Fireburst Winners

I want to thank everyone who helped make the Fireburst Mystery Quilt such a success!  We had a total of 22 participants, all entering the most beautiful quilts!  Now that the smoke has settled, I would like to announce the winners of the prizes.  I used a random number generator app to select the winners for each prize.

Fireburst-Fireworks Display of Quilts

Happy New Year to all of you where ever you are!!!!  Excuse me while I set down my piece of birthday cake and wine.  Ok, all better now.  It's finally here!  The time has come to light up the quilty skies with our display of Fireburst Mystery Quilts!  It has been so much fun to watch all of the quilts come together on line and on social media.

Let's get this party going!  Goodbye 2018!  Hello 2019!  Let the fire bursts begin!!

Party Fireburst

And BOOM!  Number two.  Done.  Designing the quilting for this quilt top really was like mediation.  I've already quilted one and there is still one more small one to go, how do I come up with something different??  I seriously had to clear my head.

I set down one evening with just me, the quilt top, a chalk pencil and a ruler.  No music or noise.  I took a deep breath and just started connecting lines.

Shapes just started jumping out at me from the background space!  Every time I found myself thinking about it, I walked away to do something else.  When I would come back even more possibilities showed themselves to me.

UFO Busting #40

Oh my goodness, y'all, the linky party just turned older than me, but I'm not letting that slow me or it down.  I've been trying desperately to get a photo shoot with the second Fireburst Quilt but the sunshine is not cooperating with me.  So all I can give you for now is a sneak peak of the quilt folded kind of funny.

It's finished and bound and just waiting for its day to shine.

One of the things I love about #2 is the subtle texture the black thread on black fabric gave this quilt.  What I didn't love was actually stitching it.  There was no good lighting to see what I was quilting.  What's a girl to do??  I decided to go to the preverbal drawing board.  An LED light for the throat of my machine would be ideal, however, things are a bit tight in the budget and running to the store wasn't an option. Making Jenny hold a flash light seemed like a funny option but I let that go.  Then I remembered, I have an LED light!  Where?

After some digging I unearthed it in a cabinet.  I originally bought it to make a light box for tracing motifs onto quilt tops, but for the life of me I'm not sure why I abandoned that project.  But a few Velcro Command Strips later and I have a working light.

This is a HUGE improvement.  Why didn't I do this sooner?  Plus the Velcro allows for the light to be removed, if the light box idea comes back around.

Another thing that I am trying with this quilt, is using threads that slightly contrast with my fabrics instead of blending completely in; show those motifs off a little better.  Let me tell you it's a scary thing to try, even for someone who's been quilting for a while.

Like seriously, I feel like I just stripped down to a thread string bikini and I'm strolling down the beach for better or worse.  I'm just going to go on a limb here and say in the end I'll be my own worse critic.  Life is short, wear the swimsuit...stitch with contrasting threads.

So swimsuit stitching pretty much sums up my sewing week.  Let's see what you guys were up to last week.  Keeping with the Fireburst party, today I'd like to high light my friend Lisa over at Sunlight in Winter Quilts and her Fireburst Quilt top finish.

I just love how those bright colors pop against that dark blue back ground.  If you haven't popped over there to show her some love make sure you take some time to go visit.  Also I am accepting entries for the display of Fireburst Quilts on New Years Day.  You can email me a picture of your quilt or quilt top to tishnwonderlandqal(at)gmail(dot)com.  I will be accepting entries until noon on December 31st.  You can read about our list of sponsors here.

Now let's see what you've been up to this week.  Link up below and tell us how your sewing week has gone.  Are you a good elf or a distracted one?  Santa is watching you know.

An InLinkz Link-up

This is me hanging out last weekend with my good friend Meredith.  Since it's been so cold, we thought we would surprise her with a new hat for winter.  We talked that hat right off a stuffed teddy bear's head.  Who knew that not everyone appreciates hat weather....or hats??

Fireburst Mystery Quilt Sponsors

The end of the year is upon us and that means it will be time to celebrate my 40th birthday and our hard work on Fireburst Quilts with our fire works display of quilts!  Our own personal bursts of color in which no dogs or humans will have to run in fear of loud noises.  So how will this work? 

If you have made a Fireburst Mystery Quilt (quilt top or finished quilt) during the quilt along or after it wrapped up, email me a picture of your quilt with your name and link to your blog if you have one (you do not have to have a blog to participate) to TishNwonderlandQAL(at)gmail(dot)com starting today(I created a special email to send the pictures to).  You can even include where you are from if you would like (example: West Virginia, USA) just so we can see where all our fire bursts are launching from.  How cool would it be if we could light the quilty skies all over the globe?

We've  had a total of 11 sponsors for the Fireburst Mystery Quilt!  I am completely overwhelmed that so many quilters offered to help celebrate your quilt finishes.

Beth over at Cooking Up Quilts is serving up for two lucky winners a pdf pattern of their choice from her pattern shop.

Leanne from Devoted Quilter is offering up two pdf patterns of the winner's choice.

Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs will give two winners their choice of 2 pdf patterns from her online store.

Sandra at mmm!quilts will be giving one lucky winner a copy of her two pdf patterns.

Bernie at Needle and Foot Fine Fabrics will be giving one lucky winner a $25 gift certificate to her online fabric shop.

Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl will be giving a winner their choice of two pdf patterns from her shop.

Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts will be giving one winner a pdf pattern from her Etsy Shop.

Cindy from Stitchin at Home will be giving one lucky winner a pdf copy of her patterns Lattice and Outside Stars.

Jean from All Points of the Compass has very generously donated a hand made wooden bowl made by her sweet husband, Hugh.

And here in Wonderland we will be giving away to two winners (maybe a few more depending on how many people we have) a pdf copy of Star Blossom and Laurel Burst (not released yet) patterns.

There is no better way to celebrate the start of 2019, major life changes, and a mile stone birthday than with quilty friends from everywhere!  I do hope you will join in the fun.  There is still plenty of time to whip up a quilt top (32" or 64") before the end of the year.  You can find all the instructions here.  I will be accepting email entries until noon on December 31st.  Hope you will join us in all the fun!

Garnet Fireburst

I am bursting at the seams over here!  I finally have my first (of 5) Fireburst Mystery Quilt finish!  This is technically the quilt that started it all.  It was to be my submission to a guild challenge using birthstone colors (I ended up using another project).  As I pieced the quilt together I kept thinking it would make a great mystery quilt and I think as a mystery it held up pretty good.  Today I want to talk about the quilting on this quilt.

UFO Busting #38

I may have got a bit distracted and full on turkey last week and totally didn't make the party.  Ok, there is not may about it, I did.  But that's okay.  I enjoyed every minute of family time and the bits of stitching I was able to sneak in.  I actually have four finishes to share with you over the next few days (when I brave the snow and cold to take pictures).  So what have I been up to?

Well, I'm happy to report I have my first personal Fireburst Mystery Quilt finish!  Here it is all bound and ready for pictures.

If you are dying to see where the quilting was going, you can always pop over to my Instagram page and see some in progress pictures.

Fireburst Mystery Quilt--The Layout

Today is a day of celebration!  Let the fireworks begin!  My daughter officially becomes an adult today and I finally get to reveal to you the layout of the mystery quilt.  Let's do this!  

Arrange your blocks like the diagram below.

Next sew the blocks into rows.

Sew the rows together.

Your finished top should measure 32" baby quilt and 64" lap quilt finished.

That's it!  We are finished!  I thank each and everyone of you who sewed along with me.  Mystery quilts are huge risks and I hope you are happy with the outcome of your tops.  I look forward to seeing all of them as they come together.  If you post to Instagram feel free to tag me @tishnwonderland or #fireburstmysteryquilt.  You can also post your picture to our Facebook Group.  You can download a printable copy of the instructions in my Craftsy Store.

Even if you didn't participate in the QAL, there is still plenty of time to make your own version of Fireburst and participate in the fireworks display on New Years Day!

Fireburst Mystery Quilt--Block 3

We are in the home stretch!  We are down to our last block and guess what?  You only have one block to make!  Since there is only one block this month I will release the block layout instructions on October 9th, which is a day of celebration at my house...Jen's birthday.  So without further delay, let's get stitching.

You will need the following pieces to construct block 3.  You will also need four Fabric 1 flying geese, four Background flying geese and the square in a square unit.

Fireburst Mystery-My Block 2 Blocks

In case you missed it this past weekend, instructions for the second block in the Fireburst Mystery Quilt was released.  I didn't get to share the pictures of my finished blocks in that post, well because they were not finished.  But I am happy to report that all 3 sets are complete!

First up, in absolutely no layout what so ever, are the blocks for my full sized scrappy version of the quilt.  I can't wait to get this one finished to see how it looks.

Baby quilt 1.

Baby Quilt 2.

Are you sewing along with us?  We'd love to see what you are making.  You can join in our Facebook Group here and also feel free to tag me @tishnwonderland or #fireburstmysteryquilt on Instagram.  It's not too late to join in the fun.  We have one more block to go next month and a whole lot of time to get this put together.

Fireburst Mystery Quilt--Block 2

Happy 1st of September!!!  I apologize for being a day late.  Let's get this month started off with a small boom in the form of Bock 2!  This block may take just a little bit longer than last month's but I promise it will still be pretty easy.  Below are the pieces we will be working with.

Bring Back UFO Busting

With the completion of anther baby quilt top and feeling like my sewjo may have returned, I'm thinking next weekend it may be time to bring back UFO Busting.  Does anyone agree?  Is anyone still out there?  I hope that you are.  So if you are up for it let's make a date of it.  I want to be here encouraging you to finish those old projects and the ones you start.  Don't let the title fool you, this party is for everyone, not just alien lovers.

Fireburst Mystery QAL--Block 1

Happy 1st of August!  Are you as ready as I am to start piecing an actual block for the Fireburst Mystery Quilt??  Good, lets get to it.

Fireburst Mystery Quilt--Flying Geese and Square in a Square

Happy July 1st to everyone!  It's time to get cracking on the next set of instructions on the Fireburst Mystery Quilt.  In just a few days, here in the United States fireworks will be lighting up the sky in celebration of our independence so think of this as a small show of sparklers in preparation for our New Years fireworks.

This month we will be making a few flying geese units and a (yes one) square in a square unit.  That's not so bad, right?

Fireburst Mystery Quilt-HST's and HFG

Are you as excited as I am to get started sewing on the Fireburst Mystery Quilt???  To those that have joined the Facebook Group and joined in the linky party it has been so much fun following along and seeing the fabrics you have picked out!  You guys are going to have some beautiful quilts and I can't wait to see them come together.  Today we are going to start the first piecing instructions with half square triangles (HST's) and half flying geese (HFG) units.  The best part, you don't have to make a ton of them!

We will be using the 2 at a time method using B and D squares to make HST's. 

My 32" version fabrics

My 64" version fabrics

With this method, you will use two B or two D squares, drawing a diagonal line on the back of one square.  Then placing them right sides together, you will stitch 1/4" seam on either side of the diagonal line.

Next cut on the diagonal line to form two HST's.  Press the seams open or toward the darker side and trim to the correct size.

Using the chart below and the appropriate B and D squares make the following HST's.

					Trim Size
Size Square	Quantity	Fabrics		HST's Yielded	Baby	Lap
B square	2	Fabric 1	Background	4	2.5"	4.5"
B square	2	Fabric 2	Background	4	2.5"	4.5"
D square	2	Fabric 1	Background	4	4.5"	8.5"
D square	2	Fabric 2	Background	4	4.5"	8.5"

Next we will be making Half Flying Geese units using C rectangles and A squares.  On the wrong side of the A squares draw a diagonal line.

Combine the C rectangle with the A square (as shown below ), right sides together, and stitch on the drawn line.  Note that the A square goes on the right side of the rectangle. Trim a 1/4" away from the sewn line and press open or toward Fabric A.  Use the chart below to make the following HFG units.  Finished Size Quantity C Rectangle A Square Total HFG  Baby  Lap         4  Fabric 1 Background           4 2.5" x 4.5" 4.5" x  8.5"         4  Fabric 2 Background           4 2.5" x 4.5" 4.5" x  8.5" And just like that, we are finished for the month.  Hopefully, that wasn't too bad.  If you would like a printable copy of the instructions you can down load it for free from my Craftsy Shop.  If you'd like to join our Facebook group to share your progress and see what others are up to, you can find it here.  Also feel free to tag me on Instagram @tishnwonderland or use the #fireburstmysteryquilt.  I can't wait to see your progress! I am unable right now to respond to your comments by email due to recent changes with Blogger.  If you would like me to respond please make sure you leave your email with your comment or email me directly at tishnwonderland(at)gmail(dot)com.  I appreciate all your words and hope that Blogger finds a way to "fix" this soon.  I love hearing from everyone.