Allietare Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt 2015 - Introduction



Easy Street Mystery Quilt 2012

Welcome to the Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt journey for 2015!  This will be my third Mystery quilt.  The first one I did was Easy Street in 2012.  I managed to keep up and get the top done by January 2013.  Quilting has been another matter, but I am pleased to say that it is now quilted and in use.


Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

In 2013 I joined in the Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt.  This time my sister joined me and we had great fun getting the tops complete.  This one is not quilted yet, but is pencilled in for Spring 2016.  This time last year I was all set to join in with the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt, but life took over as it often does. 

Allietare! - Bonnie Hunter Fabric selection


Bonnie has really chosen a pretty selection of colours this year - rich reds, warm golds, a grey to throw forward the colour, black and her usual neutrals.  There are a lot of neutral fabrics required for this quilt and there are rumours going about that there will be lots of strip piecing, similar to her beautiful Orca Bay quilt which you can find in her books.   Her colour inspiration comes from her trip to Italy and you can see the detail of her colour inspiration on her blog.



Allietare! - Fabadashery Fabric selection

To keep up with tradition I will not be using the same colour scheme.  My colour inspiration is not as exotic as an Italian holiday, but the curtains in our bedroom.  I know that the dark green fabric at the top will be my constant, the neutral  will be my neutral, but still deciding on the mix of the other colours.  I have plenty of grey and pink, but I am struggling finding the right shade of pale green.  It is always a risk mixing up the colours, but as long as I keep neutral neutral I am ready for the ride! With the decision made the first job is to restore order to my workroom, the fabric selection process has been traumatic to say the least.

9 days to go!

Anna Maria Horner meets Victoria Finlay Wolfe meets Celtic Solstice - Triple Whammy Mini Scrap Quilt Project

'Celtic Solstice Feather' 18.5 cm x 38cm

I expect many of you will recognise this pattern.  It is an Anna Maria Horner feather pattern which can be downloaded FREE from her website.  I have admired these feathers for a long time and the design was subconsciously on my To-Do list.  I think I only needed to do one to get it off the list.

'Celtic Solstice' Fabric Scrap basket

This basket of scraps has been looking at me since January from when I completed Bonnie Hunter's 'Celtic Solstice' Mystery Quilt.  I just needed the right project to use them up.  Just one of these lovely feathers would be the fix I needed.  I slightly reduced the size down to 90%, as I originally intended it to be a mug rug 'sort of thing'.  Now it is complete I might hang it on a wall.

Foundation pieced feathers

Because the scraps really were 'scraps', the lengths were quite short, some thin, so a whole family of feathers were not really the order of the day.  Using pages from an old Radio Times for my foundation paper, I randomly stitched down the strips, and then cut out the feather pattern.

Feather - Anna Maria Horner pattern

I love how the unruly scraps have been tamed into this shape, a shape that reminds me of a school tie.  It looks so neat.  The pattern was quite easy to put together and dragged my dormant dressmaking pattern cutting skills back out into the workroom.

'Celtic Solstice Feather'

After lots of auditioning from my fabric stash I decided to set my 'Celtic Solstice' Anna Maria Horner feather off with a  Moda 'Weave' #9898 grey fabric (I think I will need to add more of this to my stash), and a binding of a pink spotty fabric from the Chez Moi 'Boutique' range.

'made fabric' for quilt backing

For the back I wanted to try out another technique. This time is was Victoria Findlay Wolfe's 'made fabric' from her book ' 15 Minutes of Play'.  Again, the idea was to use up the scraps from my Celtic Solstice quilt.  I did this all from memory without actually taking the time to take the book off the shelf.  It took quite a while (more than 15 minutes ...) as I got caught up in quite a few cul-de-sacs, but I got there in the end.


Back of mini feather quilt

Here is the back of the mini quilt using the 'made fabric'.  I machine quilted it with a stipple, but I will admit that some of the seams of the 'made fabric' provided quite a lot of resistance and it would not be a backing fabric of choice in the future.

So, something a bit different here from Fabadashery.  Have you tried anything new today?
 

Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013 - Update

Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

I just had a call from my sister reminding me that there was a Link UP for Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice 2013 Mystery Quilt today, so I thought I had better put up a post.

Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

I haven't done anything more to the quilt since you last saw it at the beginning of January, but I have been busy sourcing a suitable binding and backing for it.

'California Girl' line by Fig Tree and Co for Moda

The fabric I have found for the back is part of the 'California Girl' line by Fig Tree and Co for Moda.  I had used a yellow colour way of this print in the actual quilt, but had originally only bought a fat quarter.  Once I saw this lighter background, I decided it would be perfect for the back.  The range was distributed several years ago, and I have spent quite a lot of time sourcing it on the internet.  Several shops had it, but no more.  Some shops still have it, but only in small yardage, which will not be enough for a back.  As a result I have had to buy bits from here and there, and slowly they are arriving in packages in the post.  Once it has all arrived, I just need to get some wadding and there is nothing to stop me starting the quilting ....

Day 12 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Output - 12 Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

I was meant to post this yesterday, but I had a window of time which was either going to be sewing or blogging.  Sewing won (as it should), and it meant that Nearly Insane Block 74 got completed.  So in all, after 12 days of sewing, we have a Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt top, twelve and a half Nearly Insane Quilt cornerstones (which was the aim of the exercise), two Nearly Insane blocks and two Nearly Insane Edge / Corner blocks, plus some of the chevron border.  You will also see that I found the missing edge block.

Makower Advent Calendar Quilt

Also not to forget the quilted Advent Calendar that was finished (but now packed away in the attic for next year).


Dresden Plate Pin Cushion tops

I also mentioned that I had been making some presents that I would reveal.  I actually forgot to take a picture of them before I wrapped them up, but do have this picture of them part way through.  I made two pin cushions in a similar style to my Grandmother's Flower Garden pin cushion, only they were smaller and had a Dresden plate pattern on the top, using some prints from the Primitive Gatherings range. 

This evening, Suzi has been catching up on reading all the lovely comments you have made about our Celtic Solstice Mystery quilt. She is has really enjoyed it and is ready for the next one!

With all that excitement over we are back to the regular red and white theme of this blog, with no other immediate projects in mind.  I am happy to say that my Nearly Insane endeavours have inspired some of you, and Anna has written to say she plans to start one soon, having received the book for Christmas.  We all look forward to seeing it soon!
 

Day 11 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt scraps

In the aftermath of completing my Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt top , I have started to tidy up.  Here are the scraps that I have collected over the past six weeks as we prepared each block.  I am thinking of making some small strip blocks and putting them together for another cat mat, similar to the one I did last year after completing the Easy Street Mystery quilt.

30's Playtime (Moda) & Quilters Basics (Stof)

Whilst very little actual sewing has happened, I have been busy preparing some Nearly Insane blocks.  It seems quite a while since I had a day on my Electric Quilt software, planning, designing and cutting out.  Since then, a few more red and white fabrics have slipped into my stash.  I have seen this red flowery fabric from the Chloe's Closet 30's Playtime range by Moda, as part of Jelly Rolls and Charm Packs, and I finally found it at Cowslips Workshops as yardage.  As a latecomer to the Nearly Insane party, the random draws will ensure that this fabric gets mixed up nicely with the previous blocks.  The other fine red stripe is a Stof Quilters Basic.

1/4 inch seam allowances - even on the smallest of pieces

BTW, I have also had a query asking how big my seam allowances are on some of the smaller pieces.  I hope this picture illustrates that they still need a 1/4 inch seam, even though the seams are more than the fabric that will be visible.  Once I have covered the template, I usually trim off any excess dog ears.

I have also spent a bit of time catching up on everyone else's blogs.  Lots of quilters have reviewed their quilting year, and set up plans for 2014.  My plan is to just keep going and fit in as much stitching as I possibly can. BUT Oh dear...  I found some eye candy.  At the Fabric and Flowers blog I saw a lovely medallion quilt, Midnight at the Oasis, a Jen Kingwell pattern published in the July / August 2013 Quiltmania magazine.  I have seen it before, but I decided that I really fancy doing this one. 


Suzi taking a well earned rest after the Celtic Solstice marathon

And here is today's photo of Suzi.  She hasn't done any sewing either, but she is at least sitting on a quilt.

Part 6 - Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013, the BIG REVEAL

Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013 (Bonnie Hunter)

Firstly, a BIG THANK YOU to Bonnie at Quiltville for the 2013 Celtic Solstice Mystery quilt.  Another lovely quilt pattern, an exciting journey shared with quilters all around the world and an excuse to sew over the holidays. What a beautiful result!


Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013 Quiltville

Here is my version.  I wanted a 'summer' quilt, and I think I have achieved that.  I am also really pleased that Bonnie gave us two sizes to choose from.  I went for the smaller size, which is plenty big enough for my needs.

Celtic Solstice Quilt - Electric Quilt software

As I usually buy fat quarters, I didn't have enough matching fabric to do a wide border, and in the end decided to experiment with a few ideas using my EQ5 software to work out what was feasible. There was a long auditioning process...

Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt - Borders

In the end I have got a 1.5" neutral inner border, the pieced border laid out in a dog tooth border pattern, then another 1.5" neutral border, and finally a green patterned binding.  The binding is a Kaffe Fassett "Lime Paperweight" print which I have included in the quilt.  At the moment I don't have enough for the whole binding, so I need to source some before I can go any further.

Marbleous Jacquard - Robert Kaufman fabrics #6595

The neutral I am using for the borders is a Marbleous Jacquard fabric by Robert Kaufman.  There is a different weave within the fabric which adds a slight texture to the print.  You don't see them very often, so when I do I snap them up.  Because of the different weave, they do tend to fray a bit, so until I am ready to quilt the Celtic Solstice quilt, I am going to pin the fabric to the quilt top and add it when that moment arrives.  No promises when that will be ...


Bad Example - Missing points!

As you know I am usually hand piecing my Nearly Insane quilt.  With the English paper piecing method it is really easy to make sure all your points match, and to man handle pieces to fit it together.   

Good Example - matching points

With the machine, making the points match ALL the time seemed to be impossible.  I think the split square triangles were the cause of most of the problems.  Some of them seemed to have had lost their seam allowance, so it made it impossible to match up. Bonnie says this is OK.  I had to lie down for a bit.  I enjoy joining in the Mystery quilt to use my machine, but it does remind me how much more control I have when I hand stitch.


Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

For now, this is it on the Celtic Solstice Mystery quilt.  I was going to piece the back, but am going to wait until I decide how I am going to quilt it first.  
 

Day 10 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Machine piecing the Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt

Day 10 of the Fabadashery sewing extravaganza has been focussed on the Celtic Solstice Mystery quilt again.  Following the directions from Part 6, the top is together, and some of the borders are on.  The good news is that it is now just one piece, and my shoe box is empty.

Suzi was invaluable at making sure I had all the 4-patch's heading in the same direction. With all that under control, my BIG REVEAL should be available soon.

I also had to take a trip to the dentist, so my portable sewing bag came with me, and this Nearly Insane block is now ready to be put together.  It is also time to starting cutting the fabric for the next few blocks, else I will have no hand piecing to sew over the next few weeks.  Only  few days left of the 12 Days of Sewing at Fabadashery!
 

Day 9 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013 - Block Layout

As I said yesterday, a lot of my sewing time at the moment is being taken up with Bonnie Hunter's 2013 Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt.  Whilst I took a bit of a break from sewing today, I still managed to layout the blocks on the floor, and start to put them together.  It is happening quite quickly, but still a way to go.  At least you get to see a bit of a REVEAL of the final look.


Nearly Insane Quilt - English Paper Piecing

Whilst out and about today, I managed to prepare some of my English paper piecing templates for the next Nearly Insane block. All this was done whilst travelling in the car, and am pleased with the progress on this.  Over Christmas, this project has kept a steady pace, but as always, you wish it was going quicker.

Suzi hasn't much time for sewing today as the weather outside is wild and windy.  There are so many noises and sudden movements going on that she has found a spot to keep an eye on developments. See other busy cats at Feline Friday at Sarah Did It!

Day 8 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Suzi the cat helps out with Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt

 Well, there was no Nearly Insane work done today - it was part 6 of Celtic Solstice 2013 Mystery Quilt ALL DAY.


Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt - Block 1

This set of blocks went together quite easily


Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt - Block 2

These ones were a bit more tricky, as it was tricky getting the orange square to line up.  They are all done ready to put together, and then to think about the borders.

Day 4 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Canoe block cornerstones - Nearly Insane Quilt

It seems like I was busy in the sewing room today, but have little to show for it.  Firstly, I managed to get three more canoe blocks done for my Nearly Insane quilt, so I think that makes a total of seven, so far.


Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013 block trimmings

The rest of the time was spent trimming the remaining blocks for my Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt.  It seemed to take me ages.  Since I hand piece most of my quilts, mainly using English paper piecing, trimming for accuracy is not something I ever need to do, as the paper templates inside keep an accurate shape.  The quilt may be quick to sew on the machine, but other bits of the process sure take time!
 

Part 5 - Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

Bonnie Hunter's 2013 Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt?

I was please to see some green and neutral for Part 5, as it has helped to calm down my pinks and oranges.   Last year's Easy Street was in lovely colours for the winter, but in the summer it looked a bit odd.  I hope my Australian / New Zealand readers are appreciating the sunny colours I have used!


Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 3" units

I have spent a lot of time trimming all the square units, so that I will be ready to go.  Having seen all the different ways that Celtic Solstice participants were storing their blocks, I thought I had better get my house in order. Once trimmed, I have stacked them up in a shoe box, ready for OFF!

Part 5 Celtic Solstice Quilt - Split Square Triangles

 

Day 3 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Celtic Solstice Quilt - Star Points

Day 3 was mainly focussed on getting up to speed with Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Quilt.  From previous experience she usually does the BIG REVEAL on New Year's Day, so I want to make sure everything is trimmed and ready to go for when that happens.  I also made the final touches to some presents, which I will show you in due course.


Part 5 Celtic Solstice Quilt - Spilt Square Triangles

At midday, Part 5 was released, so I spent the rest of the day making up the one hundred split triangle units required for this stage, and started to trim those as well.

No Nearly Insane cornerstones were done, but then I did get ahead of myself the day before, so everything is still on track.  It is amazing how much sewing can be done when work doesn't get in the way!

Suzi the cat under the Christmas tree

Suzi has taken to sitting under the Christmas tree whilst it has been up, and that is where I found her for todays photo.

Part 4 - Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

Part 4 - Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

After sewing all those 4-patches for Part 4 of Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice 2013 Mystery Quilt, it is always fun to play with the blocks and guess the layout.  I must admit I am ready to pull out the green and neutral again, to calm down the overdose of orange, pink and yellow.  It took several sessions to get the 4-patches required for the small quilt, and after the third go, I still have the final count to do.  I hope I have enough - I have presents to wrap! I have presents still to make!


4-Patches for Part 4 Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

My 4-patches are made up from pink and orange fabrics from my stash, which don't have a lot of contrast, unlike the colour combination of Bonnie's colour scheme.  I hope it works out.  Last year, Bonnie threw a rapid fire finish at us, and it caught me unawares, so I am determined to make sure all my blocks are trimmed and in order as we approach the end of December.


Part 4 - Celtic Solstice Quilt, Twosies

Bonnie shared a quick method to pair up the twosies for this stage, but I must admit I like to pretend I can mix the pairs up manually to avoid any repeats, so I did it the old fashioned way.  Obviously, there will be repeats....