What’s On My Design Wall – En Provence – Final Link Up

January 9, 2017 8:19 am ⋅ Pam

enprovencecompletedunits

Today is the final link up for the Bonnie Hunter’s Free En Provence Mystery Quilt. The pattern is still available HERE until the end of the month.

I had great hopes of finishing the top, or at least getting all of the units completed, but this cold/crud that showed up after Christmas has kept me sitting at the sewing machine for very long. The picture above is all of the units I’ve completed — except for the ones up on the design wall.

Once the reveal was made, I finished cutting the fabric for the remaining units. I stitch some on each unit, then press, and trim. Up next are the parts for 10 hourglass units, 10 hour glasses and 10 4-patches.

enprovencenextunits

I still have the hourglass units from the last batch left to trim.

enprovenceunits2trim

In theory this keeps me from sitting for hours, getting tired of just trimming and keeps the quilt moving forward. I have a few more rounds to go.

enprovenceunitswaiting

In the meantime, I’ve put up some of the pieces on the design wall, along with my border fabric. I’d like the quilt to fit my king size mattress, so I need to have the quilt finish around 95″ x 106″ without a pillow tuck. Needless to say the final layout is up in the air. enprovenceonthewall

Making the quilt 5 x 5 blocks then adding the nutcracker fabric brings the quilt size up to 117″ square, which is really larger than I’d like. On the other hand this might work:

borderdrawing

This design will require another 124 neutral 4-patches and the quilt will finish at 106″ square, which will allow for a pillow tuck. As much as I’d like to push through and finish the top, I need to quilt the Blue Disappearing 9-Patch before the end of the month. Once I stitch up what I currently have cut, I’ll box it up, along with nutcracker, blue and neutral fabrics for a decision later in the year.

Check out the Mystery Link Up and Design Wall Monday.

Posted in: Bonnie Hunter, designwall, En Provence, mystery quilts

The Final Countdown – Task Three

January 3, 2017 11:47 pm ⋅ Pam

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is again hosting the Final Countdown — a set of tasks to clear the deck so to speak to get us ready to quilt in the new year.

Task Three – Get Committed

It’s a good thing she’s given us until the 6th to do this. As weird as last year was I really haven’t given it much thought and it doesn’t look like I was committed to anything. Blogging was minimal, no ‘quilt’ finishes, although I did make a bunch of zipper pouches and a Bionic Gear Bag — that was back in the summer and the fabric is STILL sitting out on my flat surfaces — you know the ones that were part of Task Two?

My UFO count – both tops needing to be quilted and tops I’m still piecing has gone up – by a total of 5 — if my notes are correct. Bottomline there are 25 quilt tops in the queue and another 32 quilts I’m still piecing, including En Provence which I started Thanksgiving weekend.

Scraps and fabric is all over the place — I have piles of fabric from both Allietare and En Provence sitting about as neither quilt top is completed. The fabric from the BGB is still sitting out as I planned to make some accessories to go with it. Shoot, my bag from the quilt retreat is still half packed.

Last year I started off in numerous challenges, but in the end I dropped out. So this year I’m going to commit to the following:

Complete the En Provence Mystery Quilt top – I’m working on the last two clues now.
Quilt the Blue Disappearing 9-patch. The top was finished in January and the pieced backing sometime the first half of the year. I’ve dug out the backing and removed the cat hair. Now both the top and backing need to be pressed and sandwiched together so I can quilt it.
The Green and Cream quilt. This was a Christmas 2015 UFO! I unearthed it while working on the space between the cutting board and the designwall.
The blue and green Strip Twist.
Process the boxes of fabric scraps into the Scrap Users System. This will need to be a long-term project as I have the equivalent of 4 or 5 book boxes (if not more) worth of scraps and my pre-cut scraps are getting thin. This task also includes putting away the fabric that is laying out and about.
Determine what I’m going to do with the upholstery samples I picked up off of CraigsList. There are 3 boxes in the garage and in the stack by the design wall. At first glance these are not as usable as the one I made the zipper bags from last summer.

If I can stay focused and get these six tasks done I will be thrilled. Stay tuned.

Posted in: Challenges, Cream & Green Swap Sampler, DP9, En Provence, Final Countdown, scraps, Strip Twist, UFOs

What’s On My Design Wall – Allietare

January 2, 2017 12:36 pm ⋅ Pam

allietarecenter

For the first Design Wall Monday post of 2017, I offer the center of Allietare, Bonnie Hunter’s Mystery quilt from 2015. I’ve been working on it as I’ve been assembling it while using the 2016 Mystery Quilt, En Provence as my leader/enders. There are a ton of 4-patches in the new quilt.

The 6th clue came out Friday morning. But could I find either of my Companion Angle rulers? So, I had to start cleaning my flat surfaces. from the Final Countdown Task 2. The ironing board has been cleared.

ironingboard

Yes, I’ve found my ruler — not that it was on the ironing board. More cleaning was required. So, I tackled the floor. Yes, this is better.

floor

In the foreground are the fabrics I’m using for EnProvence. On the chair is a quilt that was supposed to be a give Christmas 2015. The shoebox of fabrics is from two quilts — Allietare and a StripTwist. Time to put the Allietare fabric up. They are sitting on two boxes of upholstery samples. The two laundry baskets have batting in them. The box with the yellow bag and the box it is sitting on are scraps I was given in early 2015. Perhaps I need to go through them this year. There’s a box of books/magazines that I will probably give away — need to flip through them one more time. The green crate in the corner contains ‘sewing stuff’. I went through it last night while I was looking for the ruler. Sorted, tossed and put away enough stuff that the box is no longer overflowing. I can’t say the same for the larger crate it is sitting on — more scraps and another crate of scraps under the shelf. But no Companion Angle ruler.

That left the cutting board.

cuttingboard

I started clearing it off. Stuff had gotten piled high on it. After excavating the top 2 or 3 layers I found the ruler. So naturally I quit cleaning. Actually, I gave up. I’ve been fighting the crud for the past few days so I went to bed.

I go back to work tomorrow, so no long days of quilting. My goal this week is to get En Provence finished and the cutting table cleared.

Check out what others are working on over at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: Allietare, designwall, Final Countdown

The Final Countdown – Task Two

December 31, 2016 10:33 am ⋅ Pam

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is again hosting the Final Countdown — a set of tasks to clear the deck so to speak to get us ready to quilt in the new year.

Task Two – Tackle All the Flat Surfaces

Boy do I need to do this. I can’t really start on Task One until this is done as some of the stash is on the bottom and I’ll need to cut and press.

Shelly’s questions:

So what are your plans for your flat surfaces? – Find them. Since I’ve not been quilting much, they have become catch-alls — the cutting table, the ironing station, the floor between the ironing station and the design wall, the small table beside my sewing machine and the treadle machine.
Which flat surface seems to cause your biggest problems? – Generally speaking the floor — it’s a catch-all for stuff from the other rooms — although since I’ve not been sewing the cutting table is piled high.
How will you be dealing with this going forward? – In a methodical manner. I need the cutting board cleared so I can stop cutting on the ironing station. The ironing station needs to be cleared so I can press a top and backing that I need to quilt sooner than later, then the treadle and small table need to be cleared so I can quilt it. That leaves the floor last which goes hand in hand with Task One getting the stash under control. I wrote this yesterday and then brought in two boxes of upholstery fabric samples from Craigslist. That and looking for the camera tripod resulted in me clearing the floor first. Although it’s more of a case of stacking neatly to make room for the new blocks. I really need to locate my companion angle ruler, so I’ll start with the ironing board and the cutting board then circling back to the floor.

It’s a good thing we have until the 6th to complete these tasks.

Posted in: Challenges, Final Countdown

The Final Countdown – Task One

December 30, 2016 12:27 pm ⋅ Pam

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is again hosting the Final Countdown — a set of tasks to clear the deck so to speak to get us ready to quilt in the new year.

Task One – Get your fabric stash under control

My first thought is I’d have to find my flat surfaces to get my stash under control. I haven’t done a whole lot of quilting this year — as evidenced by this being only the 40th post of the year. But mid summer I did pull out some fabric to make a bag and accessories and that fabric has not been put back up. Then I unpacked the projects I took to retreat in June to work on them, but they got buried as well.

So here are Shelly’s questions.

Do you have a plan for your stash? – It’s sorted by color and/or theme. Last year I started refolding it so I didn’t have to dig in my boxes and stopped after posting the picture of my floral box. Actually, I must have sorted a bit more as when I was digging in it earlier this month, there were two columns of fabric. I must say it made it easier to grab what I was looking for.
Are you working your plan? – The sorting has been kept up, but the new folding didn’t get very far. I think if I refold the fabric it will fit better in my boxes and it definitely will be easier to find what I’m looking for. I think the next box I’ll fold/sort is the red/green box as that’s the fabric which will need to be put up next.
Do you need a new plan? – I think I’ll reduce the number of ‘theme’ boxes – at least move floral into the color boxes. I also have a novelty, black & white, red & white, Kansas Troubles, 30’s reproductions, Halloween, Christmas, music and yardage boxes. As I fold, I expect some of my combo boxes to shift around.
Is your stash almost under control, but it just got a little out of hand because you’ve been using from it and adding to it all year? -I hesitate to say it’s under control — but that’s primarily because I’ve not dealt the two huge boxes of scraps I was given last year — or was it the year before. Well, that and not getting the fabric put up from this summer.
Did it all used to fit where you had it, but now it’s sort of spilling out into other spaces and areas and making a bit of a mess? – It’s all contained in the sewing room, but I need sort it and put it away. But I don’t guess that’s really the question. Some of my boxes are overflowing — the red/green, the purple/pink, and neutral. The lids are on those boxes just barely and I moved some neutral over to the music drawers. I suspect with the refolding everything will fit better, although there may be some shifting of fabric into new boxes.
What are your plans for your stash going forward? – I really would like to get all the fabric back on the two main shelves so I can get one of the smaller shelves out of the room — alas there’s more than fabric on those smaller shelves.
Are you setting any stash-related goals for yourself for 2017? – Get the scraps sorted and dealt with, get the lids on the boxes to close easily, use it, and only buy if absolutely necessary to finish something in progress.

Posted in: Challenges, Final Countdown, Stash

What’s On My Design Wall – En Provence Edition Part 5

December 26, 2016 11:07 am ⋅ Pam

clue5 Part five of Bonnie Hunter’s annual mystery quilt came out late Thursday night. It’s still not too late to join. The instructions can be found HERE.

Even with the hustle and bustle surrounding Christmas, I finished the clue – admittedly early Monday morning – but it’s the first clue I’ve finished between the release of the instructions and the link-up.

More progress was made on clue # 1. If I’ve counted correctly, I have enough pairs of 2-patches to complete the clue. I’ve been sewing a single pair of 2-patches into a 4-patch as my leader/ender.

clue1week5

I sewed 8 of the half square triangle units followed by 20 dark/light green (remember my colors have been swapped out) 2-patches for Clue # 3 then got up to press and trim.

clue3week5

So now, I have Clues # 2, #4, and #5 complete.

clue2done

part4 I don’t go back to work until Wednesday, so I have 2 more days to sew. I have 2 projects I need to work on — getting last year’s mystery off the design wall and quilting a top that I finished in January. Who knows which one I’ll work on this week.

In the meantime, I’m linking up to Design Wall Monday and the Mystery Link-up.

Posted in: Bonnie Hunter, designwall, En Provence, mystery quilts

What’s on My Design Wall – En Provence Edition Part 4

December 19, 2016 1:19 pm ⋅ Pam

clue2done Part ~~three~~ four of Bonnie Hunter’s annual mystery quilt came out on Friday. It’s not too late to join. The instructions can be found HERE.

No, the first picture is not of part 4, but rather the completed Clue # 2! I swapped the magenta out and used royal blue for my Christmas colored quilt. That’s not to say that I didn’t make progress on Clue # 4.

img_20161216_152436

Friday evening all I got done was cutting Clue # 4. That’s the dark green in the picture above. I’m subbing dark and light green for purple and lavender. When I took this picture I thought the pile of neutral squares was short compared to the greens, but since I had already stitched a few 2-patches as my leader and enders, I thought that explained the difference. It wasn’t until I had the 2-patches paired up that I realized I don’t have enough neutral squares cut.

week4part1

But that’s OK — It’s not a race, I’m on PTO this week and I need a leader/ender project to finish up a couple of projects.

This morning I stitched up 10 of Clue #4.

part4

I see more sewing in my future this week between decorating and baking.

I’m linking up to the Mystery Link Up and Design Wall Monday.

Posted in: Bonnie Hunter, designwall, En Provence, mystery quilts

What’s on My Design Wall – En Provence Edition Part 3

December 12, 2016 10:27 am ⋅ Pam

part3

Part three of Bonnie Hunter’s annual mystery quilt came out on Friday. It’s not too late to join. The instructions can be found HERE.

It’s more 4-patches this time with the dark and light purple, or in my case dark and light green. I’ve only got these three patches made — and only so I’d have something to post this morning.

I’m linking up with both the Mystery Link Up and Design Wall Monday.

Posted in: Bonnie Hunter, designwall, En Provence, mystery quilts

What’s on My Design Wall – En Provence Edition Part 2

December 5, 2016 8:55 am ⋅ Pam

part2

Part two of Bonnie Hunter’s annual mystery quilt came out on Friday. It’s not too late to join. The instructions can be found HERE.

This clue has us making triangle in a square blocks. My plan was to use the Quilt in a Day rulers as I’ve had more luck with that method than the Tri-Recs, but I found the correct size strips in my bins, so I cut the first few with the Tri-Recs. Since they came out so much better than they have in the past, I’ve decided to stick with the Tri-Recs. I’m still cutting fabric, but that’s OK. Slow and steady will eventually get the quilt complete.

I’m linking up to both the Mystery Link Up and Design Wall Monday.

Posted in: Bonnie Hunter, designwall, En Provence, mystery quilts

What’s on My Design Wall – En Provence Edition

November 28, 2016 11:22 am ⋅ Pam

Bonnie Hunter is hosting her annual mystery quilt. This year it is En Provence in purple, lavender, green, yellow, magenta and of course neutrals. Information about the mystery quilt can be found HERE.

Since I haven’t spent much time quilting this year, I’m hoping the mystery will get me going again. But as with most mystery quilts I do, I’m pulling from my stash. Although I love the mystery colors, I didn’t find enough for the quilt in my stash. Shopping is not an option, so I thought I would have to sit this one out (and I still need to finish Aletaire). While I was contemplating alternative color schemes, someone on Facebook said they were going to use Christmas colors.

mysteryfinal

Yes, I can do this. Dark/kelly green for Purple, light green for lavender, red instead of green, lean my yellows toward dark/gold. Neutrals should stay the same. But what to use for magenta? Taking a que from the Nutcracker fabric my sister gave me for Christmas last year, I chose Royal Blue. It’s the only thing not from my stash — I used a gift certificate I was given in late January, and bought extra for binding and pillowcases – $0.89 with shipping.

enprovenceclue1

This weekend I started by cutting strips, then squares. I know, Bonnie said sew strips together then cut, but I need some leader/enders to finish up Alietare. Two 4-patches are made. I have a way to go to get all my 4-patches done. Let’s hope they aren’t need for Clue 2 on Friday.

Head over to the Mystery Link Up to see how others are doing on their quilt — and remember it’s not to late to join.

I’ve also linked to Judy’s Design Wall Monday. I’m guessing there will be lots of 4-patches.

Posted in: Bonnie Hunter, designwall, En Provence, mystery quilts