Anticipation

 Hey all,

The quilt I quilted to test the tension was this Christmas quilt that I made using blocks left from a Bonnie Hunter mystery that went awry.  It was NOT Bonnie's fault.  I changed the colors then didn't like the result in the reveal.  This is what the quilt was supposed to look like....

This image is from Bonnie's web site:  Click here to buy her pattern.  This was her Allietare mystery quilt from about 6 years ago.  

Back when Bonnie designed this I did not like the color combination resulting from my change once the blocks were put together, so I took the star blocks and set them aside. I made a quilt out of the other blocks and donated it to the junior league of Winona for their fundraiser.  Those star blocks were set aside, and periodically I would run across them and think, I need to figure something out for them, but never seemed to set aside the time to do it.  

So last year I took the star blocks to Quiltville Inn and the group of ladies there helped me come up with this setting.  

So if you don't like how something is going...don't be afraid to change things around.  Loved both the blocks individually, just not together.  Ended up with two great quilts from this pattern.  This was the first quilt I quilted after the tension issues.  So out of practice on a long-arm, but I have a number of tops done, so I should get some of my skills back soon.  This quilt is for me, so if it is not perfect it is ok.

The back has numbers 1-25 and is called countdown to Christmas, so Will named this one Anticipation ;

So thanks Will!

Sew on,

Terry

Modern Christmas

Hey all,

It has been a couple of months since I have posted, but not a lot of quilting has been going on.  Last nine weeks I did way too much testing so school was my main focus.  I was desperately trying to get my Algebra II students to memorize the formulas that would make them be successful on the ACT.  Not sure it worked.   Some were extremely good but the average ones were a little lower than I would  have liked.

As you can deduce from the title I did make a decision on the alternate blocks from the Bonnie Hunter Allietare  Mystery quilt.   I am so happy with the result.  And to make things even better, I was asked to make a quilt for the local junior league and it is just right for that purpose.  Using the alternate blocks I set them on point with the setting directions from the mystery quilt and ended up with a quilt that is about 46 x 68. That makes a nice sized throw.  I put a hanging sleeve on the top as the junior league will need to display it.

Betty Lewis, of Louisville, MS did the quilting.  I had asked for a white thread, and the pattern she used on Judy Stokes last mystery quilt and she made the choice for an off white, which looks outstanding!!  So glad she did that.  This is one of the advantages of having your long armer getting to know what you like!

Here is a couple of close up of the quilting:

I have really gotten into binding things with striped fabric and on the bias.  I had this mostly left from another project and rummaged through my small pieces and added enough that it worked out perfectly to bind this project.  Y'all know I am the slowest hand stitcher on the planet, and when I bind something with a black binding I am even slower.  These old eyes aren't what they used to be.

Here is a picture of the back.

The back is more a traditional red tartan so that may fit more folks homes.

Next to work on the quilt for a sweet couple that is getting married.

I will try to do better on regular updates!

Sew on,

Terry

Decisions, Decisions

Hey all,

I seem to be having a much harder time making decision than I used to.  Used to be I would look at something  and then just decide...if I messed up, I would back track and figure out what to do.  Now I seem to second guess myself a lot more frequently.

Anyway, what brought that revelation on is the fact that I am finally working on my Bonnie Hunter mystery from LAST year, and I am not happy with how it is looking.  At the moment my plan is to continue putting the blocks together as they are.

The star blocks are all sewn together and the green blocks are on the flannel design boards.  I am just not loving it.  So as I was finishing the star blocks and laying out the remainder of the green blocks I had a thought, still no decision tho-  what if I made two quilts out of it?  Here is kind of what the blocks look like separate.  With and without sashing....

star blocks - no sashing

Star blocks and green sashing yellow corner stones.

Star blocks neutral sashing yellow corner stones.

Green blocks neutral sashing - yellow corner stones (more imagination required here.)

Green blocks no sashing.

So I should finish the green blocks some time this week.  Then I will have to make a decision.  I have one small strip of the green fabric left...so I don't know if I would have enough to make any additional blocks.  There are fewer of these than the star blocks so it would be a much smaller quilt.

Sew on...

Terry

25 x 25 Challenge and Scrappy Mountains

Dear Readers,

Julia Graber, incoming Mississippi Quilt Association (MQA), issued a challenge to make a 25 x 25 in quilt for our 25th Anniversary.  I had some tumblers cut out so I made that up into a quilt top.  Once I get it quilted, I will trim the borders to make the quilt 25 x 25.  That will make them different widths on the top / bottom and sides, but that will be OK.  Here is a link to Bonnie Hunter's page about tumblers. 

 I also got the borders on a scrappy mountain quilt I have been working on after a long search for my tape measure.  It was right where it was supposed to be, but I just wasn't seeing it.  Don't you hate that?  Here are two different shots of it.  This is another free Bonnie Hunter pattern.  Click here to link to the page.

I have two of the Allietare quilt blocks, but when I was working on them I was having a dyslexic day and had to rip the star block apart twice!!  So it is going to have to wait till I am not tired.

Here are my two blocks!  I am excited to get back to that!  Time to get ready for work!

Terry