Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Quilt - Part 8 (nearly)

As soon as I pressed 'Publish' on my last blog post, I returned to my sewing machine to continue with my Easy Street quilt, only to find it had gone on strike, and the little workhorse was not responding.  After checking the 'troubleshooting' section in the handbook, and all the online forums, I still had no luck, so yesterday it went to the Sewing Machine Doctor. I am waiting for the diagnosis ... Anyway, never fear, I pulled out my Husqvarna Designer 1 Embroidery Sewing Machine, and continued on that.  It works fine, but I had got used to the single needle plate, had sussed out my 1/4" seam allowance, and had wound a bunch of bobbins. And now I am having to work without it, I really appreciate the Pfaff IDT (duel feed).

There is nothing quite like a 'Link Up' to motivate you on a project, so knowing that everyone will be sharing their progress on the Easy Street Mystery Quilt on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville Blog, here is my offering.

Easy Street Quilt - Block Layout

As you can see, all my blocks are complete, and this is the layout of the quilt.  As you may also see, at the time of writing, they have not been joined together, but probably by the time you read this, they will be!  Also, the instructions for Part 8 mention something about borders and a backing.  No plans yet, but you will all be the first to know when there are developments on that front.

Am I pleased with my colour scheme? Yes, I am.  Naturally, with hindsight and several hours on my Electric Quilt software, I might have changed a few things, but this was a mystery quilt, and I surrendered to the process, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

I always find with scrap quilts that you have to keep your faith in the scraps.  Sometimes a fabric may not feel right, but when mixed in with the rest,  it ends up being the essential 'player' which prevents the quilt looking bland. This was my 'not so sure' fabric.

I wanted to include it because of its whimsical sewing motifs, but it contained a little bit of WHITE, and it's background was insipid in contrast with my other warm toned fabrics. Turns out it is the one adding the much needed depth to the background fabrics.  On the other side of the coin, the 'Sing a Song of Christmas' print by Woodrow Studio, was the one which I had to hold back on.  With its pretty glitter, I wanted it all over, but I held back, and there is just enough to catch the light as the when quilt moves.

'Sing A Song of Christmas' Woodrow Studio

Today, I am also introducing Sparky, the other cat.  Sparky is not as interested as Suzi in the actual process of patchwork and quilting, but once he can see that all the activity is close to becoming a quilt to sleep on, he starts to take a very REAL interest.  There was a time when he would rolling around, rather than sitting on the quilt - I think he is thinking the same thing ...

Sparky on Easy Street

As a reminder, this is only my second machine pieced quilt, and my very first Mystery Quilt. I have really enjoyed the Mystery Quilt process, made all the better by sharing the journey with quilters all around the world.  Knowing that most of you have been working as hard as I have to get this done has really motivated me. I return to work tomorrow, where I know it is going to be very busy, so I have been keen to get as much done on Easy Street as possible. You can see my progress for each part on the links below

Launch - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Borders - Backing

A big THANK YOU to Bonnie for taking the time to plan it and put it together. You have made a lot of people very happy.
PS: Don't forget that Bonnie's instructions will be taken down from her site in June 2013.