Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt Kick-Off 2014

Linking up with Bonnie Hunter

The beautiful cake from Angela and Kathy!

Yesterday twenty one Bonnie Hunter aficionadas met in Chandler to begin on the first clue.

The event was organized thanks to Angela and Kathy, and we each brought a dish to share so no one went hungry all day though at one point a couple of us had to walk to the library for a caffeine  break at the coffee shop.

These are BJ's bold "out of the box" choices……….

Below are her six fabrics.

I love them, very dramatic, I cannot wait to see the finished quilt and then I will have the honor of quilting it!

All my HST'S are sewn for the first clue but not yet trimmed-it doesn't seem to matter which HST method I use I end up having to square a sliver from some so I check them all, makes for a nicely square block/quilt. Two hundred of these HST's we will use for the broken dishes units and the other eighty set aside to use in another clue!

Just ten little broken dishes blocks are done but I have the remainder of the week to get them completed, they are very scrappy as you can see and it will get even scrappier!

We are the Celtic Solstice Divas!

 Six of us brought our quilts to show from last year's mystery, it was interesting to see how different they all looked in other color-ways. Kathy's quilt is enormous, king size I believe. Most of these are scrappy, typical BH quilts, mine even has Sponge Bob fabric for my youngest DGS- if you look closely at the right side border below you can see the character in person!

 This is the back of mine!
Tune in next weekend for Clue #2

The Fireman Quilt For Friday Finishes

This terrific T shirt quilt was an honor to longarm quilt for one of our dedicated firemen.

  Kenny told me that he had not sewn before last year when he purchased a "Black Friday Special" sewing machine. It sounds like a very basic machine, but using the internet for assistance he cut his Tshirts, backed them with the stabilizer and then sewed them together perfectly square and flat with sashing!

I don't know about you but I am impressed - to have achieved this kind of accuracy alone without instruction is, to say the least unusual! He admitted that it was a lot of work as we quilters know, but I suspect he did not realize just how much work it would be!

Kenny also told me that he does a lot of work for autism support a subject that most of you know is dear to my heart. I have offered quilts for auction/ raffle etc next time they hold a fund-raising.

 This one touched my heart, the tragedy of so many lives lost last year from the Granite Mountain crew.

 The Bad Axes block was one of my favorites, I think it was Kenny's Academy shirt.

  The 9/11 shirt .

 He said he has many more T shirts, I can imagine it was difficult to choose his favorites.

 Congratulations on a great job Kenny I hope you stay warm under your quilt at the firehouse!

Below is the Linky to show your weekly progress on Friday Finishes.

Let Us Give Thanks

Too much turkey?? Trytophan…...

 The little dog stands guard over her boy, has done so from infancy.

Needlework Tuesday Report

Linking up with Heather over at Books and Quilts for her Needlework Tuesday

 Disappearing Nine Patch, pretty isn't it?

 The quilting was never going to show no matter what thread or design I used, busy, scrappy quilts are like that it's too hard to see where I have quilted so I used Circle Lord Pebbles for this one

Red,White And Blue

BJ needed this done so she can have it bound by Wednesday so I got it on and worked most of the day until we went to the movies-we saw "Gone Girl", two and a half hours of scary suspense! And the ending…..well, not my kind of ending.
 Confession time, I have been known to peek at the last page of a book before I decide to read it, after all, if it doesn't have a great ending how good will the rest of it be?!

 Neutral thread, BJ likes it that way and a freehand design suitable for anyone anytime!

Friday Finishes!

Woohoo, two to show for today, I am getting caught up.

First this Scrappy Mountain Majesties quilt by Angela, who really is the number one fan of the designer Bonnie Hunter. And what a great quilt for a guy, it's for Angela's second son.

 The quilting came out really nicely using a variegated blue Signature thread in top and bobbin.

The backing is a mottled blue but it looks much different in the pic. I seem to have broken my Nikon camera by dropping it so I have to rely on the iPhone.

Next a small hand appliqued quilt in the Hawaiian style. The quilter made this using needle-turn technique where the stitching is ideally invisible.

 Using variegated Superior King Tut threads, a gold and a pink/purple on front of the quilt and the finer  Superior Masterpiece in a pale lilac for the bobbin.

 You can see a little stitching in the large applique areas to prevent it "poufing".

 It is usually quite difficult to use two very different colors top and bobbin, but in this case it worked, no "pokies".

 It worked for two major reasons I think, Masterpiece thread is a very fine cotton thread #50, and my machine tension is perfectly balanced. Additionally the hues of both threads were close so neither one popped out as different.

 Here you can see that the Masterpiece blended very well in the backing.

The longer I work at this craft the more I learn and am willing to experiment and take some risks to get the very best results.

Here's the linky for you to join in and show your weekly progress.

Weekly Progress

Linking up with Heather over at Books and Quilts.
We have had friends from out of town this week and last week The Boy was recovering from pneumonia so with all of that I am pleased to have two more quilts done and hoping for more finishes the next few days.

 Angela's beautiful Purple Heaven, styled after the Bonnie Hunter design My Blue Heaven. For Daughter Hannah.

 Variegated King Tut thread, a free hand folk-art flower with separate sashing and border designs.

 Another G'ma Hannah quilt, variegated Signature cotton thread.

 A simple design suits this scrappy squares quilt. 

Dream Angel flame retardant batting.

More Grandma Hannah Quilts

I think she has been stockpiling quilts because I received a box full! Here is the second another small one, kind of feminine colors too.

Pale lavender thread in an edge to edge [E to E] folk art flower design and QDAngel batting

Then this one I don't think I showed yet? Children always love animal quilts. Gold thread and another QD Angel batt. Next up is a larger scrappy squares quilt and I think I will try my new clam shell design.

Not So Lazy Sunday

I planned a quiet day for rest but it turned out a bit different to my plan! After church I went to the local Home Fabrics store where I purchase a lot of backings, because they have store wide sale as they are closing temporarily in order to renovate. It is a discount sort of place with mainly home dec. but they  usually have a good selection of WOW and white on cream, Kaufman, Timeless Treasures, Marcus Brothers and Cranston prints.

 Twenty eight plus yards for $63 with tax, not bad! It's predominantly backings with a few small cuts for the new Bonnie H mystery starting this month.

 Then onto the Apple store for a Genius Bar appt. to try and solve my iTunes issue where my music won't download to the new iPod. After about four frustrating hours and multiple techs it was decided to replace the device with a new one, I was about to faint by then, I had nothing but a cup of coffee the entire day, planning to eat before the Mac. appt but I ran out of time!
 I still cannot download my library books but I am told IOS 8 in iTunes doesn't play nice with the Overdrive Media software I use?
Sigh……..
In the morning I will call the library and see if they can offer an alternative suggestion, meanwhile I have no audiobooks for the gym tomorrow. Drat.
After all that I decided I would treat myself with a new pair of boots so off to DSW to take advantage of my $20 coupon.

I looked around the store through hundreds of boots trying to find leather and NOT made in China and encountered these on the sale rack, probably last year's models? I don't have any short boots so I am pleased with these the color is good to go with almost everything.
They started out at $135, went on sale, extra % off, then with my coupon, ended up at about $35!  I dearly love a bargain and I think they're cute, they are comfortable and I am hoping for cooler weather to continue so I can wear them!
I hear there's an "arctic bomb" predicted for the north of the country beginning tomorrow so maybe a little will slide down to us, but y'all up north there stay safe and warm.
I will be home with The Boy tomorrow, JW called me late this afternoon on his way to the ER with the not-so-little fellow, turns out he has pneumonia. Unless he sleeps a lot tomorrow I will be busy trying to entertain him. I hope to go to the gym early before he comes.