Happy Boxing Day and Mini Mystery Bits

Happy Boxing Day!

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas Day. DH and I had a low key day, filled with yummy food. Breakfast started with these - Michigan blueberries that I froze myself back in July

Thawed and drowned in batter 

and served with thick cut hickory smoked bacon.

Breakfast was a tad on the late side since we did presents first (I'll share those with you all in another post), and rather filling, so lunch was a bit of cheese and crackers with a spinach artichoke dip.  Light on purpose so as not to spoil our appetites for dinner.  The timing of dinner's parts precluded any picture taking, especially since it was rudely interrupted by me dropping/breaking a cereal bowl on the floor.  The DH cleaned up that mess while I keep the cooking going.  We enjoyed Bison ribeye steaks, grilled on the cast iron grill/griddle pan that was a Christmas gift from last year, rainbow trout, and a few side. YUM!

Today, it's about laundry and getting a bit of sewing underway.  I took some time on Christmas afternoon to convert the Mystery Quilts Clue #4 and Clue #5 measurements and do some cutting.

These are my Clue #4 And Clue #5 units underway. 

Check out Bonnie Hunter's  Mystery Link Up to see how everyone else's Mystery Quilt is coming on.

My units probably won't get finished until Thursday, at the earliest, as there are some family things to attend to. My aunt passed away, with the wake being held today and the funeral  tomorrow.  It was a blessing that she went peacefully after having a severe stoke a few weeks ago. 

By Thursday, I will relish some simple, repetitive sewing to calm the soul.  We are having some truly frigid temps, with brutal wind chills and some snow forecasted for the end of the week - ICK!!  The thought of spending quiet time, in a toasty warm studio, is divine. Oh, and I've been saving the new Season of 'The Crown' on Netflix to watch while sewing.

Happy Belated Sosltice and Merry Christmas

A few days late

And half a day early

Racing Stripes and Diamonds in Rectangles

I'm sporting some new racing stripes... on my left arm !

In addition to the cortisone shot in my elbow, I am having physical therapy twice a week. My therapist decided some Kinesiology Tape would be beneficial so I choose bright blue.  Too early to tell if it's helping, as there are some serious issue lurking in that arm.  It will be fine, just going to take a while to be totally back to normal, whatever that is. In the meantime, I'm wearing my wrist brace and doing my exercises.

I'll be honest - it's impeding my cutting and sewing a bit, and makes me grateful I am making a mini version of the Bonnie Hunter Mystery.  Last Friday, Clue # 3 released and has us making some Diamond in a Rectangle units.  I got mine done late this afternoon but still need to press the heck out of them!

Check out the Mystery Monday Link Up  to see what everyone else has been up to!  There a quite a few quilters using their own colorways which I ALWAYS find interesting. 

Mystery Quilt Mini Kickoff

Sewing Happened!!!!

My studio reached a level of tidiness that permitted me to sit & sew.  I been clearing out some things that I no longer want or need and reorganizing things in general. While digging into the stash, I decided the fabrics I pulled for my mini version of the Bonnie Hunter On Ringo Lake mystery quilt  needed some tweaking.  My blue was too close to the aqua family in value, when something darker was clearly needed.  The fabric palette went from this:

to this:

Better level of contrast achieved and the cutting commenced! 

For my miniature version of the Mystery Quilt, I am reducing the scale of the units, as well as making few units overall.  This requires a bit of Quilt Math and really good notes!  Besides saving a pdf version of each clue, I plot out directions on graph paper, with a small pencil drawing of the unit for that clue. I note the conversion from the original size instructions to the mini size side by side, so I can refer back & double check my math, then triple check it. No way am I going to try to keep all the measurements in my head. 

It was very relaxing to finally sit down in front of a featherweight and stitch! By Sunday morning, I had completed all of Clue 1 units and a third of Clue 2 units. Check out this week's link up and everyone's progress on their mystery quilts right here .

I will be knocking out the rest of the flying geese units and moving on to some other back burnered projects this week.

Mini Mystery Anyone?

Why do I feel like many of my posts this year start with: "I had a plan..."?

Maybe I should stop planning altogether.

But I know that's just not possible - it's not in my nature.  The best thing to do in situations like this is to be flexible & nimble & adjust the plan. 

Thanksgiving was a lovely day spent with the DH and the fur babies. Black Friday involved some fun shopping, as well as the release of the first clue of Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt . Saturday was supposed to include a morning riding session, followed by some Mystery sewing, possibly extending into Sunday - a day around the house, helping some friends, a lunch out and maybe even the beginning of the Winter holiday decorating.

On the way to the barn, I got an urgent phone call from my friends P&T that while they were already at the barn, they would not be able to ride and had to head home.  The 'helping some friends' part of Sunday needed to be moved up to Saturday morning, pronto.  P&T had just listed their house for sale on Friday, thinking we would have Sunday to do some moving (5 dogs, all their stuff and P) over to another friend's house and some final tidying, prior to any house showings and for the duration.  Instead, we had 3 hours!

I am happy to say we made the deadline! It was a whirlwind but on the upside it meant Sunday could be happily spent at home, with the Mystery sewing on the agenda.

Until I realized that my laptop anti-virus was expiring, and the options I was given & price, was not acceptable. Sunday morning turned into an errand / shopping adventure that consumed most of the day. 

Okay! So Mystery sewing would be shifted to Monday, the day of the first On Ringo Lake Mystery Link Up - check out what everyone else has been up to. My shifting schedule is not ideal but there is no pressure to get this quilt racing along - just do it at your own pace.

Seriously? What was I thinking. Monday ended with a trip to my Orthopedic Surgeon and a cortisone shot in my left elbow to deal with the tendonitis that has been plaguing me for the last month. All that painting took it's toll.

By Sunday, I had begun to have second thoughts about doing a full size quilt and cutting into all the beautiful batik bolt ends I had gathered.  That fabric needs to be for the Michigan House bedroom quilt and I was a little uneasy about using it for the mystery pattern. Or maybe the thought of a full size quilt after the busy past week was too much to face. Either way, I changed my plan - I have plenty of fabric in the stash in my colors to do a Miniature Mystery. If I like the end pattern for the Michigan quilt, I can always do it again in full size. 

Miniature Mystery Quilt Fabric Pull

This week has not been going great for sewing either - the cortisone shot is extremely painful and has basically knocked out the use of my left arm for a few days. Today is a necessary, post 50 yr. old adult medical test - enough said.  By this Friday, when the next Mystery clue releases, I may get a chance to start working on it  but I'm not carving that plan in stone. Fingers crossed!

Sewing Project Triggers Black Friday Shopping

I have a new, non-quilting sewing project waiting in the wings.  This is Stormy's mid-weight winter blanket that I took off him last week.

It's an older but serviceable blanket, though it's now sporting a few new rips - courtesy of his new herd mates.  After washing (repeatedly!), I can better assess the extent of the repairs needed.

The rips go all the way through the outer shell, the polyfil and the inner lining. I'll be patching it as best I can as an emergency back up blanket, but the repairs will put my sewing skills to the test!  

After taking off the purple paisley blanket, I re-rugged him with a clean(!) second hand turnout blanket that will keep him warm & dry until some of my Black Friday shopping items arrive. 

Not Stormy and no, a horse is not on my Holiday Shopping List

In about a week, Stormy will be sporting the plaid! And  not long after, so will I.

These and the ones below are coming from the UK but they're worth the wait! It's not easy to find riding clothes in my size, and I was able to take advantage of the Black Friday Sales - WooHoo!!

Taking advantage of a 40% off Black Friday discount, the DH got some other goodies - some for me & some for Stormy but those are Christmas gifts so we have to wait to get them.

 

Being a good wife, I did the shopping for him.   

Thankful

Mystery Quilt Fabric Pull

Bonnie Hunter releases the first clue for her annual Mystery Quilt this Friday.  I have participated in this for the last several years, as a way of releasing creative control.  Find all the info on the Mystery here at On Ringo Lake Mystery 

Preparation begins with the quilt colors - these are Bonnie's chosen colors for this project.

I like the coral/melon & aqua/turquoise but will be switching out the brown to blue. 

Why, you ask?

Back in April, while down in Paducah at Quilt Week, I made a special purchase.  This wall hanging is made by the Tentmakers of Cairo, an example of the Egyptian applique work they do. It's new permanent home is in the bedroom I use at the Michigan House. 

The previous wall décor left something to be desired.  This painting is way too dark & drab for me.

By the time the Mystery Quilt is over, I will have a suitable quilt in the same colors as the wall hanging.  As far as fabric is concerned, I hit the jackpot!  Yes, I should have shopped my stash and I still may add to my pull for it. BUT, and there's always a BUT.  I ran into a great deal on batik bolt ends. 

A little color distortion due to lighting

Twenty-three and a quarter yards @ $8.00/yard. All washed & ready for pressing once the clue is released. 

Colors are even richer in real life.

It will be good to get something back under the needle again! I do have some shopping to do on Friday morning to take advantage of the Black Friday deals. Thankfully, it's at a local saddle shop - not at a major retailer or mall!!  One stop shopping & I'm back in the studio stitching.

9 Patch Blocks + Sashing = Progress!

Once the sashing fabric was decided, it was time to assemble the quadrants. 
One.

Two.

Three.

The clear floor space was nice to have for laying things out. Odie has learned (for the most part) to keep his paws off the quilt in progress, but I need to be mindful of stray bits of fabric and threads with an inquisitive puppy about the studio space.

For the outside border, I used a wider piece of the sashing fabric rather than changing to something else. I think it frames it all quite well.

Now on to the quilting of this top and get it turned in to the LQS for the contest.  The winner will be chosen by popular vote from Nov. 9 to Dec. 9.  The prize is a gift basket of quilting goodies.  I hope it is well received but either way, I have a nice throw size quilt done before winter.

Sashing Auditions Take Center Stage

The stitching on the Blue Square quilt has commenced!  It was really a breeze to get the blocks stitched up. 

The 'Light' Quadrant swapped and laid out

They are an asymmetrical nine patch, so they lent themselves to being webbed together and chain stitched. The card table helped keep everything in the proper order.

Once the blocks were stitched, I need to audition sashing fabric - this turned out to be a lot easier than I thought.  For the contest I am allowed to use up to three other fabrics in the top.  I had purchased two, thinking I would use both for sashing to emphasis the color progression. From the audition pictures below, you can see that the sashing could really only be one of the fabrics.

Bright quadrant on light sashing

Dark quadrant on light sashing

Bright quadrant on dark sashing

Dark quadrant on dark sashing

The light sashing was just as ghastly in person!  Interestingly, it is one of the fabrics in the collection that is in the quilt but it did nothing to enhance the other fabrics.  It will find a use in another project, I'm certain. Or maybe the binding of this one.  There's a ways to go before I get to that stage. 

I really like the dark blue sashing fabric and need to pick up a few more yards for the stash.

Back to (Blue) Square One

We last we were together, the blue squares were laid out on the floor, waiting to become something:

Each quadrant was picked up, piled up together for sub-cutting and laid back out.

And right about here, things got tricky! I have a confession - I don't do Sudoku puzzles. Yet here I was trying to use the basic tenets of them to make a quilt - everything needed to add up! And of course, my own need for logical color progression HAD to be achieved. The sub-cutting of the quadrant gave me 9 blocks, with 9 pieces in each.  After much swapping around of the pieces, and a little hard cider to boot, I finally had a plan to follow!

The problem I encountered in figuring out the swap order was that I was thinking in horizontal rows

instead of diagonal sections,

which was the way the colors are laid out.  Once I wrapped my head around that concept, it made much more sense.  Once I had the first quadrant pieces swapped around, I made a chart to follow for the rest of the quilt.

The stitching could finally get under way!  I have to admit it was weird to work backwards on this quilt - usually I have a layout plan before I cut pieces. It's good to shake things up a bit sometimes!