It Was An Unfinished Project...

 Long ago, I started a mystery quilt.  Here is the last post on this particular quilt - here.  I finished the top and sent it off to the quilter.  The quilter did a beautiful job quilting it for me but I have left it sitting in a bag since I got it back.  Yep, it moved across country with me.  The hard part was done.  No idea why I stopped at the easy part.  In an attempt to get some of the unfinished projected finished, I decided it was time to finish this quilt.  I used this calculator to determine how much fabric that I needed to create my double bias binding.  So 3/4 of yard later, I was ready to start the process of attaching the binding.   Here is my finished quilt:

There is one more unfinished quilt.  At this point, it is a finished top.  I need to locate a quilter.  The quilt top was finished in the same time period as the one above.  I think it is time to get this finished.  This one will remove a huge chunk of fabric out of the stash closet.  I am ready.  Some day, I will be able to empty my storage unit of fabric.  

Happy Stitching!

It's a Mystery...Are you Frolicing?

We've been gallivanting around and it has slowed me down a bit.  I'm also in the middle of Christmas sewing which also prevents sewing on other projects. 

You can find all the information about the Mystery Quilt called Frolic here.  It looks to me like I'm three weeks behind.  Are you working on Frolic?  How is it going? 

Off to work on various projects.

Happy Stitching!

It's a Mystery...Let's Frolic

It's that time of year again when Quiltville does a mystery quilt.  It's been a couple of years since I participated so I decided to stitch along this year.  I have no doubt that I will fall behind because I just do. 

The Frolic introduction call be found here.  This is all the good stuff - needed yardage, colors, etc.  Part 1 of Frolic can be found here.   There are some interesting instructions here.  I don't know how much of the fabric I actually have in the needed colors but let's see if I can get started anyway.   I hope you enjoy frolicing.

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Quilt Sew-Along...Block 16 & 17, 2 Rows, and Drum Roll....

I'm all caught up with the blocks for the mystery quilt.

Block 16

Block 17

Row 6

Row 7

Finished scrapped quilt top.  Does it feel like Christmas?

Now, I just need to get the backing prepped, decide on the batting type, and getting the binding ready.

What do you think?  The only block I'm not sure about is the cup.  I may go back and out line it so it will pop a little bit.  I should have gone with my instinct and made a dark red cup.  I'll post another picture once it has been quilted and bound.

Have you finished your Mystery Quilt?

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Quilt Sew-Along...Block 13, 14, 15 + Rows

I'm still moving right along.  I'm amazed at how long it takes to figure out the colors for each block.  I know that that the little stash that I have is slowly decreasing but I think I can make a few more scrappy quilts.

Block 13

Block 14

Block 15

Row 5

Rows 1 through 4 sewn together.

There is one more row and this quilt top will be ready.  I need to get figure out how much fabric is needed to be the backing.

How's your mystery quilt coming along?

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Quilt Sew-Along...More Blocks and Rows

I'm working hard to get caught up. Here's a little more progress:

Block 11

Block 12

Row 4

Rows 1-3 sewn together.  Yippee! It's starting to look a little more like a quilt.  I think the connecting block really stand out.  I feels good to be close to catching up!  Just two blocks left and I will be catch up.

How are you doing on the Mystery Quilt?

Happy Stitching

Mystery Quilt Sew-Along...2 Blocks and more!

I have fallen behind on the mystery quilt but I'm trying really hard to get caught up.  Here's the latest:

This is Block 9 of the mystery quilt.

This is Block 10 of the mystery quilt.

Row 3.

Real progress is starting. Row 1 and Row 2 sewn together.

Hopefully, I can get caught up soon.  I'm not sure at this point how far behind I am.  I haven't checked the blocks in a couple of weeks.

How are you doing on the sew-along?

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Quilt Sew-Along - Row 2

I'm still working on the colors for the next block but I have gotten the next row sewn together.  Here it is:

It is so exciting to see this mystery quilt starting to come together.  It's fun to sift through the bits and pieces of fabric in cotton stash to create this quilt.  The best part is that I know that the stash is getting slightly smaller.

Have you been working on the mystery sew-along?

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Quilt Block 8 and Row 1...

I'm running behind on the mystery quilt but I'm trying to get caught up.  While I was working on this block, I ran out of thread.  Now, how is that possible?  I have a lot of thread but not white thread.  So, off to the store I went to purchase thread.  Oh, yes, it was price shock.  A 1000m spool of thread was $8.99.  Really, I think I have a box of thread but I wasn't able to locate it today.  Here's Block 8:

In person, it doesn't look so crooked.  Hope it shows correctly in the quilt.  Here is the next surprise:  Row 1 -

You can't see it but I was doing a happy dance as this was being finished.

If you're doing the mystery quilt, how are you doing?

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Block 7 plus Connecting Block

Yesterday, I felt like I was way behind on the Mystery Quilt.  Today, I'm feeling pretty good.  Here's my blocks:

I like the look of this block.  I could have done better with the cardinal placement but I wasn't willing to recut the blocks.  Here's the connecting block:

I'm still keeping everything scrappy with the exception of the back ground on this block.  Next time, I should have some rows stitched together.  On to the next block.

How is your version of the myster quilt coming?

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Sew Along Block 6

I'm caught up with the individual blocks.  Here's the next one:

I really like this particular block.  With each block you are also provided an extra project, this one was a quilt layout.  I may work this out to be a baby quilt.  We'll see.

I've been working steadily on the connecting blocks for the quilt and will soon have something other than a piles of various fabrics.  With the exception of a consistent background, I'm still trying to make them a little bit scrappy.

I have fallen behind on the house challenge but still intend to get caught up.  It's really hard trying to figure out all of the fabrics in a scrappy manner but I'll get it done.

How are you doing on your version of the quilt?  Still keeping up?

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Sew Along Block 5

I'm a little behind.  This block was from 2 weeks ago but I got it done.  Here's block 5:

When last week's block appeared, I realized that I needed to order a couple of yards of fabric.  It just arrived.  With any luck, I will be caught it next week.  I am working on many other things though so we'll see how it turns out.

How is your version of the sew along or challenge coming?  Have you been able to keep up?

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Sewalong...No Block This Week

There wasn't a Mystery Block last week but I staying up with the challenge.  I made two additional blocks:

I now have a total of 6 challenge blocks.  I have no idea what I will do with these blocks. Maybe they will will get additional decoration.

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Sew Along Block 4

I feel like I'm getting into a routine with keeping up with the sew along.  Here's block 4:

There is also 2 more blocks for the challenge:

So far I have 4 out of 16 houses made.  I'm going to attempt to use the same blue fabric for all the blocks.  I don't know if I have enough fabric but we will see.

How are you doing on the sew along or the challenge?

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Sew Along Block 3...

Somehow, I'm managing to keep up with the Mystery Sew Along.  Here's block 3:

Yeah, I missed taking a picture of the block before sewing but that's okay.  I've even started the challenge that is going along with the sew along.  Here are new additional houses:

Stitching up those scraps couldn't be better!

How are you doing on the sew along?

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Sewing Along Block 2

I was able to continue the trend of selecting my fabrics quickly for the mystery sew along;

I was happy with the fabric selections.  Here's the finished block:

The momentum is still rolling.  Two blocks down.   I have decided to do the challenge and make extra house blocks.  We'll see how that goes.  I have fabric selected for two houses.  I have no started the cutting out process yet.

How are you doing with the sew along?

Happy Stitching!

Mystery Quilt Update...

Week 6 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt has begun.  It is very exciting to see what my quilt is going to look like.  Here is my version:

I forgot to take a picture after I filled in all the V areas.  It is more neutrals with red.  The quilt is put together on the diagonal.  I created a diagram them picked up each row numbering the row to match the diagram.  I'm hoping that this helps me keep up with the rows.  As you can see, the quilt is a bit bigger than my area was to lay down the quilt.  Fortunately, I was able to place everything around the legs of the tables.

After I finished picking up the quilt blocks, I worked on one of the blocks for The Splendid Sampler:

I like the fabrics that I picked but I don't really like the way the square turned out.  I will be taking this a part and checking the measurements as the middle of the block is too narrow.

Happy Sewing!

It IS So Addictive..

Yes, I have the quilting bug right now.  I've been working hard on the Allietare Mystery quilt.  I was very excited when I started week 5 of the mystery.  It meant that I was getting close to seeing what my version of the quilt would look like.  There were a few days where I would spend 4-5-6 hours working on the quilt.  This is also when I started finding mistakes.  The first mistake that I noticed was some how I had miscounted the Week 1 blocks and was short.  So, I started cutting and sewing.  The next mistake that was found was all of the Week 5 blocks were put together wrong.  I spent hours taking them apart and putting them back together.  I'm now getting toward the end of Week 5 but this is mostly the part where I'm cutting the pieces.  Maybe with the next update, I can show what my version will look like.

So now on to the addiction.  It's not like I don't have enough in my cue.  Besides, the Allietare Mystery quilt, I'm planning on an Ocean Waves quilt for my son.  I can't find a pattern for a queen size version of this quilt so I will be winging it and it needs to be finished by the first of June so I can have it back before he heads off to college. I have joined in not one or two but three quilt sew alongs.  I'm I crazy?  I just couldn't resist.  The first sew along was with the online quilt group that I'm a member of and it will be a mini quilt.  I have selected the following fabrics:

The remaining little pieces will be from the stash.  Here's what the little quilt is suppose to look like upon completion:

This is my very first mini quilt.  Hopefully, I will get it completed.  It is suppose to be finished sometime in the fall.

On to the next quilt....Oh, yes, this one is going to be a year long event with 100 blocks.  It is the Splendid Sampler.  I think this will be a lot of fun.  The blocks are going to be 6" square.  Again, small blocks but this is going to be busy working with this.  They're on block 2 and I'm not.  Here's the fabric that I selected:

This is Kindred Spirits from Moda.  Someone else posted this bundle on the Splendid Sampler group and I had to have it.  I'm not sure that there is actually enough "darks" in this bundle so I may add to it.  The Splendid Sampler is hosted by Pat Sloan and host of other designs.  It should be a real learning experience.  You can find information at thesplendidsampler.com.

As if this isn't enough to keep up with, I'm also going to try to do Pat Sloan's 2016 Mystery Quilt - My Secret Garden.  It's already up to block 2 also but I haven't gotten any fabric together for it yet.  You can find information regarding this mystery quilt on Pat Sloan's blog.

So, does it look like I'm going to be busy with quilting stuff?  I don't know how I'm going to get my other sewing done and my knitting.   I suppose this is one way to keep busy.  I will now need to work on some kind of organization solution so I can keep with all of these quilting projects.  I was thinking that maybe the clear plastic shoe boxes would work for some of it.  I'm open to any ideas.

Happy Sewing!

Mystery Update...

Progress has slowed.  I thought the Week 5 clues would be super easy and they were until I realized that I had not finished Week 1 clues like I thought.  That means that there is a lot of extra cutting, sewing, ironing, and trimming going on.  I'm am trying to maximize my sewing time as much as possible by stitching until there is nothing else left to stitch, then moving to the ironing board to press everything.  Then, I start checking the items that have been pressed, trimming where necessary, and redoing if needed.  It is a slow process.  Well, at least for me.

I'm already dreaming of the next quilt which will be for my son to take away to college.  So, it has to be done no later than the end of May.  We have settled on a design and amazingly I was unable to locate a printed pattern so I will have to figure out the needed fabrics on my own.  I suspect that I will guess on the background for the quilt.

Okay, off to work on the Mystery Quilt.

Happy Sewing!

Mystery Update...

Winter has arrived in my arrive.  It is a little late but I suppose that is okay.  Since there was plenty of white stuff outside, I decided to sew, sew, sew (there was a little bit of knitting in there too).  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I spent time working on the Week 4 of the Allietare Mystery quilt.  I'm am happy to say week 4 is completed.  Here is my stitching results:

I may have gotten carried away and created one extra set but I suppose that can't really hurt anything. Now, it's on to week 5 which I just finished reading and doesn't look too bad.  Hopefully, it will not take 3 weeks to complete.

I below to an online quilt guild.  I joined because I was curious but after 6 months I've decided to join in the monthly projects.  There is a mini BOM and I purchased the following fabrics:

I'm hoping that the remainder of the fabrics will be stuff from my own stash.  This quilt is suppose to 17" square.  I'm hoping that I actually finish it and that it can decorate the wall in my sewing area.

That's all the sewing I've been doing in the past week or so.

Happy Stitching!