Turkey Tracks: March 26, 2016
My “Allietore” Quilt
The Bonnie Hunter 2015 Mystery Quilt
Here’s my “Allietore.”
Bonnie Hunter, in my humble opinion, hit this one right out of the ball park.
The directions on her web site are down now, but she will be coming out with the pattern soon.
(For those of you who do not know, Bonnie Hunter does an end-of-year mystery quilt each year. She releases the color way she is going to use in late October usually. And the first “clue”–a unit in the quilt–is released on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. She gives us a new “clue” every Friday morning until the units are completed. She then “reveals” the completed quilt sometime between Christmas and New Years.
This is my third Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, and I wish I had been on board for such quilts as “Roll, Roll Cotton Boll” and “Carolina Christmas.” I’ve done “Celtic Solstice” and “Grand Illusion.”
Bonnie was inspired by her trip to Italy for this quilt–and, indeed, gold, red, taupe, black, and grey are seen in buildings all over Italy. I was watching the first episode of the documentary CHEF’S TABLE, which was set in Italy, and was amazed by all the gold buildings.
I learned so much with this quilt. The scalloped edge, of course. I’ve never done that–and Bonnie made it so, so easy. I’ll never be afraid of one again.
And look at the border construction with those large neutral rectangles, each with a grey square in the right side so that it helps make the triangle pattern. (We laid those in and then trimmed them to the border.)
We could use the Companion Angle ruler to make the red/neutral/black units that surround the gold squares. Easy Peasy with Bonnie’s instructions. Ditto the neutral/red/grey units around the red squares. I’ve already been playing with those units in other quilt blocks.
Friend Becca Babb Brott (Etsy store, Sew Me A Song) helped me pick the light grey Carolyn Friedlander fabric for the back. The pantograph is “Marmalade” by Patricia Ritter and Leisha Farnsworth. I love this pantograph!!! Thanks, Bonnie for introducing this one to me.
Many of the neutral fabrics are from a collection by Cotton & Steel fabric designers.
What’s been really fun about this pattern is all the different colorways people have used to construct their quilt. One of my favorites involved lime green, a green/blue teal, a darker teal, grey, and neutrals. One of those may be in my future… Right after “Carolina Christmas” and “Roll Roll Cotton Boll.”
THANK YOU BONNIE!!!
I can’t wait until Thanksgiving 2016.
Louisa Enright's Blog 
So beautiful! The colors you chose are wonderful. I had a giggle when I spotted the scissors fabric. I’ve been so itching to do a scalloped border but I’m a fairly new quilter and haven’t gotten my courage up yet!
I’ve avoided scalloped borders for 20 years. Turns out they are easy. Bonnie has a good scalloped pattern. You quilt your quilt completely, then draw in your corners (gell pen) and work toward the center with a gentle scallop. You can adjust when you get to the last three scallops at the center. You then sew your bias (very important) binding on your gell pen line and trim AFTER the binding is completely on the quilt. Bonnie included the scallop patterns in her instructions to “Allietore.” The same patterns are also in her book STRING FLING, with the quilt “Zukkerwatte.” Trace the patterns on to plastic template or cardboard and trace. Add at the bottom if you want a wider border. Go for it! Don’t wait 20 years like I did.
I just love this one Lovey! Such a lovely pattern and I like the backing too. Beautifully done!