Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt

It's that time of year again to resurrect my blog.  I do this every year so I can join in the fun of showing my progress with Bonnie Hunter's winter Mystery Quilt.

This years quilt is called "Grand Illusion" with colors taken from the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan.

Part 1 was posted early on black Friday and throughout the day I kept cutting and making blocks. A couple of times I found myself having to take apart a block that somehow had gotten twisted and did not have the turquoise in the center of the broken dish.  But with the help of an afternoon nap I was able to finally finish all the parts before calling it a night.

Check out others progress at the Quiltville - GI link up. 

Celtic Solstice - Reveal

Big Surprise - on New Year's Eve as the ball was dropping in NYC - Bonnie posted the reveal for Celtic Solstice.  It was late, but before bed I had to get my parts out and play.  I put together 2 blocks, 1 "A" and 1"B".

It wasn't till the next day that I realized the chevrons in block A were twisted.  But that was okay - I had more block parts than I needed.  With the reveal I figured I would need 41 block "A" and 40 block "B" with Bonnie's planned borders to make a Queen size quilt.  So the twisted ones could be part of a second smaller donation quilt.

As the blocks were made and pressed they were put on the design wall...

Between shoveling snow and working on other quilts I was able to get more blocks pieced, but not pressed.

If you didn't catch Bonnie's "Show & Share" post for Friday check it out - Robin from Louisiana has completed her top.

Celtic Solstice - Part 5

This past week was really a shock to my routine - not only was it Christmas week, but I had company for 3 days while their Mom and Dad were away.

 

Ewok & Ginger

 

They were really good, but between their routine and my nervousness I was exhausted by the time they left on Thursday night.  The experience reminded me of how old I am getting, but I hated the though of them in a kennel.........   

 

Friday brought a new day and a new clue from Bonnie - Birds in the Air blocks using the HST from part 3. After making a sample block I started to chair piece.

 

 



In the beginning I was optimistic and thought maybe I could finish all 244 blocks before going to bed, but no ......... it took Saturday morning also.

 

 

 

So many bloggers are sharing their guesses for the layout - it's fun to see.  Check them out on today's link-up.



Celtic Solstice - Part 4

Another clue and this time Bonnie has made it easy on us - 300 4-patch blocks, but then when you think about it - 300 of anything is a lot.  I saw the posting on Friday morning, but I had been trying to get all the donation quilts I had in the house quilted and didn't want to stop so ....... it was late Saturday before all 9 were completed. 

Before going to bed I did manage to get some 2" strips cut.  I was thinking 42 divided by 2 = 21 so that meant I would need 14 1/2 strips of each color.  Well that thought made it easier to sleep! 

Sunday morning when I was a little more awake I realized that my fuzzy math of the night before would only make half of what I needed.   Why-O-Why did I decide to make the large one?  I have no need for a king size quilt, it will not fit on my longarm, but the small one was too small. So basically I decided to make the king size parts, see how they go together and figure something out that will give me a queen. 

With the help of "City Homicide" on Hulu Plus for company,  I was able to get all 300 completed before midnight. 

Bonnie mentioned on quiltcam this past Wednesday that we were almost ready to put the blocks together.  I'm sure we all have our guesses .......  Check out everyone's progress at the link-up.

Celtic Solstice - Part 3

In spite of all the delays part 3 is finally finished. All 61 pinwheels and 244 (2") HST for the king size quilt.

I was not able to start till Saturday because of the east coast pending snow/ice storm.  With the advanced warming I was able to get in some shopping, meet my daughter and spend the late afternoon and evening with friends. The local garden club had their annual Christmas house tour, which was fabulous.  I wish I could have taken pictures to show you some of the creative decorations and beautiful homes, but ....... it was not allowed.  I just have the memories of tromping threw the earlier fallen snow, putting on our booties to tour the homes, the 4 deer that crossed our patch - Mom, Dad and 2 little ones - and the wonderful dinner we shared afterwards.

Yesterday the snow started to fall about 10 o'clock in the morning and it spent the day blowing and drifting before turning to freezing rain around nightfall.  By this morning everything was glistening.

 

It is beautiful, but I keep wondering what we could be in for when it is not officially winter yet!

 

Make sure you check in with others at the Celtic Solstice link up for 12/16/2013.

 

 



Celtic Solstice - Part 2

I know the rule is no whining and I am not exactly doing that, but just saying that this step has taken me a long time to complete.  Last night before going to bed I was able to complete 100 of the blocks

and get the balance of the parts for the king size quilt assembled, but not sewn together. I had them laying everywhere, trying to make sure no square contained the same fabrics.

This morning I intended to write a post and link up with everyone over at the Celtic Solstice link-up. But upon check my emails I found that today's meeting of my local quilt group was being cancelled due to the snow our area received late yesterday and this mornings icy roads, so ........
What is a lady supposed to do with unplanned time - SEW of course - and I was able to complete and additional 144 blocks.

 

By the way the color I used for what looks like blue in the photos is actually a blue/green.  I tried the camera on my iPad and phone with the same results.

 

Check out what others have completed at the link-up.

Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt

Here we go again!  It has been almost a year since I last posted and I am racking my brain trying to figure out how to post.  Remembering how to sew is easy - I do that almost every day, but this........

Anyway - Black Friday was a couple of days ago and it is special not because of any sale, but the start of this years Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt - Celtic Solstice.

Very early this morning about 1AM - I finished making and clipping the dog ears from 380 "Tri-Rec" squares for the larger of the 2 size quilts Bonnie is offering instructions for this year.  By then as you can guess, I was getting good at eyeballing the placement of the side pieces so the blocks would turn out square.

Be sure to check out what others are doing.