Tag: Bonnie Hunter’s 2016 mystery quilt “En Provence

Turkey Tracks: Quilty Projects

Turkey Tracks:  February 24, 2017

Quilty Projects

I’ve been quilting The Farmer’s Wife Quilt off and on all week.

One more pass, and it will come off the long arm, ready for binding and a label.  Then pics to follow.  I love the backing for this quilt.

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The downstairs bedroom’s bed is still covered with projects in progress.  Yes the goal is to finish them up.

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The bulk is what’s on this bed is piles of fabrics for the Katja Marek EPP millifiore quilt.  Somehow, I need to see all of the fabrics as I go along.

Units from the 2016 Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, En Provence, are in a pile ready to be sewn together.

There’s fabric for a 12 1/2-inch foundation pieced block project in a pile there as the long arm table is presently busy.

Ditto the big Aeroplane bag I just made, from Sew Sweetness.

And parts of Jen Baker’s BIG STAR quilt, made from BIG half-square triangles, is on the pillows.  I’m going to use color-specific selvages.  I think they will work.

A pile of fabric with text is over there, for the Valse Brillante EPP quilt designed by Willlyene Hammerstein I’ve been putting together.

My goodness!!

That leaves out the Tula Pink 100 City blocks.  I need to do February’s blocks.  I’m using Cotton + Steel fabrics, and they are all in their own bin in the quilt room.  These blocks are fun to do and quick and easy.

I don’t know.  Maybe it will all get cleared out by…summer visitors.

Here’s where the Milli is now.  I’m working on the blue at the bottom–and the last piece will establish the whole left border.  This quilt is a wild child for sure.  I have no idea if I’ll like this quilt or…not.  It’s hard to pick out fabric for the rosettes.  I have a somewhat clear idea of the whole, but…  It’s still hard to tell exactly.  I need to use fabric from my stash as much as I can, so it’s hard to plan too far ahead.

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Here are the 12 1/2-inch blocks in progress.  They formed a pattern I’ve seen called “crossed kayacks.”

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This pattern is from this book by Lynne Goldsworthy–which has some really cool blocks.

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We are to have two rainy days now, so I’ll work away at some of these projects.

Turkey Tracks: The Reveal of Bonnie Hunter’s “En Provence”

Turkey Tracks:  January 4, 2016

The Reveal of Bonnie Hunter’s “En Provence”

I finished the last clue last night.

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And, now THIS…

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…is going to turn into THIS!!

 

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The above is Bonnie Hunter’s computer rendering of “En Provence.”

You can see her real version at quiltville.com–on the blog.

I have the Farmer’s Wife blocks on the design wall, and I think I’ve finished moving them around now.  I will sew those blocks into a quilt top before starting turning all the “clues” into a quilt top.

Turkey Tracks: Done! Fun!

Turkey Tracks:  December 30, 2016

DONE!  FUN!

As many of you know, I started A LOT of projects over the course of last year–like agreeing to make 99 Farmer’s Wife blocks (Laurie Aaron Bird).

And, starting SEVERAL English Paper Piecing projects (Katja Marek).

And, making blocks for a future improv quilt with Coastal Quilters friends.

And, getting the right borders and backing for the big Hexie quilt–which needs a good name (Edyta Sitar)

And, planning and making TWO baby quilts.

And, working on another quilt made from the 1600 four-patches I sewed out of the 2″ square blocks two summers ago.

And, collecting the makings for a BIG travel bag.

And, starting the day after Thanksgiving, working on “clues” for Bonnie Hunter’s 2016 Mystery Quilt “En Provence.”

Trust me, the list is MUCH longer than just these items.

So….  It is fun to see many of these projects coming to fruition.  At last.  DONE!!!

***

Here’s what a pile of the 99 Farmer’s Wife blocks looks like:

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Here are the last five blocks:

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I’ve got the blocks up on the design wall–using a method thought up by Lynn Vermeulen, who separated her blocks into different color piles before laying them out.  Great idea, Lynn.

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I am letting the blocks bubble on the design wall before sewing them together, and already I’ve swapped blocks out quite a bit since I took this picture.

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Can we talk about this project?  If you are thinking about doing it and foundation piecing the blocks, be warned that you must be somewhat sadomasochistic to even think about it as this project does bring both pleasure and pain.  I think that whoever did the foundation piecing plans didn’t really know that much about foundation piecing.  Some of the more difficult blocks are needlessly difficult–and if some had been drawn as the hand-piecing instructions showed, they would have been much easier.  Additionally, many times the seams did not but up, which made for a really bulky block.  So, I found myself taking out the papers to flip over a seam if I could and/or cutting into a seam to make the top flip so seams would but up.  I pressed open a lot of seams as well, which is not ideal in terms of quilt wear.  I really hope that if Laurie Aaron Bird produces an updated book that she will have someone new look at the foundation piecing patterns.

Having said that warning, the blocks are lovely, and the quilt is exciting.

I’m up-to-date on the Bonnie Hunter clues and will be starting this week’s tomorrow.  Here’s last week’s:

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The 4-patch red/neutral quilt is finished now and bound.  I’ll take pictures tomorrow and post them here.  This quilt is “So Sweet.”

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The second baby quilt is underway.

The big hexie quilt that I started Thanksgiving 2015 is ON THE LONGARM!  This quilt is on the cover of Edyta Sitar’s HANDFULS OF SCRAPS.

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Next up on the longarm, the Farmer’s Wife quilt.

I have two pieces of the Katja Marek THE NEW HEXAGON millifiore quilt completed–and am hyperventilating about whether it is working or not.  The top block seems very…bold?  But this quilt does have a place for bold, and it is too early to tell.  These are rosettes 1 and 9, and I am working on 11, which will sit next to rosette 9 on the upper border.  I wanted to use neutrals and fall/winter colors/themes.  Time will tell.

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This project will be a challenge for the Coastal Quilters for 2017.

 

Turkey Tracks: Clue 4 is Done

Turkey Tracks:  December 18, 2016

Clue 4 is DONE!

But not without a learning lesson…

…44 learning lessons to be exact about it.

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So, NOTE TO SELF:  when you are tired and it is time for dinner, STOP.  No matter how close you are to finishing something.

These Tri-Rec units do have some key things to which one should pay attention.

When putting the first purple piece, yes, match up the bottom and sew to the top/wide side.  When pressing, use a dry iron and just pat the seam down as the OTHER SIDE is on the bias and very stretchy.

When sewing the next strip, DO NOT just rip through the pile without checking how things are coming out every so often.

I did 44 of these without checking things:

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DO pay as much attention when laying down the other purple side.  Yes, the bottom needs to line up, BUT those two little triangles at the top do as well.  I got fixated on the bottom and ignored how the top was so NOT matching up.

Why didn’t I see this problem?  Because I was too busy pushing pieces through the machine.

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Here’s how the bottom should look:

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Here’s how the top should line up==the triangles at the top should MATCH.  The edge of the neutral piece may be a bit stretchy, but it will fall in when you sew.  You could pin it to be sure.  And, again, don’t be ironing the first side down with steam or lots of pushing/pulling without thinking about the opposite, raw, bias edge.

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Then you will get a unit that has a nice straight top that only needs the protruding triangles trimmed.

If your top is NOT straight, take out the seam and start over.

I hope I have saved some of you from ripping out 44 purple pieces and resewing!!!

 

(This unit is from Bonnie Hunter’s 2016 Mystery Quilt “En Provence.”  All instructions and “clues” are on her blog, quiltville.com.  Look for the tab on the top of her blog header–along with a lot of other wonderful tabs filled with free quilt patterns, tips and tricks, how-to videos, etc.)