Showing posts with label Celtic Solstice 2013 Mystery Quilt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celtic Solstice 2013 Mystery Quilt. Show all posts

Sunday 15 December 2013

Part 3 - Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

Part 3 - Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt - Pinwheels
Part 3 - Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt - Pinwheels
Are you enjoying Bonnie's Mystery Quilt as much as I am?  I can't believe we are into week 3 already.  This week it has been half square triangles and pinwheels.  I love pinwheels, as you can see here, and here.  Also, I am enjoying my cheerful colour scheme, especially on a day like today, when it has been so dark and dreary.
Part 3  Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt - HSTs
Part 3  Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt - HSTs
These are the only four pinwheels I have done so far.  I dithered over the number of pieces I had to cut out.  I must admit that cutting out the pieces and lining them up is my favourite bit.

Cutting from strips - Celtic Solstice Quilt
Cutting from strips - Celtic Solstice Quilt
Bonnie is always referring to queries from her reader about how long the strips should be when cutting out, so I thought I would show you my selection.  You can see that they vary - a lot! Some are charms squares, some are the width the fabric comes off the bolt.  There is no science to it, I just make an estimate of how many strips I need, and cut more if I am short.
Part 2 - Celtic Solstice Quilt - Chevrons Bonnie Hunter
Part 2 - Celtic Solstice Quilt - Chevrons
I got really behind last week, and even though I had cut out the pieces, Bonnie had published Part 3 before I had really started sewing Part 2.  I was determined to keep up, so this weekend has been a bit of a catch-up, but all my chevrons are now complete.  I took time to press each piece in the right direction and it paid off when I started sewing them together.

1 1/2" triangles - Off-cuts Celtic Solstice Quilt
1 1/2" triangles - Off-cuts
After all the trimming of the chevrons of Part 2, I have accumulated the inevitable pile of 1 1/2" triangles.  I still have the off-cuts from a similar exercise we did for the Easy Street Mystery Quilt. What did I do with them?  I would love to say I have converted them into placemats for Christmas gifts, but no, they have gone in the bin. One less thing to worry about in 2014!

Sunday 8 December 2013

Part 2 - Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

Part 2 - Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013
Part 2 - Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013
I have been away over the weekend, so getting Part 2 of Celtic Solstice done has not been so easy.  It felt like an age waiting for the second part to be released, so to avoid disappointment, I took my fabric with me and I managed to get most of the pieces cut.  Most of the fabric is prepared, but these are the only four units I have sewn together so far.  I have already learnt that you need to concentrate to sew the right side of the line, that the diagonals have to be in the right direction and that you need to sew the two neutral triangles together.  Let's say its a job that needs a bit of concentration.

Part 2 - Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt - Chevrons
Part 2 - Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt - Chevrons
Now, my hunch is that theses chevrons are for the border.  I only say that because I am working on a similar one for my Nearly Insane Quilt.  Following this gut feeling I felt that the chevron pattern needed to stand out, so I have switched my yellow and orange around from my original plan.

Part 1 & 2 - Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt
Part 1 & 2 - Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt
I must admit, I am finding it quite refreshing to have some different colours on the blog besides the red and white of my Nearly Insane Quilt.  It is great that we have  used all our colours already, and I can't wait to see it all come together.

Don't tell Suzi, but I had the help of some old friends.  This is Tiger resting his head against the pile of cut pieces for Part 2 of Celtic Solstice.  Good company, but not as keen on quilting as Suzi - so far.  Below is Pod.  I don't think he moved from this spot all day.

BTW, my sister has decided to join me this year for the Mystery Quilt.  She is using Inklingo.  She showed me what it involved.  She also showed me the shapes of the pieces to come!  Yes, Inklingo users get an insight of all the shapes in the quilt up front!  I am pretending that I never saw it.

Terry's Chocolate Orange
Terry's Chocolate Orange
It was lovely to see so many people linking up last Monday at Quiltville.  The blue and orange units reminded me of one of my other favourite things over Christmas!  I hope to get the rest of the units sewn up during the week, ready for Part 3 on Friday.
 

Sunday 1 December 2013

Part 1 - Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

Well we're off!
I can't begin to tell you how excited I have been in anticipation of this quilt. I enjoyed doing my Easy Street Quilt last year so much, I have pretty much been counting down the days since the Easy Street Big Reveal back in January!  
Part 1 Completed - Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt
Part 1 Completed - Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt
As I write I have stitched all the units for the star points for Part 1 of Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt, I just need to trim the rest of my blocks to tidy them up, so they look as neat as the blocks above. 

Bonnie has offered us plenty of options on how to approach this quilt, and I have opted to use the speciality rulers. I am using the Creative Grids 2-in-1 ruler to make my blocks, which does the same job as the two Tri-Recs rulers. The cutting was quite straight forward, and if you have any problems, visit Bonnie's website to see her videos.  
Creative Grids 2-1 Ruler - Tri Recs alternative
Creative Grids 2-1 Ruler - Tri Recs alternative
The only difference I have notices with the Creative Grids ruler is that it does not have the same special 'notch' as the Tri-Recs for alignment. 
So far we have had to cut strips in the neutral, pink and green, and then using the ruler to cut the appropriate shapes.
Front - Aligning Star Point Triangles
Front - Aligning Star Point Triangles
I had a few goes at aligning the pieces without much luck, but then finally got into my groove.  I found that if you align them, with the tip of the green piece filling in the missing tip of the pink triangle, making sure there is a VERY tiny bit overlapping at the bottom, everything was OK. 
Reverse side - Aligning Star Point Triangles Bonnie Hunter
Reverse side - Aligning Star Point Triangles
You can see this more clearly by looking at the reverse side, as I have shown above.  My finished block is only just the right size, despite checking my seam allowance, and placements carefully.

For the record - I am going for the smaller version, and as you can see, I have switched the colours around for my Celtic Solstice Quilt, with my colour choice listed below on the right
BLUE - GREEN
GREEN - YELLOW
YELLOW- ORANGE
ORANGE - PINK
NEUTRAL - NEUTRAL
 

Suzi - Celtic Solstice Quilt Assistant
Suzi - Celtic Solstice Quilt Assistant
Suzi is joining in - just a bit camera shy today.

Friday 15 November 2013

Nearly Insane Quilt - Draw 16

Salinda Rupp Quilt Blocks (Nearly Insane)
Salinda Rupp Quilt Blocks (Nearly Insane)
Here are Blocks 49, 66 and 81, and with the latest round of Nearly Insane blocks finished, it is time for the next draw, which are ....

14 - 29 - 56 - 95
 
I haven't had a chance to look at them yet, but over the weekend, I hope I will be able to make a start on them.
November 2013 - Red Berries
November 2013 - Red Berries
Unusually for mid-November, most of the trees still have their autumn colours, and we have had a few unexpected sunny days where they have looked really beautiful against the blue sky.  The bushes are also thick with red berries. However, we have had our first frost this week, and it looks like we finally have the start of winter here I the UK.


Fabadashery - Celtic Solstice Quilt Fabric Stash
Fabadashery - Celtic Solstice Quilt Fabric Stash
Along with the winter comes Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt.  This is what my fabric stash for the quilt is currently looking like, since I last wrote about it.  Plenty of green, yellow and pink, but struggling on softer / tangerine oranges.  However, over at Sparrow in Flight, there is a Givewaway - FOR INTERNATIONALS ONLY, sponsored by Fluffy Sheep Quilting, where I see they have a great range of orange fabric.

Suzi the Cat - waiting patiently ...
Suzi the Cat - waiting patiently ...
Suzi loved doing the Easy Street Quilt last year and can't believe that there are still two weeks to wait before we can print off the first set of instructions!

Joining up with Crazy Mom Quilt!

Monday 28 October 2013

Bonnie Hunter's 2013 Mystery Quilt - Celtic Solstice Introduction

Last week Bonnie Hunter over at Quiltville released her 2013 Mystery Quilt, which she is calling Celtic SolsticeI have pretty much been looking forward to doing her next 'Mystery Quilt', since I completed the last one, 'Easy Street', in January.  With all the hand stitching that goes on here at Fabadashery throughout the year, machining a quilt over the holidays is a real change for me, as I get to sit on the sewing machine and see a whole quilt come together in just a few weeks.
'Celtic Solstice' 2013 Mystery Quilt colour scheme Bonnie Hunter
'Celtic Solstice' 2013 Mystery Quilt colour scheme
With colours inspired from her trip to Ireland earlier this year, Bonnie has chosen a bright blue, bright green, bright yellow, orange and neutral colour combination.  The fabric colours above are my interpretation, taken from my stash. Also, she has also provided fabric yardage for two sizes of quilt.  I love the idea of doing the large size, but I need another large quilt to quilt like a hole in the head, so I think I will be opting for the smaller size this time around.

Last year for the Easy Street Mystery Quilt, I mixed up the colour scheme a bit, using warm reds, purples, greens, and tan.  I was really pleased with the result, and it makes for a lovely winter quilt.  However, when I pulled it out in the heat of the summer to show a friend the colours just looked WRONG for that time of year.  Since then I have had it in my head to do Bonnie's 2013 Mystery Quilt in a summer colour scheme. If I am honest I have had this colour scheme in mind for a quilt all year, so whatever Bonnie chose, I was going to adapt it to the colours I have been building up in my stash!


Celtic Solstice Quilt - Colour Alternative Pastel
Celtic Solstice Quilt - Colour Alternative
I will be using lime green, yellow, tangerine and soft pink. Comparing the colours in Bonnie's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt, I still have green, yellow and orange, but have shifted it around the colour wheel towards red / pink instead of the blue, and as you can see, my fabrics are less saturated in colour. 

Colour Wheel Pocket Artists
Colour Wheel
Also, I noticed that the two greatest amounts of yardage are the blue and orange - opposites on the colour wheel.  Oh dear, I am trying to second guess the outcome of Celtic Solstice already!
2 Peak in 1 Ruler - Creative Grids
2 Peak in 1 Ruler - Creative Grids
Like last time we will be using the Easy Angle Ruler, and this time Bonnie is introducing the Tri-Recs Rulers.  Again, I don't have these, but I do have what I believe to be the Creative Grids alternative, the 2 peaks in 1 Ruler.  Do you think this will be OK?

With the colour scheme sorted, the next dilemma I have is to set up a Leaders and Enders project ...