Celtic Solstice Part 4

Merry Almost-Christmas everyone!

Still working on a Christmas present that I started late. Wish I'd thought of it sooner but oh well! Getting the binding made today. Here's a sneak peek at the present:



And of course, last Friday was the 4th round in the Celtic Solstice Mystery from Bonnie Hunter. She went easy on us knowing it was a busy week and we just needed to make 4 patches. Whew! Here are mine, with some of the pinwheels from the previous week. And here is the Linky back to Bonnie's blog to see other link ups for Monday.

I'm not caught up yet. The only segment that I've completed totally is Part 1. The Part 3 Pinwheels are nearly done, I just want to redo 4 of them that didn't meet well enough in the middle. I had too much going on to finish the chevrons of Part 2 (and was hoping to find another green I liked, but that didn't happen).

Hope everyone has a good week, and that we get great quilty presents from Santa!

Celtic Solstice Part 3!

I have to admit, pinwheels and I are not good friends. I do enjoy making HSTs, however, and there are so many neat methods to making them. This time I decided to do the "Magic 8" as people have been calling it. I started with two 4 3/4" squares, draw an X on the back of one, then a +. Be very precise in your markings! Sandwich the two fabrics right sides together and stitch a scant 1/4" on both sides of the X lines, so 4 lines total. Then cut along the + marks and then on the X marks, and you have 8 identical HSTs.

So far so good. It's the next part I have trouble with ;)


Here's one of the better looking pinwheels. I still need to press a few more, but they're all sewn up, with one extra.

And here's Ophelia's mug shot. Looks like we won't be able to pick her up until Saturday instead of Thursday. I wish it was next week already!

Here's the link back to the Mystery Monday Linky

Celtic Solstice Part 2!

I'd never made chevrons until now, so this was something new and fun! I haven't totally finished Part 1 yet, but am following Bonnie's advice to start the next step anyway (not that I need much encouragement to start something when I haven't finished the last project, hahaha!)



Here are the first few chevrons I sewed, together with a few of the Part 1 units. I like the 3D effect I'm getting from using lighter and darker colors together.

We just decided this weekend to adopt a second quilt inspector. Her name is Ophelia and she may be coming home with us soon as the 19th. Only 10 days to get ready!

I'll post a photo of her next time :)

Edited to add the Mystery Monday Link up, I forgot to do that earlier, oopsie!

Celtic Solstice Part One!

Well,  I had never used a Tri Rec ruler before this clue and now I think I am an expert! So far I've made all of the orange units and half of the neutrals for the smaller sized quilt.

My oranges are really warm pinks and warm reds, and I switched my neutrals to dark, chocolate brown. As you can see, there may be in issue later with the contrast between the browns and the blues, but I've been encouraged to go ahead and finish the steps using the colors I selected. I need to have more faith in my color sense!

I'm awaiting three new Browns to use for the last quarter of this step. I tried to go shop for more on Wednesday, not remembering that it was the day before Thanksgiving, and found that the shop I driven 30 minutes to visit had closed 10 minutes before my arrival!

See Bonnie's Linky page for links to other blogs.

Getting Ready for Celtic Solstice!

Just a few more days until we get our first clue for Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery!

I've pulled my fabrics and sweated and worried over the choices (and shopped, and then shopped some more), but I think I'm pretty well set up now. Would like a couple more dark, chocolatey browns with some ditsy color in them though, and maybe a couple more for the "orange" pile and...well you get the picture. Oh! Picture! Right...

I'm Still Here...

Sorry I haven't been keeping up on here lately. In February I went to the VOS (Valley of the Sun) retreat in Phoenix and had a wonderful time with my friends. I didn't do a tremendous amount of sewing this year, on purpose.












I did work some on the blocks for Colene's Farmer's Wife Sampler Swap though, and here are some of the results.









I also made a mini quilt for my dear friend Judy Akers to cheer her up during a recent health issue. A whole bunch of us participated and sent her quilts throughout the months of January and February. It was fun keeping the secret from her as we all privately chatted on Facebook and shared photos. You can see the gallery here, thanks to Mary Jane :)

Here was my contribution:




I'll try to keep up better with blogging once I get my quilting mojo back...which better be soon!

Easy Street Medallion

Easy Street Medallion, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
It seems that my quilt wants to go in a different direction than Bonnie intended it to go :)

It's hard to tell, but there are lilac-lavender squares where it looks rather plain (they look much prettier in person). Will probably repeat the lilac color for the setting triangles, but that will only bring the top to around 50" square. I will then play around with adding some more borders to bring it to 60-65" square. I also changed out the 4 corners after i took this pic, repeating the star pattern, as I had 16 of the double flying geese left over. (edit: see below)



None of the components are sewn together yet in these photos, so many of the geese look strange.

Easy Street - Playing Around!

Well, Bonnie wrapped up the Easy Street Mystery, and I've seen lots and lots of pretty quilts both with her colorway and with others. Lots of eye candy on the Yahoo group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quiltvillechat)

 I, however, have to admit that the green squares are just not speaking to me. I do like the lime green with the purple but somehow I just feel the need to go in a different direction this time. Hey, we're quilters, it's our prerogative, right?! :) So first, here are my components in Bonnie's given colors and layout.

Cute, right?

 

Back before we knew what the parts were going to be for, I started playing around with the bits and pieces and came up with some potential blocks:

 

But once I saw the final (official) layout I felt there's just a bit too much green for my personal liking, and I really thought all those geese were going to make stars...so I had to start playing around again…so here’s my potential layout, once in green and once in lavender/lilac.



I really like the lighter/softer color. What do you think??



and here's some eye candy for you! http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/01/mystery-monday-link-up-jan-7th.html

Easy Street Step 5

Ahhh, it's almost Christmas. I have presents to wrap and gift cards to label and candy to bag up...but I have my priorities. It's time for another step in Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery!!!



There's been some discussion about what these units are called...since they're not Flying Geese per se, Bonnie suggested perhaps they're Sitting (or Squatting) Turkeys. Personally I think they look like little houses!!

Smokey is not interested today, for whatever reason. She did watch me briefly but then decided she had a better shot at seeing something “interesting” if she faced the window.




And last but not least, here is the Mystery Monday Linky to see the other participants' blog posts!!!

Easy Street Step 4

More geese! I'm actually almost enjoying making flying geese now that I have my fancy new rulers :)



Right on schedule, Smokey showed up to help. What a gal! She never fails to keep me company when I'm sewing.

Here is the link to the Monday Linky http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-4.html and here's the link back to Bonnie's blog, should you want to play along and/or save the steps and make your own Easy Street quilt...http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/easy-street-mystery.html (editing from my phone, sorry for the inelegant links!)

Easy Street Step 3

 

Here's the latest step in Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery! These little guys finish at 3" and were surprisingly easy to make with the Easy Angle ruler. I need to make 16 more but need to cut more black & white strips first. Just thought that 16 of them made for a nice sized photo op!

Here's the Mystery Monday Link Up so you can see the work of others participating in the mystery!



Above is an updated photo showing the other 4 aqua fabrics. I made a total of 4 units for each of the 8 colors. Below is Smokey inspecting the units. She says you have to get VERY close to inspect the seam allowances!