Celtic Solstice Clue 1

Clue 1 released this morning and calls for the Tri-Recs ruler right off the bat.
This summer I got a Baby Go accucut and ordered what I thought might be useful dies.
One that I got makes a triangle in a square which is exactly the same as clue 1 in a 3" finished size. I have previously used the Tri recs and while it works I found it somewhat picky and I had to trim a number of my blocks.
I am looking forward to using the template.......only 1 minor problem......my cutter is on loan to a good friend and I will get it back at Christmas. I was hoping we wouldn't need it until a later clue but that is OK since I will be away from Tues until Christmas. The mystery quilt will begin in earnest when I get home around Dec 28.............
I have a number of UFO's I can work on over the weekend ha ha
Meanwhile here are just a few blocks I made; I did some with my brown and some with my blue thinking this would help me decide which color to use. I was pretty sure I was going with the brown but the blue looks good also.

Celtic Solstice colors

As Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt approaches the excitement is building. There appears to be people from all across Canada, USA and many other countries around the world who can't wait to start. I think it is so amazing that a single project can draw such a varied group of people together in harmony and I commend Bonnie for that.
There are over 2000 people who have joined a facebook page set up just for this mystery quilt and I'm sure there are many more who are planning to do the quilt.
I have done 5 past mysteries and they have all turned out fantastic so here I go again. I never keep up with the clues but will do a portion of each one as they are released and then take it from there. It usually takes me from 4 months to a year to finish- I just finished last years Easy Street a few weeks ago(pictures in Oct 26 post). But it is not a race so I just work at my own pace.
This year will be a little slower as we will be away most of December so I will get the first clue this Friday and then miss the next 3 probably arriving home the day after clue 5.

I had chosen fabrics early on and here is the picture of my first choice:

I trimmed a few pieces down so they would be easier to handle and then after looking at what some other people had picked I decided to try brown instead of blue. I think I like this better but will see once the clues get started. That will be the advantage to being away- I will see where colors are used up to clue 5 before I am really committed to my colors. 

Anyway the countdown is on; Clue 1 to be released early Fri morning. I work Friday so it will be evening before I start to play but should be fun.

Baking & Sewing

A couple of weeks ago I completed the two lap quilts I was making for my bosses little boys. They are the Yellow brick road pattern with racing car fabrics for two little racing car fanatics. The tops are similar but not identical and then one has a green back and one blue so they can tell them apart. I took them to work last week and their Dad said they love them and had to take them to bed right away. These were such fun to make and most of the sewing was done sitting on my son's deck in the sunshine last spring. I wanted to sew while the guys played in the garage but it was too nice outside to be in the house so I set up a card table on the deck and sewed to my heart's content.

closeup but it's hard to really see the details

Blue flannel car print

Green flannel car print(same print-different colors)

Difficult to fit them both in 1 picture

After quilts were finished I had to spoil my husband as he was feeling neglected to I baked him an apple pie made with apples off our tree. It was very good.

Pre mystery finishing

There is nothing like a new mystery to push me into finishing some quilts...............it is great motivation.
Today I completed the top for Easy Street - Bonnie's last mystery. It just needed one border to be completed and 3 borders to be sewn on; I wondered why I had quit at this point and then realized one border was 4" short while I got carried away on the other border and I had pieced enough piano keys for double the length I needed HA HA. Anyway they are now corrected and I will probably use the extra strip of piano key in the back.
So here is the finished top:

This shows the border I'm talking about, it goes all the way around.

The top ended up being 85 x 110

Now to get it quilted, hopefully before the first clue in Celtic Solstice which means I have a month.

I think this top needs a new name, it is very bright and makes me think of Spring......open for suggestions

I also got two bindings ready for 2 lap size Yellow brick roads I made from race car fabrics for my bosses little boys. Hopefully I will finish those in the next few days and then I will post pictures.

Back to sewing..................................

Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt time approaches

So here we go again, I didn't even try to resist this year as it hasn't worked the last 2 years. Once everyone starts talking about it I want to be involved and these quilts always turn out fabulous.
I think I have done 5 now. Double Delight was the first (I still want to do this one again), then Christmas Lights, Roll roll cotton boll, Orca Bay and Easy Street is almost complete.
Easy street is in 2 large pieces with borders almost ready; I hope to will get the top completed before the first clue release for Celtic Solstice.
If you need fabric requirements go to Quiltville.blogspot.com and the link is at the top of the page.
I pulled some fabrics today and here they are:

There may be some changes; I still need to look through my fat quarters and may add or change the selections. There is a month to look at these and decide if I want to make some changes. I am trying to pick enough colors so I use a fat quarter or less of each piece of fabric.

Will try to post each step as we go but I will miss a few early ones as I will be away from my machine in December.

I know Cathy and Debbie will be doing this........anyone else?

Quilts for Calgary/High River

I have spent the last couple of weeks finishing some UFO's and sewing some scrap blocks together to send some tops to be quilted for the people who have lost everything in the recent floods in southern Alberta. I am grateful to Sparrow Studioz for their offer to quilt tops as that allows me to contribute to this cause. I do not have the time to completely finish quilts but I have a lot of tops that need to be completed and having a reason or time frame is always good for me.
I have been able to complete 5 quilt tops and it feels good.
Since I am giving these away I like to take a picture of every quilt I have made and thought I would share them here.

This one is Buckeye Beauty

made using the strip twist ruler.

You can't tell from the picture

but the centres of this are 3D-it was a block made to demo a new technique

at quilt retreat a couple of years ago. I only made these 6 blocks.

This is Crayon Box which is

a free pattern on Bonnie Hunter's site Quiltville.com. It was a swap a few years 

ago where I made 4 sets of 6 blocks. 3 sets were swapped with other ladies

in an internet chat group I belong to. I just made 1 more block to make 25.

The next 2 are both disappearing 9 patch

which is one my favorite quick patterns.

One Block Wonder

I just returned home from a Wild West Weekend courtesy of Victoria Quilt Guild. It was a wonderful weekend of meeting new friends in a gorgeous location. Here is the view from our classroom at Pearson College:

I attended a 3 day class while at the retreat taught by Mae Petersen on One Block Wonder; I had purchased the book and ruler at least a year ago but had not got brave enough to try it so this was the perfect opportunity. What a wonderful 3 days with a classroom of great new friends.
Here are some pictures of my quilt at various stages the last being 4 rows sewn together and a few partially sewn before it was time to pack up and go home.  Just realized I forgot to take the last picture so it will have to wait till I get my design wall unrolled and set up again and I want to add a picture of the original fabric so check back. I apologize the 2nd picture is laying on its side and I don't know how to turn it.

YEAH! I figured out how to turn it!!!!!

The following pictures are the other OBW quilts in progress by the other class participants:

It will be so interesting to see these completed...........................................