Allietare Mystery, The Reveal!

I really like the quilt that Bonnie Hunter created!  I'm happy that I decided to go ahead and do the mystery this year.  I have the rest of my pieces cut except for the red that goes along the outside.  I am down to small red bits so I will have to figure out a solution for that.

Here is the layout from Bonnie.  Keep in mind that the blocks are to be set on-point though, and on my wall they are not:


Alternative settings, because you just never know what you may come up with:



I kind of like the last setting. Here it is again compared to Bonnie Hunter's setting (BH is 1st):



I guess it will depend if I want more open space for the background or not. I will think on this one, but I really like the original layout so that may be "the one!" :)

Old Projects: GFG Revisited

I needed to take the boys to dentist appointments today so I decided instead of reading my book on my phone that I would take a hexie project with me.  I haven't touched my hexagons since our trip in May to Las Vegas to visit the older boys and their families and grandkids, so I had forgotten how many hexagons I had left to do on my long-term GFG (started in 2001).  Currently I have 72 made and three more sets ready to go.

I decided to lay out the blocks I have completed and see what I could come up with without having to make paths.... I think I have decided to smoosh them together :)  A quick recap: I have 2 sets of 12, so I need to organize those... and I have several other sets that are of the same fabric too, but I don't think it will be as much of an issue as the two sets of 12.


As it stands, I need to make up 5 more blocks to complete this layout.  For sure (well, as sure as I am until I lay out blocks again....) I will do the pink/blue outside rows, but the insides may change.  I really want to get this quilt finished!


Since I need to come up with two more blocks (I have three blocks prepped currently), I am really hoping that I still have a few hexagons of that yellow in one of my hexie spots.  I seem to recall I prepped more than needed.

Right now I plan to make a border of scrappy background cream or white fabrics--but that could change.  I would like to do something along those lines and then cut a straight edge for binding.

But now I am looking back at my album at flickr.... I kind of like this one too, and now I have more blocks to fill in that design (except I'd move the blue/pinks to match up with the others so that I would make a diamond shape of four same blocks--if that makes sense)


I think I am going to have to lay stuff down on the floor and play again....

Allietare Mystery Pt 5

I hope all that celebrate had a wonderful Christmas with family and loved ones.  We had a nice Christmas with just the four of us.  I like to make a Christmas Eve dinner which includes Kevin's prime rib roast (from a rib roast we'll save from our yearly beef purchase) and all the other goodies that everyone loves.

After my parents passed away it took some time to figure out what our Christmas looks like.  It used to be a huge family gathering holiday but with the matriarch/patriarch gone, things change.  I think we've found our new traditions.  Along with dinner, sometimes a church service if the roast isn't in the oven, we open one gift on Christmas Eve and save everything else for Christmas morning.

This year the gift was a family gift of Star Wars Monopoly and a big bucket of popcorn.  The rules were changed a bit so it actually went faster than the original version.  It was fun.  After that we watched some movies before bed.  Christmas day was spent in jammies... perfect, imo.

Later Christmas evening, Kevin and I watched some Downton Abbey (a gift to me!) and I brought my featherweight into the living room so I could catch up on clue 4.  It took many episodes to get through sewing the triangle corners, but by bedtime I was finished with the corners.  I still needed to press and sew the halves together, but a lot of the work was finished.

I was happy to be able to see  what clue 5 was going to be before the evening was over and on Saturday I spent the evening sewing that part together.  Today (Sunday) I went back to finish up clue 4.

All the pieces completed so far.  I love these colors together (have I said that enough yet?  Probably).

I'm still not sure where Bonnie is going with the pieces just yet, but I did play around a little bit.  I wonder what that center could look like?  The four patches are too small.  And I'm not even sure what to use the longer pieces from clue 5 in.  I hope New Years eve and day bring us to the layout!

Monday link-up:  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-5.html

Allietare Mystery, Clue 4

I finally got around to working on Clue 4 last night.  I spent close to 2hrs cutting the pieces, mostly because I had a lot of smaller scraps to cut.  Yardage would have likely been much quicker.


When I cut for the background, I did actually make sure that all four were different for each set. Plus, I had the most small scraps in the background fabrics.



And then I realized.... I only cut 1/2 the black fabrics needed. Oy.  I have just tiny strips left of my black fabrics.


But now I have one set complete, 29 to go! I'll sew a little bit over the next few days... I wonder if we'll get to start putting the pieces together by the next clue? I am in love with the color combination.

Monday Linkup: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/sewing-parties-are-best-kind-of-parties.html

Lefse!

I have nothing quilty to show right now, I need to move the wrapping paper stuff later today so I can work on clue 4 of the mystery.... however!  I finished up the lefse making for our Christmas dinner.  There are several different types of recipes of lefse, and I am sure depending on where in Norway it is made there are regional differences as well.  I want to make Hardanger lefse next--a recipe I found in my "Notes From a Scandinavian Kitchen" book.  It included brown sugar in the recipe.... yum!  The recipe I used is kind of a more bland one with just a bit of butter, salt, and milk.  I want to step it up next time :)



Our tradition for Christmas was along with all the food was a pan of lefse.  The night before my mom (and later me) would spread butter onto a sheet of lefse and sprinkle sugar on top.  It would be rolled up, usually cut in half to fit the pan and baked long enough for the butter to melt along with the sugar.  We were left with a tasty, and sometimes sticky treat to eat with the dinner.


When I started making my lefse today I forgot about adding enough flour to the mashed potatoes.  I ended up having it break in pieces when I tried to transfer from the pastry board to the griddle... back to square one!  There are two other things that are a must when making lefse; 1. rice the potatoes.  No lumps! 2. make sure the potatoes are cold.  Making mashed potatoes the night before is the best method.  Oh wait, three things: make sure your pastry cloth and rolling pin sock are well floured.  Once they get sticky, you will have issues.


A lump!! This is why ricing the potatoes is best. Unfortunately I had a couple of lumps fall back into my riced potatoes.  It's hard to roll out the dough thin if you have lumps.

Kevin likes to use the stick after I roll out the lefse to transfer it... he usually takes over after I get going.  I will admit that it is kind of satisfying to use it to roll the dough onto the griddle, it's almost magical :)


An in-motion pic.  Too bad it didn't turn out well...  Remember, when using the stick that the pretty side is up--it is rounded while the bottom is flattened to be able to run it along the the pastry cloth easily.


And the finished deliciousness!

I plan to put butter and sugar on these for Christmas and think of my mom and all the wonderful memories and traditions that she has given to me.

Bitty Block Rows, Complete!

I'm thinking about a 3" border and maybe the checkerboard border QM suggests in one layout.... Or maybe just the white 3" border.  sigh.  If my rows weren't slightly wonky I wouldn't do one, but I want it to finish up square in the end.

I really love how it came together.  Also, I started this quilt on my (new to me) Featherweight back in January and tonight I finished the final row on my Featherweight.  I love that machine (I'm sure I've said that many times already!).

Now to get this finished up, but likely that won't happen until 2016.

Allietare Mystery Pt 3

Loki the Destroyer says it's time for sewing!  Ok, in reality he's really saying it's time for kitty treats!  He's such a funny cat (I love the personalities in animals).  Lately he's taken a liking to laying across the milking stool while his back legs are still on the ground.  It cracks me up every time I see him do this!  I wish the picture better showed his position, but he moved after this one.


After finishing up my Christmas cookie baking (well, I still have one more recipe left to do), I got busy in sewing up part 3.  I have a range that goes from yellows to a dark gold that I guess some would call orange :)  that fabric was from an awesome piece of yardage I bought this summer that went from yellow to gold/orange across the selvages.


120 pieces in sets of 10 altogether.


And playing around.  I have absolutely no idea where Bonnie is taking us in this mystery!  I like to try and guess, but I am usually way off the mark :)


Monday Link up:  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-3.html

Allietare Mystery Pt 2

ohmygosh... I love the colors so much, I am so happy that Bonnie Hunter chose the colors she did for this year's mystery.  My camera didn't pick up the colors perfectly, but it is close.  And this week was my "crimson and gray" (Go Cougs!  Washington State University, that is).



My grays have the same colorway because I chose a fat quarter pack.  Even though they aren't the same prints, the color is just right and all the same so I think they read similar enough to be considered a "constant".

My first test block on my little ironing table:


And all those little Santa hats, finished!

I love how they all look together!  I can't wait until the next clue comes out


Monday Link up:  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/allietare-mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html

Finished: Navajo Code Talkers

My 2014 quilt starts are becoming finishes :)  I finished up the binding today, but while I was sewing that down I decided that the black sashings and border needed to be quilted.  I planned not to do anything in them (they are only about 1.5" wide), but with the flannel backing, I believe the shrinkage is going to be more than with other flannels I've used.  I like the puffy-after-washed looked, but with not enough quilting it will look distorted.


I love the way the quilt drapes! I think this is a combination of the flannel and the top being made with a lot of homespun fabrics.

The backing is a butter yellow and some scraps of two other flannels I had on hand.  I didn't quite have enough of the yellow, but piecing backings is something I enjoy so it doesn't bother me that I had to piece with scraps.

I mentioned in my previous post that this quilting isn't my best. I actually had issues with Aurifil in the bobbin. The thread is lighter in strength, but I haven't experienced that before. I'm going to have to play around and see if I can figure out why it was doing that. I don't know if it didn't like how fast I was going with my Juki or a different issue.

And what happens when you toss a quilt down on the floor?


The inspector comes along to test it out and be sure everything is ok!

I haven't had a chance to work on Clue 2 of the mystery this weekend, but tomorrow it is in my plans!

Navajo Code Talkers

An update on the comfort quilt I am finishing for the scout I mentioned in the previous post... he had surgery, it went well, but it is still iffy on what the future holds.  He should be allowed to go back to school this next week.

I am finishing up the binding while watching more of my favorite Hallmark Christmas movies.  Tonight there is one that I haven't seen yet (though i realized just now I have missed The Amazing Race... oh well).  The quilting isn't my best, but when I made this quilt top I had a utilitarian quilt in mind--I think the quilting does reflect that (not at all fancy).  I was frustrated with some of it, and my walking foot wasn't cooperating, but I did figure out a solution to help with a gathering issue I was having.  My plan is to have the binding finished this weekend so that the hubby can give him the quilt for me.



Flannel backing to go with the plaids and homespuns on the front.  I think that screams comfort, I am hoping it delivers.

Allietare Mystery Pt 1

Here we go!

I am a little sidetracked however.  I needed to get my Bitty Block strips off my wall so I ended up sewing the strips together.  I am guessing on Tuesday the final strip pattern will come out, if not, then one more week.  But also, one of our boy scouts hurt his eye while working at Christmas tree lot set up Friday and I am contemplating finishing up my Navajo Code Talkers UFO as a comfort quilt.  He underwent surgery today and it is iffy as to whether or not he will lose his eye sight in the hurt eye.  It was a freak accident; as he was hammering on the pallets (prepping the lot) a piece of metal came off (small metal fragment from either the hammer or nail) and went all the way through his eye.  Kevin said he couldn't see anything in the boy's eye though the lid seemed puffier than normal, but the next day they went to Children's Hospital because he was still in pain (and likely swollen).  Today Kevin bought 35 eye protectors for future scout projects.  Prayers for the young man would be appreciated.

I opted to make the HST's for the Allietare Mystery clue by using papers.  It went pretty quickly, I was able to finish it up within a few hours (including the time I sewed my bitty block strips).  I ended up cutting too many of my gray fabrics though, hoping that won't be a problem and I will be able to use them if required.  Bonnie Hunter likes scraps, so I'm guessing it will be fine that they aren't in larger pieces.


All finished!  I removed the papers while watching my Hallmark movies, a perfect Sunday IMO.

304 HST's... I would have had two more but when I was cutting from the papers, I messed up two.
At least I only need 294 :)  I'm looking forward to the next clue!

Monday Link Up: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/11/mystery-monday-link-up-allietare-part-1.html

A New Christmas Sampler Project

I had hoped to have a 2nd block made before posting about this quilt a long from 2014, but I have only gotten as far as cutting out the paper piece patterns and laid out to figure out color placement.  Anyway, the free QAL is here in case you are interested in checking it out.  I had to also print out all the finished pattern pictures because the patterns do not come with any identifying information, so when you print, make sure to group the pages together.

I took the picture with my kindle, so it seems a little distorted, but it is a cute 12" tree block :)  I plan to use the same background for all blocks--I hope I don't run out!  There is a QAL flickr group page here.  It was nice to see what fabrics worked with the patterns.  I plan to finish all 12.



The next pattern that's ready for me to sew is the dala horse.

A little bit of this and that

 Today I spent most of the day cleaning up my closet.  It has become a place to stuff fabrics and other things.  It got to the point where I couldn't see what I had on hand, which is very frustrating.  This is one of those projects that I really have to work up to before diving in.  Today was the day.  It started when I wanted to gather up fabrics for Bonnie Hunter's mystery that starts at the end of the month.  I knew I had the reds, but I couldn't get to them... And now I am 90% organized and I have my fabrics for the mystery ready to go.  I haven't decided yet which gray to use.  I think the lighter version will be too light and will blend with the background too much.


I'm all caught up with my Bitty Blocks, now I wait for December to roll out.  I was first planning to make the tree blocks by regular piecing... well either I have lost a triangle ruler or I never had one that size, but I could not get the angle correct.  I bit the bullet and paper pieced the 20 trees today.  I don't mind paper piecing, but I don't enjoy it as much.  For the log cabins I finished last week, I just pieced them as normal vs paper piecing.  It was a little tricky being sure I had the right size and seam allowance, but they turned out great.


And altogether now..... :)


After cleaning out my closet today, I decided that I cannot make any new fabric purchases.  Or maybe I'll change that to whim purchases.  I have so much fabric and I doubt I'd use it all up in my lifetime, I need to use it!  I'd like to start making more charity quilts, but I haven't lit that fire yet.  I need to start looking around for various requirements for the different charities.  I think I'd like to look for something that focuses on foster kids or something with children in general.  We'll see what 2016 brings.

Bitty Blocks

I am almost caught up with my Bitty Blocks.  I have October left to do and I have already started cutting for it.  Maybe tomorrow I will have all available 11 months complete.  For the picture I put them in order (except for November, I didn't want to leave a placeholder space for October).  I like how they look together--reminds me a little of a Nordic sweater. 3 and 4" blocks:


BTW, yes, I did purposely turn around some blocks... I was irritated after reading about a friend who was publicly called out for missing a point on a block, and this is my way of saying--who cares? Enjoy the process because if you don't then the joy is missing.  Quilting then becomes a chore and that's really the last thing I want to do in my creative endeavors.

And because I cannot get enough of this goofball...











Loki is now a year old, and one huge cat!  His size right now is very close to what the mama cat's size was.  He still likes to lay on his stomach in a "superman" pose with his back legs out, and when he collapses into a laying position he lets out a chirpy "oof" sound :)  Lately he's decided that he wants to be an outdoor cat and will race out the front door if given a slight window of opportunity.  Because the neighborhood coyotes are becoming more open about showing themselves, Loki will remain an indoor cat.

However, I did have a good laugh when I saw this coyote vest.  I wonder if I could make up something for Loki? LOL!