Grand Illusion -- The Finale

I have to say I had mixed feelings about the big reveal.  I wasn't sure I liked it.  Reluctanly, I put together a block.  I still wasn't sure.  I put it down for awhile.  When I returned to my sewing room, I decided that I would trust Bonnie and finish the quilt.  

Since I opted to do half of the units, I needed to decide how I was going to lay it out.  Bonnie's was 5 X 5.  I had 12 blocks.  I really didn't want to waste the extra blocks by going with a 3 X 3 layout so I opted to go with 3 X 4.  I ended up having to make more sashing blocks and quite a few more border blocks.  My borders were kind of wonky, but I added extra pieces to get it to work out.  I think it worked OK.  It's not perfect, but neither am I. So without further adieu, here's my Grand Illusion:

I have to say it's not something I would have picked out to make .... but now that it's together .... I really like it!  I'm pleased with my purple substitution as well.  It's a very busy quilt.  I am glad that I didn't make the full size version but it's going to be perfect as a lap quilt for myself.  It's a nice size.  Thanks to Bonnie Hunter for graciously sharing this mystery with us each year! I look forward to it each fall and it never disappoints. And she didn't lie ... this year was a lot easier than last year's Celtic Solstice.

I had very little fabric left but I did have  a big chunk of turquoise left, so I cut it up into strips for my binding.  Waste not, want not.  Other than that, there were just scraps left of the other colors and those have already been distributed into my scrap bins.  Speaking of cutting the strips for the binding, I got a new toy in the mail today from Primitive Gatherings ...

It's the creative grids Stripology ruler.  I had a June Tailor strip ruler (actually I have several different ones) but it had broke at the 1.5" mark.  My one complaint about the June Tailor rulers is that they are a bit flimsy which means you have to be very conscious of keeping your rotary cutter steady.  This new Creative Grids ruler is very sturdy and feels much more stable when cutting with it.  I know these types of rulers aren't for everyone, but I do like them and highly recommend trying the Stripology ruler if you opt to get one.

I'll link up with Bonnie's blog HERE.  Jump on over and check out all of the great Grand Illusion finishes!!

Grand Illusion Part 5

Bonnie has really been taking it easy on us.  This part was finished before my husband even got up last Friday morning!  Again though, it helps that I'm only making a half size quilt.  

Here are my units:

I opted to make 13 of the turquoise/yellow blocks and all 4 of the other unit thinking it might be used as setting squares for the border.

I'm anxious to see what this Friday brings!  Another part?  Or the big reveal??

I'm linking up with Bonnie's Blog HERE.  Jump on over and see what everyone else is doing!

Omigosh!

I started my Omigosh! quilt.  Omigosh! is right!!  I must be absolutely crazy, but I've probably established that fact by now. 

And since this quilt is a bit crazy .... and plum crazy is my favorite color ... it's only fitting that this quilt is of course PURPLE!

I went ahead and bought a new die for my Accuquilt to cut the strips -- 1" strips.  Yes, finishing at 1/2"!!!

I spent some time cutting a few strips.  Aren't they pretty?  And then sewed some sets together to make 9 patches.

 

Next I assembled one of the double 9-patch blocks just to see what it looks like:

OMG!!  I'm so in love with this quilt!!  Those little itty bitty squares are just adorable! I only have to make 550 9-patches in order to assemble 110 of these little cuties.  The 9-patches finish at 1.5" and these blocks finish at 4.5" if my memory serves.

The other block in the quilt is a shoo fly block with 4-patches. I'm anxious to start those, but I'm going to wait until all of the double 9-patches are done. 

Grand Illusion Part 4

Another easy week from Bonnie!  I'm hoping we are almost done because I'm about out of background fabric and last weeks clue used most of my purple (her green).  I did buy just a tad more of background over the weekend "just in case" but I did not buy more purple.  There is still plenty of turquoise and yellow left so I'm hoping the next part uses those.

Here's my Part 4:

Looks like my ironing mat has seen better days for sure!

I'm linking up with Bonnie's blog HERE.  Jump on over and see what everyone else is doing!

Grand Illusion Part 3

I'm glad this week's clue was a little easier.  I got up early Friday and got some strip sets cut and got started making units.  I sewed Part 2 in between strips.  

These went together really fast.  At one point when I was up ironing, I lost my comfy chair to Khaleesi.

She didn't move either.  I got to sit on the hard wooden stool in the background.  She's quite the supervisor.  I'm happy to report that with Khaleesi's help I was able to finish both Parts 2 and 3 (and all those bonus triangles) this weekend! 

 

I'm anxious for Part 4 this Friday.  I'm linking up with Bonnie's blog HERE on Monday.  Hop on over and check out everyone's progress!

Grand Illusion Part 2

These chevron units were my nemesis on the Celtic Solstice Mystery.  I despised each and every one I made.  So when I woke up Friday morning and looked at the new clue for Grand Illusion, I rolled over and went back to sleep!  I ended up making the units for Celtic Solstice with the Folded Corner Clipper ruler and it worked fairly well. 

 

I finally got up, made some coffee and headed to my sewing room and re-read all of Bonnie's directions.  Instead of using the ruler this time I decided to go ahead and do Bonnie's method #3 and make those bonus triangles ... because well .... I'm crazy that way.  Why crazy?  I HATE, HATE, HATE drawing lines on fabric .... and by choosing to do this method, I set myself up to draw TWO lines on each square ... not just one.  WHAT WAS I THINKING???

I began cutting ....

... and had all the pieces I needed in no time!  These colors are so not my norm.  But I think I like them.

And then there was the test block:

Success!  Apparently all that practice in Celtic Solstice paid off because my points matched up fairly well.

 

As of last night, I was only a little over half way done.  I'm also working on two quilts that are going to be Christmas presents so I'm on a tight schedule.  Anyway, here's where I am with all of my bonus triangles:

 

I should finish up with these before Friday pretty easily.  I'm linking up with Bonnie's blog HERE.  Hop on over and see how everyone else is doing!

 

Grand Illusion Part 1

It took a Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt to pull me back out into blog land.  I had no intention of actually doing this mystery because I've got too many other projects going on right now,  but a couple of weeks a ago I succumbed when someone posted a picture of their fabric choices on Facebook.  This individual substituted purple for the green.  I was immediately sold.  Everyone knows my weakness for purple.  Since I am so busy right now, I decided to only make half of the units for this quilt and to not go scrappy.  I only chose one fabric for each color category.  Just my attempt at trying to tame my madness of taking on yet another project.  Here are the fabrics I ended up with:
 

I've been waking up around 5 a.m. every morning ... a sure sign I'm getting old.  LOL  This morning was no different.  I woke up ... checked Bonnie's blog ... and lo and behold we had Part 1!  I went ahead and got up and headed to my sewing room and got started.  In no time, I had the needed pieces cut:

Now to start sewing. First I assembled a sample block.  Unfortunately this was before the confusion was cleared up on which side of the HSTs went to the inside.  I guessed wrong.  This one eventually got taken apart and re-done.

After that, I began to chain all of the HSTs I needed for my 1/2 size quilt. 

The little purple thing is the "Cutting Gizmo" by Gypsy Quilter.  I love, love, love this thing when I am chain piecing.  It holds a razor blade and you can cut the chain apart in a breeze.  Great little gadget!

In no time, I had my units done.  I hope I don't regret not doing the full size quilt, but it sure is nice finishing so early and being ready for the next clue when it comes out next week. 
 

I'm linking up with Bonnie's blog HERE. Click on over and check out everyone's progress!

Folded Corner Clipper

I know I've posted many times about how much I HATE making the chevrons for Celtic Solstice, but now I've found the key to chevron bliss for me.

Let me introduce you to my new little friend, the Folded Corner Clipper:

I bought mine at Fat Quarter Shop but they are available online other places.  It's a breeze to use and it eliminates the part of making these that I hate most: drawing those stupid diagonal lines.  Before finding this wonder tool I had to draw the line, sew on it, and then cut off the corner and press.  Now you just trim and sew!  Easy Peasy!!

With this wonder tool I beleve I may have all of my chevrons completed this weekend!

Feline Friday

QA/QC

As you may or may not know, I'm an engineer and QA/QC is part of my daily language.  QA/QC is Quality Assurance and Quality Control.  This is an important part of any project ... including making a quilt.

Luckily, I have four of the MOST highly qualified QA/QC quilt engineers living in my house:

This is Khaleesi testing one of baby Madalynn's quilt.  She passed it with flying colors! Later it even passed the critical sleep test.  Khaleesi says this blanket will be perfect for many warm snugly naps for baby Madalynn!

And here, as you can see, Nala is passing this quilt for the ever so critical sleep test.  Nala is one of my senior QA/QC Engineers.  Later, as can be seen below, she had Khaleesi try it out just to make sure she knew what she was doing.  Training the younger generation is very important.  Neela (at the top) is observing.  She prefers to do her work on fleece blankets as you can see.

I can't leave out Keira, I have no photographic evidence of her inspection because it's Keira's job to inspect the backside.  She tasks herself with crawling under each one and inspecting each stitch.  Often times it interferes with the sleep testing that may be occurring on the top. Eventually though, all aspects of each quilt are tested and checked.

How could I ever manage to get a quilt bound without all of this assistance?!!

Happy Feline Friday, Y'all!!

Mini Quilts from 2013

I'm finally getting a chance to get caught up posting some of the small things I finished last year.  My definition of finished is being bound and ready to go ... not just quilted. I actually got several other quilts "done" last year ... as a matter of fact, my rack that holds them is full so this year may look like I've been extra productive as I get them bound.

Anyway these are mostly all wall hangings from Tara Lynn Darr's book Simply Charming. I love these little miniature quilts in her book.  I've still got a few more to make.  I love, love, love the little pieces. 

First up is "Juliana's Jewels":

Next is "Worn Old Clothes":

Then "Columbia's Vintage Charm":

Next "South for the Winter":

And ... "Hopscotch":

 The last little quilt was from the Temecula Quilt Shop. It's called "Blessing Baskets":

I'm excited to see what all I can get done this year.  I've decide not to make a list of goals for this year.  Last year I only completed one on my list of twelve.  This year I'm just going to keep going and see how many I can complete.  If I finish 12 or so that would be awesome ... and if not then there's always next year of course!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today so it looks like it's 6 more weeks of winter.

But so did Mrs. Bobbins:

 I think it'll actually be more than 6 weeks for me though!

Baby Blanket Mania

Today was my friend Susan's baby shower for baby Madalynn.  I completed 3 baby quilts and one crocheted blanket for her.  I've got one more baby blanket off being quilted then I'll be done.   

First I made Pinwheel Parade, a free pattern from Jo's Country Junction:

Next up was Vintage Days by Sew Emma:

 

Then there was Primrose & Poppies by Sew Emma:

 And lastly the blanket I crocheted:

I made this before we knew Madalynn was a girl so it's a nice neutral color.

In between all of this, I managed to also finish my Icicle Kisses quilt top and it's off to Quilts by Phyllis to be quilted:

Now it'll be time to get back to Celtic Solstice.  I'm making more chevrons .... I hate making chevrons!  I think I've got three rows done now.  Four to go!

Celtic Solstice Reveal

At midnight last night, Bonnie posted the final part to Celtic Solstice.  I got up this morning and put together 10 blocks so I could see what my quilt was going to look like:

Yeah ... I can live with that!!!  I like it!!

Happy Sew Year!!!

I'm wishing all my friends and family a very Happy New Year .... or if it applies to you as well ... 

HAPPY SEW YEAR!!!!

Welcome 2014!!!!!

Celtic Solstice Part 5

I had great intentions of being all caught up by the time I was ready to write this post, but life just got in the way.  My hubby and I have both been off for the Holidays and spending time with him won out over doing hardcore sewing.  I did manage to make some decent progress though.  First off I want to share with you the awesome gifts that my hubby got me for Christmas.  First is this back saver:

Excuse the baggy comfy clothes ... my surgery is working.  Yay!  Now I will be able to sit at the sewing machine longer without getting the back strain that I always used to experience.  So far it seems to be helping, but I haven't done any marathon sewing yet.

I'm super excited about this cabinet!!  It's custom made and although it didn't make it here for Christmas day, this is the picture of my actual cabinet with the maker's Featherweight in it that he sent to us yesterday.  It's ready to ship and will be in the mail tomorrow!!  Hubby will do the finish on it when it gets here.  It's a replica of the actual cabinets that Singer made for the Featherweights only this one is solid wood and the originals were not. Soon my purple baby will have a sweet home!

Friday I cut out Part 5 of Celtic Solstice.  It didn't take that long once I got in a rhythm.  I'm really anxious to see how this quilt is going to all come together.

Sunday I finished Pinwheel Parade for Baby Madalynn.  I think it turned out really cute.  And if anyone decides to make this quilt based on the link I provided earlier, please note that the directions are not quite correct.  It takes 3 charm packs rather than the 2 it calls for.  You could fill in with scraps from your stash if you wanted.  I have about 18 squares left over from the third charm pack.  They will probably find their way into a pieced back for the quilt.

And just for good measure, I did assemble a few of Part 5, Celtic Solstice.  They aren't so bad to make.  I forgot to mention that I did sew some more chevrons from Part 2 on Friday.  Those pieces are my nemesis!!  I've broke the remaining parts into little baggies and will try to do one a week.  I don't know why I hate making those so bad, but I do.


Check out everyone's progress HERE on Bonnie's Blog.

Feline Friday

Today's blog post is about the love story between a Bengal Kitty named Keira and a ragged Halloween collar. 

Our youngest, Keira, has a strangely cool "Bengal Habit".  She likes to play fetch ... but it's just not with any toy, it's with a collar.  She goes nuts over her collar.  Some days I find it in the water bowl or sometimes in the food bowl.  I guess she figures it needs to be fed and watered. Sometimes it disappears for days only to reappear usually in the food bowl.  Keira even talks to her collar.  She'll meow and chirp at it.  It's a hoot! She carries it around with her and drops it at your feet when she wants attention.

Keira

Then one day our big boy Dakota stole the collar and chewed it almost in half!  It was a tragic day in the Begley household for sure.

Dakota

My crafty husband was able to mend the collar:

Then we decided that we would get a tag for Keira's collar so the dogs would know for sure it was not their toy because all dogs can read, right?

 

And of course me handling the collar and trying to take pictures of it for today's blog post drove Keira crazy and she finally just came and took it from me:

 

And that folks is the story of a Bengal Cat and her collar!

Happy Feline Friday, Y'all!!