Bordered Diamonds Plus! Finished

Plus, because of the addition of the flying geese... creative right? :)  I know, lame. LOL!  I started Bordered Diamonds in 2015 at a quilt retreat.  It was a fairly quick quilt top to finish, but I wanted to add more to it to make it larger.  It took another quilt retreat to get through the millions of flying geese I made, and now finally it's a finish.


Last night while watching Miracles From Heaven (*note below for a comment on this), I took the last stitch of the binding.  Even though this quilt is larger, the binding went a lot faster for me than the Field Day binding did.  I think I like multiple fabric bindings for that reason.  It changes things up and keeps it interesting.



  I used up all the pieces I could from the fabric collection for this quilt.  I know I could have saved large pieces and used them in other quilts, but the fact is... I have a lot of those large pieces I've saved from other projects that just linger in my stash.  Instead of using backing fabric that I had recently bought on sale for this, I decided that using up the fabric was more appropriate and would fit better.  I had (and still do) so many flying geese leftover, that incorporating that into the back was obvious.  Splitting up that last piece of pink Begonia fabric to use for the backing needed to be done.  I have searched twice now for more yardage of that fabric for this quilt, so that final 2+ yards left of it was going to get used up in this quilt.  It's an older fabric that takes some sleuthing to find.

Blowing up the backing photo you can kind of see that I practiced more feathers in the border.  I did some back and forth wiggles in the diamonds, and stitched along the outside of the diamonds.  I did a wavy pattern on the pink Begonia fabric between the center and the flying geese as well.  Because the fabrics are so busy, and all over pattern would have been just fine.  You can't really see any of the quilting.

Now I can get back to my Clara's Stars for night time stitching.



*Miracles From Heaven.  This was a great movie.  I hadn't realized that it was based on a true story until the end.  What I found most interesting was that my 9yo who typically doesn't sit and watch movies with me, chose to sit and watch this movie with me!  It must have struck him so much that this morning I came downstairs to find him watching it again (I rented it from Amazon).  This is what I meant about him being a thinker which I noted in a previous blog post. I don't know if the two are related (the movie subject and the death of his birthmother) or if it was just an interesting movie to him.  But to watch it a second time, to me, was really something.  He could have chosen to watch cartoons, or spongebob, or whatever!  Instead it was this movie.

Anyway... Have a great day.  I need to see if there may be another quilt top I can finish up to keep this roll going :)

Allietare Mystery, Top Complete!

On Saturday I finished up Allietare.  Unfortunately I needed 3 more inches of my black border fabric, so I thought about being intentional and using a espresso fabric.



The mottled orange/gold on black is Pumpkin Ridge Harvest by Deb Strain.  Age... no clue, must be older because I can't find it anywhere.



By Sunday I decided that intentionally adding that fabric wasn't working for me.  I had another colorway of that fabric line, but the mottled color splashes aren't as dense AND they are red and green.. I see it still there, but it doesn't jump out at me as badly as the espresso fabric.


I am also thinking that I can add some of my fabric paint to blend it better.  I will practice before I do that though! :)




Aside from my border issue, I am really happy with how this mystery was revealed.  Orca Bay was my very favorite, but this one ranks right up there.  Now on to finishing!  I have my batting cut from the roll and I need to figure out what the backing is going to look like.  It will likely be another scrappy-pieced backing... I love those :)

Monday Link-up:  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/01/mystery-monday-link-up-reveal.html

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!" :)

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

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.

QM Bitty Blocks--Catch Up

The last two days I've been actually sewing. I gave my Juki a break and pulled out the featherweight... I sure love that little machine!  I haven't been doing a lot of sewing lately, but at this point I am now only four months behind in making my Bitty Blocks.  That's progress.  I also sewed my finished blocks into strips so little by little it's getting closer to being a quilt top.


This layout is in order as each monthly pattern came out.


And the blocks all sewn together, moving around the strips.

For the layout that QM suggests for this size, it requires 14 rows of blocks. I don't think I'm going to do that. I have already made up the flying geese as suggested (3 rows of 60), and I think I've decided I'm going to add 2" strips of white between each row to add to the length and some white space.  I'm not sure what I am going to do for the outside border, but QM suggested a checkerboard border.

A New Finish

I finished up my version of scrappy trips yesterday.  It's all washed up and ready for me to trim some thread tails.... and then on to the new owner it goes!  I am not so great about surprises, so she actually saw this when I was quilting it :)  She was surprised that I was making her a quilt, and loved it.  I plan to leave it at her house this weekend as I will be dog sitting... she doesn't know it's finished.



I think I already noted that I chose Aloha Girl fabric line from Moda.  My friend is Hawaiian, and this summer they took a family vacation to Honolulu, so I basically already had my theme going regarding the quilt pattern and fabric line.  I chose to quilt a Maile lei around the quilt in the white--though some of my leaves turned out a little fatter than what the Maile is.  Maybe a mix of rhododendron in there? :)  I used a variegated pink to yellow thread throughout.


I don't know why I have such a hard time with colors in pictures.  Maybe I need to face facts that I might just stink at taking pics!  But it's generally sort of close.  The backing is a magenta pink, but it looks blazing in the pictures--it's not quite that bad.  My original pictures of the quilt top from a couple of months ago are closest to the colors.

Back:


Front:




I finished it with a hand dyed navy binding, it worked great with the darkest blues of the fabric line.  I can't wait for her to see it!  She isn't a blog reader, so I think I am fairly safe that she won't see this... if she does, I know she'll call right away :)