1/8/15 - CCLQ @ Dee Dee's House

It seems like FOREVER since the CCLQ group met!!  Today we were at Dee Dee's house.  It was our quarterly scheduling meeting.  There were 9 members present.  We were all cozied up in Dee Dee's living room with the gas logs going on this cold North Carolina morning.  (So cold, in fact, that the schools called for a delayed opening today!)

The new schedule looks like this:

Here's DeeDee taking down the Nots (as in not this day for me or not that day for her.)

January:

1/8 - Dee Dee
1/15 - Ruth B.
1/22 - Candy
1/29 - Deborah

February:

2/5 - Joy
2/12 - Cheryl K.
2/19 - Gayle
2/26 - Ella

March:

3/5 - Ruth S.
3/12 - Dee Dee
3/19 - Joanna
3/26 - Ruth B.

Members, please be sure to make a note of these dates in your calendars.  ESPECIALLY the day/days that you have to host!!!  :o))

Busy Hands along with Show and Tell:

Deborah was hand quilting.

Cheryl K. was marking diagonals for HSTs.

Linda completed her Sashiko stitching. (Sorry, Linda! I thought I got a better shot of your project.)

Cheryl showed off her Cocktail Apron that a friend requested (made from his ties)...

And Dee Dee showed off the one that Cheryl made for her years ago.

Ruth B. was knitting during the meeting...

As was Candy.

Ruth S. showed off her (nearly completed) mini quilt.

Ella showed off her Blue and Beige quilt based on the Jinny Beyer border print.

Ella is particularly pleased with her MITERED BORDERS!!

 

Cheryl requested a color consult regarding a Chemo Quilt that she and a group of friends will be making.

Ella and Ruth S. were each quilting on their Red and White quilts. This shot shows Ella rearranging her quilt. See the quilt in motion? Ruth is going in for a stitch.

And in this shot, we caught Ella adjusting her glases and Ruth S. pulling the thread through.  See her hand in motion?

Joy was busy sewing down the binding on her Crumb Quilt...

And Dee Dee was busy hiding behind her UN-sewing!  She took a NEW project to SC with her and THIS was the result! 

Until next time...
Happy Quilting and... Happy New Year!!!

Mystery Monday Link-up, Week Six

Welcome to Week Six of this Grand Adventure and our Mystery Monday Link-up!  As you may recall, Bonnie had a New Year's Eve surprise for the hundreds of quilters who are participating in the mystery... The GRAND FINALE!!

A while back, Bonnie designed a block called Big Bang and she wanted to play with quilt layouts that used the block.  After a trip to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan in May of 2014, Bonnie wanted this year's mystery to reflect the beauty of that place.  She wanted to give it a fresh look and modern look.  What we got, when she combined these two desires, was a quilt that was BRIGHT and BOLD, but used the colors found in the decor of the old hotel.

Here's a photo of the Big Bang block components:

Joy's block with her purple and blue substitutions.

This photo shows Joy's all stacked up and ready to stitch together:

 Clue 6 also required the cornerstone pieces to be cut for completing the quilt.  Joy used hers as leader/enders while piecing the blocks:

And she sewed the sashing pieces together using Bonnie's leader/ender method, too:

ALL of Joy's blocks were completed on New Year's Eve.  Woohoo!!  Party in the sewing room!!! :o)

Big Bang block designed by Bonnie Hunter, this block sewn by Joy!!

On New Year's Day, Joy began to play with her quilt layout:

First, with the blocks set side by side...

Then, a single block set with the sashing...

Finally, a row of blocks set with sashing.

Here is the entire (half-sized) quilt laid out with sashing (minus a wayward unit.):

It sure is busy!!

Joy, decided to make the quilt as Bonnie described.  This photo shows all of her rows stacked up and ready to be sewn:

This shot transports us to the morning of January 2nd.  Joy was on a mission!!  ALL of her rows have been sewn.  Here is her "not quite" quilt top:

Drum roll, please...

Joy completed her quilt top on Friday night!!  Would you like a look at her Mysterious Scrap Explosion???

Here it is (minus the pieced borders) for your viewing pleasure:

WOW!!!  That is one BUSY quilt!!!  :o))

In the meantime Britt was having a slightly different adventure!  She fell behind on making the angled chevron units and the green and white checkerboard so after the big reveal she had a chance to decide whether to keep working on the undone clues.  After a lot of time at the design "wall (uh, floor) she came to the conclusion that her green units were taking away from her favorite parts of the quilt. Here are some of the ideas she tried out along the way:

Bonnie's version of the block with a different center and different sashing options:

These were good options but both required more piecing of the angled chevron blocks (and she was feeling a tad lazy...)

What if the units were rearranged?

This could be cool, but for Britt the black pinwheels dominated a bit too much. So her favorite parts - the broken dishes blocks - got a chance on the design wall by themselves:

broken dishes from clue 1 and clue 5 arranged as big Xs -fun!

broken dishes clue 1 with possible pink centers

And finally this option - a setting Britt has always wanted to try.

Kind of a shocker to go this simple compared to the original - but this was more "Britt-ish" as the NT gals like to say.  :)  So stay tuned to see how it all works out for this quilt!  Black sashing and a turquoise border are anticipated being added - but we won't know till we get there!

And for those wondering what will become of the other units made but not used...there's a plan!  The clue 5 broken dishes units where transformed into more of the clue one broken dish units. The extra turquoise and white half square triangles removed from clue 5 will be added to her in-progress Jamestown Landing (another great Bonnie Hunter pattern). Score!  And there are plans for the other units too including using the chevrons as pinwheels - either on the back of the mystery quilt or as a stand-alone quilt.

Whew! That was a long post!  Thanks for going on this mysterious journey with us!  We had a great time and hope you did too. We also want to thank Bonnie Hunter for designing the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt and passing it along to the hundreds of quilters who participated in the fun... including us!!

Here's a photo, nipped from Bonnie's blog, showing how her quilt turned out:




And...

No surprise, here!  We're linking up with Bonnie and the other mystery quilters.  We're link number 35 this week.  Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects (in various stages of completion) and consider making a quilt for yourself or one to donate to your favorite quilting charity.

Until next time...
Happy Quilting!!!

Grand Illusion, Week Six

Happy New Year, everyone!  (Just a little late.)

Britt and Joy have been at this mystery quilt thing for SIX WEEKS.  Clues, like clock work, coming on Friday each week.  NOT THIS TIME!!!

Bonnie Hunter, of Quiltville.com,  released the LAST clue in the Grand Illusion Mystery at the stroke of midnight, ringing in the New Year with a BIG REVEAL of her quilt!!!

Here are the pieces that will be incorporated into the blocks:

This photo shows Joy's block components.

Remember, Britt's components are batiks (and MUCH more PINK!)

Can you wait for Monday?

That's when we will link-up with the rest of the Mystery Quilters for the final reveal.

Until then...
Happy Quilting!!!

Mystery Monday Link-up, Week Five

It's Monday.  The weather here in North Carolina is "soupy" today.  Joy woke with a RAGING headache today.  The barometric pressure does it every time.  :o((

As noted, it's Monday.  The Monday after Christmas AND it's Link Party Day in Quiltville (we're link # 94)!!  We survived the Holiday and we survived Clue 5.  Well, Joy did!  Britt hasn't checked in.  She's been out of town, so I'm imagining that NOT MUCH sewing got done.

Here is the result of this VERY quick clue:

Joy's units sewn for Clue 5.

Britt's units will be much the same, with hers in batiks (and with pink where my purple is.)

We're wondering WHEN we will begin to put all these units together!  We'll find out on Friday.  :o))

Until then...
Happy Quilting!!!

Grand Illusion, Week Five

It's the day after Christmas
and all through the house
you could hear Joy lamenting
that Britt was out (of town.)

Clue Five came and went at such lightning speed
and the handy, dandy cutter (fortunately) won't be of great need.

Cutting and sewing
is a lonely affair
with a sewing partner not there,

The clue was reviewed.  The cutting was done.
She sewed and Wah-la!  She was already done!!!

Thank you, dear Bonnie, for a fast and easy clue.
Oh, sewing buddy, what about YOU??

Joy's quilt parts:

Strips of "turquoise" and yellow.

Clue 5, Part 1

Clue 5, Part 2 incorporated the "pink".

And wait, you will,
for the Monday reveal.
Oh, wait.  Oh, wait, if you will
to see what the mystery quilts
are looking like still.

(Please forgive the cheesy post.  There's no editor available to temper my silliness.)

Until Monday...
Happy Quilting!!!

Mystery Monday Link-up, Week Four

Welcome to yet another edition of the Mystery Monday Link-up.  We link with Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com to share our progress on 2014's Mystery Quilt.  (We're link number 84 this week.)

How can we POSSIBLY have been at this Mystery for a MONTH already?!?!

Here you have it!  We have arrived at Week FOUR of the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt.  Four weeks equals four clues.

And this week we have...

Clue One revisited!!!

We'll begin with a look back at a photo from Bonnie's instructions for Clue 1:



That represents the coloration of Britt's blocks.

And these were the Broken Dishes blocks in Joy's fabric choices:

 For this week, take a look at a photo from Bonnie's instructions for Clue 4:

Again, those are the colors that Britt is using for her quilt...

And Joy's version of BD #2 and BD #3 for the BIG reveal:

Britt is away this week and may or may not have any time to sew.  Joy is looking forward to spending a fair amount of time in her studio over the break.  Here's hoping that YOU are able to enjoy some quilting time, too!

Until next time...
Happy Holidays!!!

Grand Illusion, Week Four

Another Friday has come and gone.  Along with it came Clue 4 in the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt.

Britt remembered to check for new clues early this in the AM this time around.  But with last minute quilting on another project, there was not really much time for the mystery. Just time to ponder the new clue and wonder how it will all end up!

Joy was so busy with Holiday shopping and various errands that she didn't manage to take a look at Bonnie's latest set of instructions until just before dinner time.

THIS WEEK'S CLUE...

Here are the components for Joy's quilt from this week's clue:

Joy kept insisting on putting together "pink"/neutral HST units during our Saturday sewing session:

Britt's cutting machine makes cutting triangles a breeze - which is not exactly a bonus when you are cutting the wrong fabrics! oops!:

At least, the neutral triangles were meant for Clue 4!!

Britt got cutting done for her triangles and her black squares. The yellow fabrics were not at hand so still have to yet to be cut.

Here Joy is back on the right track:

Those triangles ARE neutrals - not yellows!

You'll NEVER believe it!!!

Joy finished this clue (for a half sized quilt) in ONE afternoon and evening!!!  ALL of the cutting and ALL of the sewing has been completed.  Not just portions of the clue, mind you.  She finished the ENTIRE clue!  Now she can concentrate on finishing the balance to clue 2 and 3 (since she didn't do any leaders or enders today.)

Until Monday...
Happy Quilting!!!