And so it begins

A quick post to put my colors for the Bonnie Hunter Mystery out there. All pulled from stash except the green, mine were just too dark. That is my goal each year, just stash but what's a girl to do?

Finished this one up but pressing and quilting will wait until after the new year. Bears in the Woods by Debbie Thompson Macinnis of Piecing the Past. You can find the group on Facebook. Her next one starts in January.

Do you see a theme here? Digging into the batiks I have been collecting for years.

I have completed 5 of her quilt alongs and have found that I want to keep them all for myself! They are amazing!

BTW, that is my new to me longarm, Handiquilter Sixteen being used to drape the top on.

As Always,

Deb

And here it is April

Since I took a part-time job blogging has fell by the wayside so here is an update.

There are finally no more Thimbleberries fabrics left in my stash. I was once obsessed with them. This is a Quilt Along that was offered on Craftsy by Lynette Jennings. It is going to be auctioned of  for a dear friend that has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Bladder Cancer. 

This one was made in honor of the Jaycees. It will also go to auction to benefit the National Jaycee Senate Foundation.

Given to a good friend for her 60th birthday. Each block is named for a Bible event or symbol.  

This one went to a another good friend's grandson, Teddy. It ended up being his colors even though I did not know them. Divine intervention I tell you, lol

Finally finished this one. From an old magazine, memory fails me, the border is all pockets to put candy in. Made from men's hankies and the eyes are buttons. The spider web fabric glows in the dark! 

Good Fortune by Bonnie Hunter before going to the Quilter. It now complete along with On Ringo Lake. Pictures yet to be taken but soon I promise.

The new skill I have learned to do this winter is machine binding. What a difference it has made in my finishes. So glad I spent the time to perfect it!

We have a new addition to the family. Meet Molly Mae. She is a Cavachon. Cavalier King Charles and Bichon Friese mix. She is a joy and a challenge to have a puppy again! 

Our first cruise, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. 

The Besties, in fact the 2 the quilts were made for! 

The whole gang! Such fun and more plans are made for more cruising!

As Always,

Deb

Monday Mystery Link Up

Clue #2

is in the books!

I will now go from this

 

to this!

 

See you in 10 days.......

Linking up to MM#2 at Quiltville

As Always,

Deb

Pile of Perfect Patches

Here we are at our first Monday Mystery Link Up!

Not much time for words but.........

They are finished!

Here are my fabrics!

Wasn't going to do it, absolutely not going to get sucked in this year. I will just pull fabrics, mmmm, these are looking pretty good. Still no time to do it, set box aside. So much going on this year including our first cruise. No time, look at it again in January I say. Saw first clue, I can handle that before the madness begins. Complete. One more week before we leave and optimistic about Clue #2. 

And so it begins.....

Linking up to Quiltville and packing.....

As Always,

Deb

Final Mystery Link Up

The top is complete. I changed up the sashing to use the chevrons and added a couple of borders including my inspiration fabric. Thanks so much Bonnie for another awesome mystery!

You are only seeing a quarter of it as I was too darn tired to wrestle with it anymore. I think it will be a simple panto for the quilting and brown binding. I always make my binding, roll it and tag it for the specific quilt. They are stored in a box. I found that I did not like making the binding after it was quilted. Many quilts languished for lack of binding.  I misplaced the fabric or used it on something else and had to think too hard about it. I cut the backing, batting and do the binding before it goes onto another pile.

The summer shop hops are the time for me to look for another inspiration fabric or two so that when Bonnie announces her colors, I will have several to choose from. I look for fabrics that have at least 4 colors I could use and know that I have in stash. This one worked out to be close to Bonnie's colors. It is also time for stocking up on neutrals!

Speaking of binding, this is complete...........

It was a mystery by Nancy McNally. I have named it "Shades of Love" and yes, it is a wedding gift.
It was done with a panto that has a heart like leaf in it with believe it or not, red thread. Auditioned others but that looked best. Hope they like it!

I potted the amaryllis bulb form my sister and it is doing well. The table mat is from my sister-in-law. So fun to have another quilter in the family. When the nieces and nephews graduate we collaborate on their quilts. This year will be Marina and her quilt will be a purple "Twinkling Star". We plan to start cutting in the next few weeks.

 

This week's project will be a Barn Quilt for my SIL. She has a separate building for her studio and it just needs something. Doesn't hurt that the colors are our other common (besides the brothers) bond, The Minnesota Vikings!

 

Finished the next block in the "Let's Go Camping" quilt by Pat Sloan. Nine blocks set on point and yes, I have an inspiration fabric for that also.



 

I also attended the St.Paul Winter Carnival Coronation. I had a young friend in the running for "Queen of the Snow". She did not win but she sure did herself proud! I found the pic for the late sixties and found out how much it has changed!



 

Last, but certainly not least, I finally scored at our local Salvation Army. I know I donate quilty type things along with fabric but have never found anything that I could use until now...........

$5.00...........I was pleased and walked out with a grin on my face. SCORE

 

Hooking up to Quiltville. There are some fabulous quilts on there and even some completed!

 

As Always,

 

Deb

Mystery Link Up

Well the "Rapid Fire" clues got the best of me and I had to walk away. I felt like if I could not get them done that day, they all had to wait. And that's okay. I have never finished a Bonnie Mystery until the end of February anyway. This does not mean that I have not been busy. First up, progress on the Mystery. I changed up the layout and decided to calm it down a bit for me.

I am waiting on some more of the turquoise dot but am working on getting the blocks together. Some people would cringe at the thought of more chevrons but I like this layout and they won't be a problem! Right now I am thinking a small inner border (TBD), my inspiration fabric and then brown binding.

 

Next are the first finishes for 2018.

 

I live in Minnesota. I am a Vikings Fan. I have endured the days of old when they made it to the Super Bowl but never won. They have made it to the Divisional Champions spot this year. The Super Bowl is being held in Minnesota this year. Without screaming, I am being cautiously optimistic. BUT....I did feel it was time to finish this. Just in case they make history and win the Super Bowl in their home state which has never been done before. One SB win for them in my lifetime, please.





And this got quilted and bound.

It is the "Children's Library" BOM from Pat Sloan, free on her page. My version anyway. I did it mostly in "Little House on the Prairie" fabric that I had in stash. It will be gifted to a young girl, along with the book, who joined the family through marriage this past year. I hope her Bonus Mom and she will read it together as my daughter and I did at about the same age.

 

And this is finished. A 60th birthday present for a dear friend, "Dapper Dan" made from 2 charm packs(minus the pinks) of shirtings and suitings. Hope it keeps him warm.



 

And last but not least. My MIL stayed with us over Christmas. She saw my basket of quilts waiting to have binding made and applied. Now, I have offered to make her a quilt over the years but she has always declined. I did finish one for her that she had cut out years ago, an Irish Chain, turned out beautiful but she has never used it. It sits in her linen closet carefully wrapped. We went through the basket and she picked this one and wanted to hand sew the binding herself.  Ribbon Star Block. I told her I would bring it to her the next week with the binding applied. I did.

I really hated to see this one go as the FQ Stack came from a very dear friend but I guess if it made someone happy and she promised me she would use it, then it was time for it to go.

 

And the current afternoon delight is:

Pat Sloan's "Lets Go Camping" BOM #1, again on her web page.

 

Not bad, considering it is only the 11th.

 

 

Linking up to the Mystery on Quiltville !

 

 

As Always,

 

 

Deb



 



 

Progress

I finished Clue 5. Even with the wonderful celebrations and houseguests, I managed. The reason though is tough. We lost one of our family members this last week. The only thing I could do last Friday without crying was sew. And I did.

 

The fabric at the top is my inspiration fabric, It might end up as a border or backing. I am making mine larger, between a queen and king, however the math works out.

Our dog, Chloe, is again running free of pain. She was sick in November and had surgery. The diagnosis was an aggressive cancer. The prognosis was 4 - 5 months. We had 5 weeks. There must have been more in her body that they could not see. She enjoyed having a houseful of people to see the Vikings play and was her usual social self. Right after everyone left, things went downhill fast and by Thursday we had made the decision to stop her pain.  She is gone from the earth but forever in our hearts.

 

 Our other dog Lucy, is missing her too!

Linking up with the Mystery Link Up at Quiltville.

As Always,

Deb