Bonus Triangles

While I was making my Orca Bay top I was using these red and white and the blue and white bonus triangles as my leader/enders.  They measure 2 1/2" after being trimmed down.  There are 102 of the red and about as many of the blue.

The entire time I was sewing them I just kept thinking about doing more flying geese.  Then I laid a few out in the pinwheel design and now I think that is the way I am going to have to go.  There aren't enough to make much of anything. But the lucky thing is I still have over 3 yards of the background fabric.

These bonus triangles are from this quilt.

I made this top several years ago.  I had to flip through several of my notebooks to find the pattern I used.  What surprised me is that it is a Bonnie Hunter pattern called Fourth of July .  You can find the pattern for free on her blog.  This was made long before I was a daily follower of Bonnie's blog.  I remember searching for scrap quilts using red/white/blue and this is what I came up with.  I never would have guessed that a few years later I would have made so many of her patterns.  Someday when I learn to do something besides straight line and meandering this will get quilted.   It needs something a little more special in the white areas. So in the mean time it has stayed folded up on my quilt rack.  I had to move 4 other tops before I got down to this one.  Guess I better learn how to quilt.

Happy Sewing

Julie

Here are my five inch blocks with what was to be their sashing.  Yes, WAS is the word I used.  After getting off of here I am going to tear this all out and hope that the blocks survive the process.  I absolutely love the look of it.  It couldn't be scrappier.  But it couldn't be more of a disaster.

When seen up close it is apparent that I needed to spend more time making sure that I was getting an accurate seam allowance.  Can you see the puckers?  I can.  And hopefully, I will learn a very valuable and time consuming lesson to take more time and pay attention.

 I thought I could stretch, tug or pull this into submission.  Nope it's not going to work.  This can't be pressed out.  Trust me, I tried.  So this evening when I should be working on the border I will be ripping ALL of this out.

Does anyone need a few hundred 1/2 square blocks that are ALMOST 1" each?

Julie 

Orca Bay Happy Dance

Click on the picture to see a larger picture.

It's done.  The top that is.  This is my version of Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt Orca Bay.  Another great mystery from Bonnie. It was a fun pattern from start to finish. Of course she included more string blocks.  But this time I was ready to make them. After all this wasn't my first Bonnie mystery quilt. Here is my version of Roll Roll Cotton Bole which was my first effort at string blocks.

Anyway, this is it.  A back has been chosen for it.  So now it's down to the quilting.

Happy sewing.

Julie

Block of the Month

Here is what I have been working on this afternoon.  It is the December block of the month for the spiky/peaky Kansas colors blocks from Quilting on the Square in Holton.

And here are all that are done to date.  These are actually going to end up looking quite nice. Could not have proved that by me when we first started making them.  That might be because the yellow one on the lower left was the first and it is very plain.  These blocks are on a dark blue and not black background.  I am still not imagining any settings for them.  But there are still five to go so plenty of time.

 Well off to work on my Orca Bay borders. One done. Three to go.

Happy Sewing

Julie

On The Wall

Well, I'm still working on Orca Bay and it looks done from this angle but it still needs the border put on. There will be time for that this week.  I love the way the yellow/orange turned out with the blue.  Not too much of any one color to overwhelm the other.  However, I must say that I love the red versions too. This may be one time that I might be a little disappointed that I veered from the original version that used red.

                                    Here is a close up of a couple of the blocks. 

I plan to have the top done by this coming Saturday. I hope to take it to show and tell at the LQS in Holton. This is another one of Bonnie's quilts with a big "Wow Factor" so I do expect a few ohhh's and ahhh's.

There was no sewing for me on Sunday.  We had a birthday party for my mother. She turns 81 today. Not everyone was able to make it but we turned it into a great day of food and card games anyway.  Happy Birthday Mom!

In the midst of her presents I was given one of my own.  I had asked for a mailbox for Christmas and was given a terrific white one.  I know, it's a weird present to ask for. But it beats a toaster every time.  Unless, of course you need a toaster. Anyway, back to the mailbox.  My white box turned into a work of art.  DS Jesse and DIL Victoria decided to take pictures of quilts and put them on the box.  Then it occurred to them to use pictures of quilts I have given to them and put them on the box.  So here are pictures of each side of my new mailbox.

This is the side that will show the most. 
Starting from the top left:
Bugs in a Snowball - 2008
Pinwheel Daisies - 2008?
Angels for Grace - 2008
Pinwheel Daisies alternate block.
Bottom row:
Churn Dash - maker unknown
Christmas Trees 2011
Pinwheel - maker unknown
Blue Sampler - 2007?

This side will be next to another mailbox so it won't be very visible.    Top row: 
First three blocks - maker unknown
Blue Sampler - 2007
Angels for Grace - 2008
Christmas Trees alternate block - 2011
Blue Sampler - 2007
Random block - maker unknown.

Thanks to whoever made all of those random blocks. They helped turn my new mailbox in to one of the most unique mailboxes in town.  And a huge thank you to Jesse and Victoria for making such a fun project.

Be sure to visit all of the great design walls at Patchwork Times and to see the Orca Bay updates at Quiltville .

Have a great day.

Julie

On The Wall

Like many other people this morning, I have my Orca Bay quilt laid out and ready to be sewn into rows. 

It took several hours and much searching of those tiny pictures to get this one laid into rows.  It is such a busy quilt with all of those string blocks.  But I don't think I would change a thing.  This is one quilt where I did not worry too much about fabric placement.  The main thing I worked with was the yellow centers.  There are two of each fabric.  One in the dark block and one in the light. So I did attempt to keep the two apart.

Here is a close up of the two rows I have together as of this morning.  This is the first quilt where those dancing cats appear. That is a fabric I filched from my mother.  She contributed several of the blacks that appear in this quilt. 

Well, as soon as this is posted I can get back at it.  So I'm off.

Be sure to check out all of the design walls at Patchwork Times  and of course the home of Orca Bay Quiltville .

Have a great day.

Julie

A New Year 2012

Happy New Year.

Hopefully, everyone had a safe and enjoyable New Year's Eve. I choose to spend it at home sewing.  So yes, it was a good night for me.  I finished up all of the components of the Orca Bay mystery.  This morning when I woke up I had planned to work on my 5" blocks which can be seen here .  That was while I was still under the impression I had one more day until the final Orca Bay part was revealed.  I was wrong.  Today is the day.  Therefore, I will spend the morning laying out all of these blocks.

So off I go.  And yes, this is what I call fun. 

Julie