Piggies get Tails!

 At work yesterday every time I was on hold I was working on piggy tails.  It was busy so took me about six hours to get all four on!  I then had an easy job in which I sewed the binding on the fourth one but forgot to take pictures of them all!  Now the piggies are separated.  One is at work for me to use, one is going to Norway for Rachel--in 2004 when I went to Norway we stopped at a grocery store with the kids and took silly pictures with the big pig out front (el reiser or el greiser or something) and so it made me think of all that silliness!  The other two are awaiting homes.

 I also worked on this hexi for Bonnie's mini quilt.  I have not touched it in forever.  I had the kit with me to sew the pig tails and since my evening job was alot of sitting and not alot of interpreting (easiest job I have had all year!) I got the center hexies all stitched up!  I also am listening to lots of audiobooks again.  This one is Neurotribes about the origins of autism and it is really interesting.  I have read over 100 books this year!  More than double last year (or right on double) and there is still a week to go!  I think listening to podcasts about books and not having cable helps with that!

You cannot really tell from this picture, but this is Egg Brunch.  It is covered in bread and paprika.  It is our go to breakfast holiday meal.  So mom made a pan sans mushrooms and I make one with.  I bought a special huge pan this year because I am tired of bringing two smaller pans!  It smelled amazing and I am looking forward to breakfast tomorrow morning (after Weight Watchers) at Mom's house.  We will be spending the day and night up there and then returning home and celebrating with Randy.  Coleman, Heather and her six kids are on there way here from Ohio and we will celebrate with them whenever they arrive too.
Clue five on the Quiltville mystery is out!  I am hoping to at least prep it tonight but will be lucky to get this one going before the link up Monday.  Been working like a fool and today after work I got a pedi and then busted my butt cooking and cleaning. I am so tired and I still have a few things to do to get ready--like pack!
Happy Holidays!

Piggies, Flamingos and Gnomes, Oh My!

 Today was a sewing day at Barb's.  I am all caught up on the mystery so I decided to bring some fabric and one of my new design boards and cut out four of the Penny Pig Mini Quilts by Lori Holt. 

 They were lots of fun to make while we gabbed.

 I forgot to put the tails on before I stitched them up but may figure out how to add one on each of them yet.  I am keeping the one that has yet to be hand stitched down  I am not the best binder in the world but much better than I used to be.  I had a partial migraine all day today and so I am sure that did not help.  I stitched with Barb til it was time to go to Pilates and the day went by fast!

 Kathy finished clue three of En Provence!  She still has to cut the wings for part four and then she can start sewing.  This is the best she has ever done at keeping up with the mystery.  Kathy is calling her quit En Patriot!

 While I was sewing, Barb finished up the last of the towels she volunteered me embroider for me.  She borrowed my machine and did some stuff for her brother with it (it is bigger than hers) but mine needs a tune up so she did the towels on her Bernina.  I really need to learn how (ok I know how sort of ) and just try this myself.  The designs are so cute!  These two will go to Margie (my dad who passed away seven year's ago's girlfriend since I was eight).  She loves flamingos and every year I send her flamingo something or other.  Her box for this year already went out but will randomly mail her these just for fun later on.  I think she will like them alot.

 I love these designs SO much!  We are keeping "love beyond measure" and "Life is short, lick the spoon" and gifting the others to my sister, brother's ex, and current. 

 My mom, sister and I LOVE gnomes.  I may give mom one of these, but they are so cute I do not want to part with them!

This one with the birds is for mom.  She loves birds and swears that is how her own mother visits her.  When she sees a pretty bird she thinks, there's mom.  So we are always picking out little birds for knickknacks. 

En Provence--Clue Four is Done!

 

I love the colors I am using for En Provence...I can hardly wait to sew with the reds and yellows!  The only color I kept the same and in the same place as Bonnie's is the yellow.  

 Here are my clue four pieces.  I am super happy that these units are coming out so much better than they did in clue two for me.  If you remember I learned how to use the notch on the tri recs ruler for that clue (I have made at least two other quilts with that ruler and did not even notice the notch!) but this time around I felt like I was making more accurate units!  Super happy with that.  I also find that I am just enjoying sewing and not rushing as I often do.  I have at least 30 different neutrals in this quilt and I love the variety it will have.  I cut Kathy's neutrals too as she is still working on clue three (sewing as I type!).

 I just could not resist digging out the other parts so I could sew them all together too.  The reds and yellows are going to make all this pop!  I tucked them all away in the bin to come out to play later on.  I have a feeling we have more than two more clues to go...seems like it cannot all come to an end so fast this year but Bonnie always surprises me!

Did you catch Quilt Came tonight?  Bonnie held up my Garden Party and showed it off for me!

Linking up with Quiltville Monday Link Up!  A friend of mine made this cute little ornament and posted it on facebook.  I like it so much I might have to make them next year!  Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanza or Happy Holidays for whatever it is you celebrate with your loved ones!

Meet Up at Ros' and the Quiltville Quilts We Found There!

Saturday Kathy and I finally got to see Ros in person!  It has been forever.  She was out of town during our Mystery Kickoff Party (the first one she has missed) and she lives about an hour from us so we just do not see her as often as we would like.  This year we may see her more often since we are signed up at the same store for a BOM on her end of town again.
Ann was our host and Sheila was the birthday girl.  Susan, Jen, Celeste, and McKenna also came.  It was really nice to get to talk to some of them more as when I do see some of these folks there are always so many people that I don't really get to talk to anyone enough.

We made the boards from Bee in My Bonnet (Lori Holt's blog) that have been on my to be made list for a long time.  Really simple to make once you get going.  I made two there and two more at home this morning.  You can see Stash Kitty approved of them.

 

Tried out the design boards while making my last 35th Ave. BOM Patriotic block.  Kathy made hers yesterday (but still has about four or five to go from the past few months).  We plan to get them together and send them off to Alycia for QOV.

So happy to move on to the next BOM!

Kathy picked up her Allietare quilt from Ros.  It turned out great...her piecing has improved so much in the few years she has been sewing!  

 I picked up my Garden Party (started on the Quiltville Caribbean Cruise in October 2015) too.  I LOVE this one.  Maybe because it will forever remind me of my bucket list cruise with Bonnie (and Becky) where I made many more quilty friends!  I miss those gals and am so glad for facebook so I can feel a part of their lives while we are apart.

 I need to update from Quiltville Parade of Quilts page now that this is one step more toward done.  I have not decided on the binding color for it yet.  I am tempted to do yellow sunshine but am afraid it is too light for a binding.  What do you think?

We just decided on a nice red for Kathy's Allietare border and are trying to decided between these two for my Garden Party.  Tell me what you think please!

En Provence--Clue Three is Done!

 

I still LOVE the palette I chose and this week I got to sew with more colors!

 

 Friday afternoon I got right to clue three of En Provence!  I am doing two shades of green instead of purples for this clue.  I spent most of Saturday afternoon sewing at Barb's house and got all of them made and clipped. 

 Today Kathy and I met BJ at 35th Ave Sew and Vac and signed up for the quilt below--it is the ten dollar quilt and we do a block per month all next year.  It is not our favorite but it gives us an opportunity to get together every month and catch up!

 BJ gifted me some Packer fabric!  Yay soon I need to get going on another Packer quilt as it is time to add some more to my Green Bay Packer Quilts Page!  If you have one you want to share, feel free to add it there!  I have made several Bonnie mysteries in Packer colors and I LOVE how they turn out!

 I also hit the clearance section and got some more greens in case there are more greens in En Provence.  The shades I am using were not plentiful in my stash so I feel better having these just in case!

 Also found a half off Cotton and Steel kit to add to the little bit I already had. I will be on the lookout for something cool to sew with it!

I spent some time tonight prepping for next week's sewing meetup. We are going to be making small design boards (I am using Lori Holt's tutorial) and I cannot wait to have a few of these as they have been on my list for a long time!
Already looking forward to clue four this Friday.  I love the mystery so much and only wish everyone could just relax and sew along and not stress on every little detail!
Linking up with Quiltville and looking forward to seeing your progress too!

Andee and Kathy do Clue Two: En Provence

 Got the tree up.  Even found a pretty tablerunner I made a few years ago to put under it!  I spent a good bit of the week (besides working) prepping for finals and digging all my ASL stuff that was in totes out of the garage.  I had no idea I had amassed so much stuff!  We cleaned the garage after I got so much of it out of there and we pulled all the Christmas stuff out.  Found the last (please let it be the last) tote of teaching materials in with the totes that had come in for Christmas. So I have one more to go through--later!

Friday night Kathy and I worked on En Provence.  She finished up her clue one while I cut all of my clue two and her neutrals.  I then started sewing..for once taking my time to do things right.  Had good music on and a glass of wine too.  Discovered I have never cut the notch out of this unit before and that my life is much easier if I follow Bonnie's directions! A few astute ladies on Quiltville's Open Studio commented on my lack of notches which made me realize I was misunderstanding the bit about the notches!  I made this same unit in Celtic Solstice and Smith Mountain Morning and always thought I was to eyeball a notch and leave it hanging out.  HAHA!  If you cut the notch out it lines right up on the other piece.  Right there in Bonnie's directions but apparently I speed read and try to follow the pictures.   So I went back and cut all the notches and started again...

More good music and lots of notches getting cut.  I am using a dusty peach in several different fabrics for Bonnie's constant magenta.  Should be interesting.

 Did lots of teaching related finals prep (including running to the school for copies), grocery shopping, cleaning, furniture moving and Christmas decorating today.  We watched Shrek the Halls and the Muppet Christmas to keep Kathy in the mood.

 We put the dog gate all around it and are hoping that keeps the dogs away.  By the time all that was done, dinner made and cleaned up (and a batch of sugar scrub for Christmas gifts) I did the last of the prep for finals and we crawled into the quilting studio.  We both lamented we were ready for bed..it was not even 8 PM.  We sewed for maybe thirty minutes and decided clue two can wait another day. 

 Kathy is using Patriots colors for her mystery quilt.  You can see her paint chips on her machine and all her clue one and more than half of clue two parts. 

I have less than 20 to go (and we always try to make a few extras) but here they are.  I am linking up with Bonnie so you can see all the progress!  In case you wanted to see EVERY Mystery quilt Bonnie has ever done here is my Parade of Quiltville Mystery Quilts!  How is your clue coming along?

Quiltville Mystery Quilts Parade

In order of when Bonnie offered them, here are my previous mystery quilts:
**some of these quilt patterns are still free online at Quiltville, others are in Bonnie's books**

1. Carolina Crossroads was the first mystery quilt Bonnie offered online in 2007.  I joined the quiltvillechat yahoo group after it had started so I decided to join in on the next mystery.  Finally in June of 2010 I started working on it and after about a year I finished it!  I loved Bonnie's colors so I didn't change anything and I gave it to my brother Sam and his wife Tiffany.

2. Orange Crush was the second mystery, but was actually my first!  Made in Spring of 2008--in the beginning there was more than one mystery per year. I didn't change up any colors for this one either.  This is the quilt that made me fall in love with scrappy!  I gave it to Kathy's niece Megan and have been wanting it back ever since!

3. Tobacco Road was the August 2008 mystery.  I didn't make this one at the time either.  I was teaching and had WAY too much prep to do since I was using a different curriculum than I had always used.  Kathy and I later went back and tag teamed on this one. It doesn't have a home yet.

4. Double Delight was the January 2009 mystery.  This one is on my bed and is the first time I used cheddar.  Cheddar is now an absolute favorite of mine!

5. Christmas Lights was a Quiltmaker mystery that Bonnie designed starting in the July/August 2009 issue. It is our Christmas Quilt.  It was much easier than the previous mysteries since it was only three parts.  It is still a great design and was really fun to make!

6. Carolina Christmas was the next online mystery in 2009.  This is the first one that I decided to mess with the colors!  I had just done a Christmas quilt and wanted something with purple in it for my daughter Hannah.  Here is the result.  

7. Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll was the 2010 mystery.  This was my first time making string blocks.  I didn't like them--then suddenly I LOVED them.  This one is still at my house--I have a hard time parting with Bonnie's quilts!

8. Orca Bay/Green Bay was the 2011 mystery.  I didn't have the colors Bonnie suggested  in the right quantities and so I decided to use two fat quarter stacks of greens and golds.  Near the end I suddenly realized I had a PACKER quilt!  I gave it to Randy--it was so hard to part with!

9. Easy Street was the 2013 mystery. This quilt was given to my god-daughter Kelsey for her high school graduation.  

10. Lazy Sunday was a four part mystery in Quiltmaker magazine starting in March/April of 2013.  I was inspired by a Better Homes and Gardens palette and changed up Bonnie's colors.  It doesn't have a home yet either--and in fact just came off Ros' longarm a day or two ago.  I will get it on Saturday and will get it bound soon. 

11.  Celtic Solstice is going to be number I have changed up the colors and am hoping that it will be another Packer colored quilt.  

12. Grand Illusion 

13. Allietare!

14. En Provence


I have enjoyed making each and every one of these quilts and my understanding of quilting, color, quarter inch seams, etc. has really grown with each quilt Bonnie offers.  Step by step (and with awesome pictures) I can sew anything.  How many Bonnie mysteries have you made?
P.S. If you want to see all the Bonnie quilts (not just the mysteries) check out my Quiltvile Parade page.  
Thanks to Kathy for inspiring me to create my own parade of Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilts!