Of course, I would have loved the quilt even if Bonnie chose just black, brown, and light neutrals. She does have a way with scraps! I've included a photo of my picket fences quilt that I made and donated to a student organization made up of military veterans through Miami University at the Hamilton campus as a fund raiser. It was fun to make and I liked the sage green border especially. I've also included my quilt Resolution Square based on the block used in Jennifer Chiaverini's book THE GIVING QUILT. The quilt is in two green fabrics with unbleached muslin. It is a relaxing quilt and now owned by my mother. The other photo is a set of comfort dolls I knitted for my granddaughter. She is just 18 months old and loves to carry small things. The doll on the left is my granddaughter (who really doesn't have much hair so I made blonde curls for her), my daughter-in-law with her long blonde hair, and my son with his short dark brown curly hair. When my granddaughter saw the long hair on the mother doll, she pulled out a strand and put it on her own head. So cute! Here is a link to the progress of all those who posted on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville blog.

Finished Quilt Tops

This weekend was very busy with finishing two quilt tops. The first one was our stitching group (The Preble County Stitchers) created and called it "The Pizza Box Challenge". In this challenge, everyone printed out the directions and color requirements for the quilt block of their choice. My choice was Churn Dash or Hole in the Barn Door. I precut 4 1/2" squares of a bright f

loral for everyone to use in the center of the block and then made two blocks as examples; all the stitchers needed to do was add the other pieces in any of the colors in the center section - Now, that would be bright pink, pale pink, orange, turquoise, yellow, and green along with white. After the boxes were exchanged, the ladies then made two blocks using the pattern and color requirements and placed them in the box. The box was returned the next meeting and given to someone else who then made two blocks. When the box was returned, there were my two original blocks and twelve more. So, I just needed some more to make it really sing. After deciding to set the blocks on point, I added sashing of bright yellow with soft green cornerstones. An outside border of the bright floral print brought the blocks together. The next quilt is a Bonnie Hunter quilt pattern called Bow-Dacious. Wow! Was it ever so much fun to make the little bow tie blocks. I got to use my 1 1/2" squares and small scraps of neutrals (mostly white and unbleached muslin). All of those scraps that I thought would be too small for anything just fit this quilt. Four of the bow tie blocks were sashed with blue and then around each of those blocks was sashed with green. A dusty pumpkin inner border and then an outer border of dark green, light green, blue, gold, and pumpkin just brought everything together. I really love making the little blocks that Bonnie designs which use the small scraps. That makes me feel that I have saved some fabric from the trash and ended up with something beautiful. Today I finished the units for clue #1 of Grand Illusion, a Bonnie Hunter winter mystery quilt. If you haven't ever tried a mystery quilt, I encourage you to do so. Bonnie makes everything so easy to understand and so much fun, especially when you get to see what other quilters are doing on their mystery quilts. Tomorrow, I'll post my progress.

What have I been up to?

Well, I haven't posted anything in quite awhile, so I will try to remember all that I have gotten finished since my last post. I have made two table runners; one was a stack and whack square where you place four large rectangles on top of each other. Then you move 1/2 of the top rectangle to the bottom and then seam all of the rectangles back together. Then you cut again going the other way across the rectangle. Move 1/2 of the rectangle down to the bottom block and then seam all of the rectangles back together. Everyone in my quilt group made placemats, but I don't use placemats - so I made a long table runner by sewing the four "placemats" together. Shirting fabrics were my choice of fabrics. I then added a rusty red small border. My husband loves crows (he raised some when he was a child), so a crow on a tree branch was appliqued by hand with embroidery floss and the buttonhole stitch. Of course there was a large space between the crows that needed to be filled with stars (just three to keep the odd number to make it appealing). After quilting in a stipple with my sewing machine, I bound it with a black plaid. I love it. The second table runner is a modern look with grays, whites, and blues - it is in a chevon style. It was quilted on the sewing machine using my walking foot. It really is eye-catching, but not my style. I have also finished some quilt tops. I'll need to post photos sometime. Until then, happy quilting, sewing, knitting, crocheting, embroidery,....

Knitted Felted Purse Photo Found

I hope you can view this photo since I'm not sure why it doesn't upload like I thought it would.  Well, I was looking through some photos to attach to my family tree and found the photo of my felted knitted purse that I had mentioned in an earlier post. It was knitted with Paton's wool yarn and then felted. I crocheted the flower, stem, and leaves with a stone colored Paton's wool yarn. It really was different. Those felted purses just call my name!