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!