Daisy Chain Mystery Progress

After weeks where it feels like my progress on things has been a complete crawl...I am happy to say I'm completely caught up on something.  I was starting to feel like this might be a quilt along that I let get to far ahead of me.  I had the first two week's worth of instructions finished but found myself two weeks behind.  When I pulled up the online posting schedule last week so see what instructions posted this week, my heart skipped a beat.  The week of April 29th was a catch up week.  Exactly what I needed!

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.

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.

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 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.

I Joined a QAL

This may or may not surprise you, but I have decided to join in on a quilt along.  I have not been sewing full steam ahead now for almost three weeks (maybe four).  Life has thrown a major curve ball that has left me feeling a bit empty and my head is spinning.  I've been focusing on me and decided that this QAL with Roseanne and Sue at Home Sewn By Us is exactly what I needed.  There are really no rules, no time frame to finish and three quilts to choose from.  I will be making the Up From Here modern quilt because, well...I need everything to be up from here.  Seems fitting.

I decided from the get go this will be a quilt that I will sell.  With fall right around the corner, I decided to go with the colors of the WV Mountaineers, blue and gold.  This would make someone a fun football quilt.  I took to Facebook to take a poll on which color version people liked better, more blue or more gold.

I actually found myself drawn to the one of the right, more gold.  But almost overwhelmingly, people like the one on the left better.  The people spoke and so I sew on.

Fire Burst Mystery Quilt--Details

I have been working hard behind the scenes over here to get things ready for the Fire Burst Mystery QAL, the newest pattern by myself and my husband David (Dave the Quilt Engineer).  The pattern has been tested and is being reviewed.  All is looking great.  To make things official I wanted to discuss the tentative schedule for the quilt along.

May-fabric requirements and cutting instructions
June-piecing instructions
July-piecing instructions
August-Block 1
September-Block 2
October-Block 3
October-Layout reveal
November & December-finish quilt tops

January 1st fireworks display of quilts!

Why January 1st?  January 1st is a special day for me and this year especially.  It will mark my 40th birthday and what a better way to celebrate than with friends!  Also, we will be about half way through my daughter's senior year of high school so I'll probably need a pick me up.  Nothing makes me feel better than beautiful quilts.  Plus, who doesn't love fireworks to ring in the new year?  This will be a more quite way to enjoy them without terrorizing the neighborhood dogs.

I'm also happy to announce, that the QAL will have sponsors!!!  So far I have had six very generous quilters step forward with prizes to celebrate our finished quilts.  I will be contacting a few more possible sponsors in the next few weeks and announcing all of them very soon.

If you are new to quilting or quilt alongs maybe I should define what a mystery quilt is and how it works.  You are given clues one at a time.  The first clues are picking fabrics and cutting instructions.  Then the piecing instructions are given in small chunks.  Part of the fun is arranging your pieces seeing if you can crack the code of what the top will look like.  The very last set of instructions will be the quilt layout.

Fire Burst will be beginner friendly and offered in baby size (32" square) and lap (64" square).  No crazy Y seams or half rectangle shapes.  Worried about being able to keep up?  I promise that the schedule will be very forgiving.  A month will be more than enough time to finish each step of the quilt, or play catch up if you get behind.  The last piecing instructions will be given the first of October with the layout a week later.  You will have from then till December to finish piecing your quilt top or quilt your quilt top.

I also understand that not everyone is comfortable with mystery quilts.  It's a big commitment not knowing what you are making.  With the layout reveal at the beginning of October, there is still plenty of time to make a quilt top/finished quilt before the end of December deadline and join in the fun.  The baby quilt is easily pieced in an afternoon.

Another great QAL getting ready to start is Sandra at mmm!quilts Playtime Plus Quilt.  Playtime Plus was a featured quilt in Benartex's ezine, Modern By The Yard.

Photo curtsey of Modern By The Yard 

The magazine is a free download full of goodies.  Hop over to mmm!quilts and read more about the quilt along, find out how to get your copy of the ezine and read all about the awesome sponsors and prizes.

Back to Fire Burst...will you be sewing with David and I and partying on January 1st?  I hope you will.  We will kick things off starting next week with picking out fabrics and cutting instructions.  I hope that I can provide you with guidance in your decisions.  You can always email me with questions.  If you are sewing along, please grab my button on the side bar (clicking on it will direct you to my QAL landing page) and let everyone know, you will be brining in 2019 (that's so weird to type) with a bang!

The Beginning of a Mystery?

I unofficially dubbed myself the Queen of QAL's last year.  I don't think it is much of a secret if we have been friends in real life or in quilt blog land that I love a great QAL and at the top of that list...a mystery QAL.  I've dreamed of hosting my own, but so far have shied away from the idea.

I recently gave the members of our guild a challenge, the Birthday Challenge.  The idea is to create anything (quilt, mug rug, purse, ect) using primarily your birthstone color.  The idea being that someone could guess your birth month based on what you created.  Everyone will bring their finished projects to the June meeting so we can share them.

For my item, I decided to pull from the David's design book.  I'm his wife, I have permission.  Legally they are half mine any way...or that is our joke.  I landed on one I loved and went to work writing a pattern for it.  After the numbers where crunched and graphics where made, I started testing the pattern and making the quilt.

 Then it dawned on me...this pattern would make a great first mystery quilt.  The pattern would be great for a beginner and would look great in so many different color ways.  It only requires a background fabric and three additional fabrics.

If there is interest in a mystery QAL, I will offer the quilt in two different sizes, baby and a larger lap quilt.  When I made my test quilt (baby size)  I was easily able to prep, cut and construct the quilt in one afternoon.  So, I'm officially putting this feeler out there to see if anyone would like to play along on what should be a quick and easy mystery quilt.  So, would you be interested in joining in?  Would there be anything in planning it that could make it easier on you?  When you work on QAL's do you prefer to have an entire month to work on a set of instructions or do you prefer every two weeks? 

So that's it.  I am asking you to trust me completely and sew blindly.  Well, not with your eyes closed that's just a lawsuit waiting to happen.  More like a quilting trust fall.  I think you know what I mean.  Maybe I can even drum up some sponsors?  Respond below and let me know what you think.

Today I'm linking up with Main Crust Monday.

Back to QAL Work We Go

Time for a bit of a project update and what I've been up to.  I have a ton going on at work, leading a system conversion from a very archaic computer system to a much better Window based platform, so when I get home in the evenings and weekends, I'm ready to unwind and not think about work.

Above is a look at my cut pieces for the Magnolia Mystery Quilt going on now over at Meadow Mist Designs.  If you have not participated in one of Cheryl's mystery quilt alongs before, I HIGHLY encourage you to hop over there and check it out.

It's been a week or two since I have caught up on the QAL's I'm participating in, so this past week was spent mainly catching up on those.

Oh, deer, just look at that moose under the mistletoe!  The moose and deer blocks caught me up on Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilt's Have A Jolly Little Christmas Quilt.  I just realized as I'm typing this, the last block will be given to us this weekend.  Could we have a quilt finish before Christmas 2017???  I think we just might.

Next up, was the The Double Star Block in Cindy at Stitchin At Home's Medallion Quilt BOM.  I am really loving me some purple and green with this quilt.

Goodnight Moon is the next block in Pat Sloan's The Children's Library BOM.  Only two more to go and this extremely fun QAL will be coming to an end as well.  I had hoped to finish up the Aurifil BOM and show you as well, but we are not currently on speaking terms at the moment.  It is packed full of applique and at the moment, my head just isn't in that game.

Taking a break from the piecing scene, David and I borrowed my mom's garage for a basting quilt session.

We were able to baste four smaller quilts, all currently waiting for me to pick them up and quilt them.

Here is a picture of David and his Poodle Quilt.  While scrolling through Instagram, he ran across Sue at Seven Oak Street Quilt's Poodle block she made for hive queen Karen at Tu-Na Quilts.  Loving all things of the 50's; 57 Chevys, girls in poodle skirts, you get my drift.  He decided to super size the block, change the piecing up a bit and create his own throw back to the 50's with some recent fabric purchases.  I'm thinking that negative space is screaming for some fun flow quilting.  What do you think?

Even after all that was finished last weekend, I snuck in some cutting time, to cut out a quilt for my daughter's 17th birthday.  I'm pretty sure she doesn't read my blog, but just incase she does, I won't let the cat out of the bag quite yet on what it is, but it is another one of Lorna's wonderful creations.  Do I have a Sew Fresh Quilts pattern obsession?  Hmmm?

I think I have confessed before, I'm a cluttered mess.  I'm an OCD person's nightmare...ask David.  However, there comes a point about every 3-6 months I can't take it anymore; the stash starts stacking up (from growth or laziness), the sewing space becomes cluttered...I have to clean it up.

So in keeping it real here on the blog (because I keep telling myself I'm not the only one who is like this), I pulled out my fabric totes to "file" the fabrics in there correct bins.

It became clear pretty quick like, that the fabric wasn't going to fit in their respective bins.  AHHHHH.

But Caroline tried to convince me everything was okay, because she fit in this newly almost empty bin...sigh.

So after several go rounds in my head I opted to purchase three more fabric bins and do the fabric shuffle.  My whites, blues and reds are in the biggest of the totes (how patriotic of me) and everything else fell in line.  So the stash is back under control and arranged in the back room.  The cats, bless their hearts, love fabric shuffle time, because the living room is transformed into a kitten playground.

I am feeling more grounded now and believe I can create once again.  I've come to the realization that with two serious quilters in the house, something must be done.  Quilting has taken over the house.  If that sounds like a daydream, trust me it's not.  There is talk about converting our porch into a sunroom/quilting room.  I do love my porch, however, we don't use it.  Why?  Because I'm inside quilting!  This would allow us to have a dedicated room for quilting and let the dinning room be a dinning room (since I'm now cooking again, thank you Instant Pot), the spare bedroom be a bedroom and the breakfast nook be...well something other than home to my Sweet Sixteen.  But, we shall see.  A girl can always dream

Magnolia Mystery

It's my favorite time of year again, mystery quilt time over at Meadow Mist Designs!  This year's mystery is called Magnolia Mystery.  I was more than happy to pattern test the mystery quilt for Cheryl as a mystery again this year.  It's been so hard to keep quiet about it for the last several months, but I'm happy to share my progress on the quilt as the clues were revealed to me.

On July 6th, Cheryl released the fabric requirements for the quilt along.  On my trip to the quilt store I knew immediately one of the fabrics I would be using.  It was a wonderful black fabric with lots of bright flowers on it.  After going back and forth picking out coordinating colors and grabbing my favorite bolt of white on white, I had my color palette secured.

Next month the cutting instructions will be released.  If you haven't decided to play along yet, there is plenty of time.  With three fabrics and a background to pick out, really it's not that scary.  And I promise this quilt will not disappoint.  Are you playing along with this year's mystery quilt?  If sewing blindly scares the pants off you, put your pants back on.  Cheryl will email you a picture of what the finished top looks like, she just asks that you keep the final layout a secret for the others that are sewing it as a mystery.

And she has prizes!!!  At the end of the quilt along, she asks that you send her a picture of your finished top or quilt and she will create a parade of quilts on her blog, so that we can all see what everyone has made.  No blog required to play, just email her a picture.  Then she will randomly draw winners from the parade of quilts.  One thing is for certain, it is going to be a great time!  Join us all and come sew along!

Today I'm linking up with Main Crust Monday.

Free Fall Finish

It's done! It's finished!  Free Fall!  This quilt was so much fun to make, from picking out the fabrics, right down to piecing it together.  Then came the quilting...I decided on good ol' straight lines with my walking foot.  Simple.  Easy.

Well, it should have been simple and easy.  For starters, I decided to put a small black border (like 1.5") around it to make sure I didn't loose any of my points to squaring up or binding (hindsight, probably should have used the gray).  I picked out a lovely white backing with large clusters of flowers in colors that match the floating leaves on the front.  At the point I was basting it together, I realized you would probably be able to see the dark prints on the front through the thin batting and backing.  I had plenty of the cotton batting and decided why not double layer it??  So I went for it, doubling the layer of batting to two, pinning and then baste stitching around the edge of the quilt.  Go me!!

I started stitching in the middle of the quilt using Aurifil #2610 Light Blue Grey 50wt and used the edge of my walking foot to space my lines, so they ended up about a 1/2"(ish) apart.  I knew the close stitching and extra batting would make this quilt a bit more stiffer, but that's okay, it's a wall hanging.  Things were going well until I was reaching the end of the quilt.

As you can see, I was ending up with quite a pucker...URGH!!!  I worked it out as best I could and stopped stitching when I reached the edge of the black.  I pulled her away from the machine and regrouped.  I would not abandon this project.

Over all it wasn't bad, but that pucker was FRUSTRATING.  What to do???  Instead of focusing on the panic of the pucker, I turned her around and started quilting the other side to buy myself some time before dealing with the problem, problem procrastination. 

Unfortunately, I just ended up with a pucker on that side as well.  My solution?  I'm sure there were much better ones to pick from, but I picked out the remaining basting stitches and quilted on.  I assume it was the extra layer of batting that was causing things to pull more and contort.  Maybe not, but that's the story I'm sticking with.

Here it is all finished on the floor.  Part of me thought about leaving it just like this and not trying to trim and square it up.  Call it a new type of quit finishing...really raw edge binding maybe?  Add a little more soft poof to your quilts? 

Figuring my new trend didn't stand a chance of catching on, I trimmed away and squared as best I could.  I didn't get a picture to share of what that first trimming looked like.  Trust me, somethings shouldn't be seen.  You are welcome (it was bad). 

So I sucked it up and trimmed some more, put a smile on my face and bound this quilt.  Wonky Donkey or not, I love it!

I love the pattern, I love the designer, I love my fabrics, I had a ton of fun creating it and created it with a bunch of really great online friends!!!  This quilt made memories and I will love her forever, bobbles, wobbles, puckers and all.  Best of all...she's finished.

A huge thank you to Sandra at mmm!quilts for hosting this QAL for us.  She did an amazing job writing the pattern and walking us through the steps to create it.  Sandra, I'm so proud of you and the success you have had with your first QAL!  Did you make the Free Fall Quilt?  Don't forget to hop over to mmm!quilts tomorrow to link up for Sandra's finished (quilted or pieced) linky party.  I can't wait to see what everyone made. 

Today I'm linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers ,Wednesday Wait Loss, Free Fall Linky.

QAL's-Haulk Mode

I'm still plugging away over here, working on QAL's and getting that pattern ready to release.  After my crazy productive week the week before, last week I kind of hit a brick wall.  I didn't really do anything-at-all.  It happens.

David has been gone since last Friday for work again, and I knew I needed to buckle down and be productive over my quiet weekend (well as quiet as it gets with a teenage daughter in the house).  On Friday it was like my batteries recharged.  I hit the coin box and found that flashy star on Super Mario Brothers that warped me into moving at super quick speeds.  I turned on quilting Haulk Mode (no I didn't turn green).

Saturday, I popped into a local quilt store, Helen's Hen House, to pick up a few FQ's to add to my Solstice challenge quilt.  That's where I picked up those yummy pieces above...I think I'm going to need more.  What was suppose to be a quick trip ended up being a 1 1/2 hour event.  The place was hopping and I ran into quilting friends and made a new quilting friend.  But the quilt store magic had to end...I had things to do!  So back home I went.

I was able to quickly finish the straight line quilting on my pattern quilt, which leaves me with one more to quilt.

I was able to get that quilt basted and cut binding strips for four quilts.

Next up, was the Freefall 1/2 blocks.  Sandra at mmm!quilts had emailed me the instructions for the next set of blocks so that I could test them before she released them on Monday.  Making that a major priority, I knocked those out pretty quickly.

Here are all the blocks playing on my design wall.

I needed a carrot chocolate bar on a stick, dangling in front of me as a reward.  I decided to do a fabric pull for the three blocks I need to make to finish section A of Pat Sloan's 182 Solstice Challenge.  I will only allow myself to work on this project once everything is completed.

Now on to the blocks I completed.  I had three blocks to catch up on;  Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts had released the Santa block for the Jolly Christmas Quilt and he had yet to visit my design wall, April's Aurifil block needed to be completed, and Pat Sloan released The Children's Library May block two days early.  I cut the pieces for all three blocks and slowly (and carefully) worked on them all together.

Santa finished up first.  Isn't he just the jolliest? 

I even pieced one of the five rows together.

The Children's Library Block for May was Green Eggs and Ham.  I dug into my stash of green and went to work.  This block goes together log cabin style and for some reason, I always end up with a wonky block.  My 1.5" piece blocks got a little bit off, but I didn't sweat it and improvised.  As long as I ended up with a 12.5" block that looked dag gone close, I was happy.  I think Dr. Seuss would agree, whimsical is better than perfect?

And here they are all together.

Last but definitely not least, was the Aurifil BOM by Sue Marsh New Direction.  I put this block off for half of a month because the templates and triangles scared the crap out of me.  Something I've never really worked with.  I cut very carefully and took my time sewing.

I have to say the block turned out much better than I expected.  Once put together, I did lose a few points on the arrow, but hey some times in life, the arrows that point us aren't quite as sharp as they should be.  This is just one of those times. (It's not done losing points either...shhhh)

And here are the start of my rainbow blocks, ranging from blue to red purple.

So this is what my list looked like at the end of Sunday.

Not bad if I do say so myself.  I also finished making a pressing board to use for bigger pieces of fabric, but I think I'll save that for another post.  This one is about eye candy.  

So for now, my Haulk muscles have retracted and I've returned to little ol' Tish N Wonderland.  I still need to keep the forward momentum going, but for now I think I deserve a nap.

Today I'm linking up with Freefall Linky, Wednesday Wait Loss, Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social, Main Crush Monday and Linky Tuesday.