Ros has been Busy/!

Ros has been busy quilting for me.  I cannot wait to pick up these two beauties!  First up we have the Love Shack wall hanging that I finally made after admiring some of my quilty friends' several years ago. I really wanted to quilt it myself, but I just do not do a great enough job and I want this hanging on my wall for years to come so off to Ros it went. 

Then On Ringo Lake finally got done and quilted.  This last mystery quilt of Bonnie Hunter's took me the longest to complete!  I just do not have time for sewing now that I am teaching high school full time.  There is always so much to do (especially these first few years--I imagine it might slow down when I have less to create!)  I teach three or four different classes and one does not even have a teacher's book.  All of them need me to create the worksheets, quizzes and tests. Nothing is handed to me. I like doing all that stuff, but I miss sewing, quilting, reading, etc!



 

 The label hasn't been signed by Bonnie yet, but hopefully when I see her in January I can get it signed.  Kathy and I (and other quilty friends) have signed up for a class at 35th Ave. with her.  We are taking the Spider Web class.  I have always wanted to make this one and in fact the quilt that got me hooked on quilting was along that line and while surfing the net I found Bonnie's pattern and Bonnie!  That was fifteen years ago so funny I am finally going to get to it. I usually change up the colors but think Kathy and I are going to tag team on a red one!

 Look at that awesome texture!  I have not decided if I am going to put this in my Packer guest room (and maybe give away the one that is in there) or eventually give this one away.  I am looking forward to the pictures at out next Kickoff party!

It turned out great!  It is bigger than Celtic Solstice...now to decide which one I can part with!

2017 On Ringo Lake/On Green Bay

 

2013 Celtic Solstice/Packer Solstice

 

In other news, my health sucks these past six months. Shots a few times a week now and lots of vitamins. I have reactivated Epstein Barr virus (likely caused from B12 deficiency though not sure what caused that).  Lots of tests ruling out other stuff.  Lumbar puncture next week.  Not looking forward to it, but happy to rule out other stuff.  

Catching Up Again! Surprise On Ringo Lake is a Flimsy!

Hannah and I at our first wine tasting of many!

This past July I flew to Wisconsin for 15 days!  I was able to be at my best friend's son's wedding, see Hannah and her boyfriend Jeremy and Mac (we call him Jay now) and his fiancé Liz and hang with my extended family too.  Hannah and I took our third annual Mother Daughter Trip to Door County so we could combine the trips this year (with me teaching I can no longer go in May and so it had to be postponed and this made the most sense..we may do something close to Wisconsin every three years or so so I can combine the trips and see everyone there too!). We also had Mac/Jay and Liz come up for a day and spend it with us.  That was super fun too!  

We went to this cool beach and hiked through the woods and until we found all these stacked up rocks.  So much fun setting the camera and trying to get just the right picture!

Hannah and I have a blast doing anything including trying on a ton of hats!

With Jay and Liz we took a ferry out to Washington Island and saw the Stave Church, two lavender farms, climbed a ton of stairs to the highest point on the island and had pizza (twice--don't ask!)

 This is my best friend Monica and I at Kyle and Anna's wedding.  They had it in this beautiful barn (built for weddings) and it was perfect!
I have not been feeling well at all for a long time and was finally diagnosed with a B12 deficiency.  For some reason I still am super tired after ten weeks of shots...I had a cold and then my BP was high...anyways it has been a rough few months.  Between trying to make it through my work week and the start of one of my moonlighting jobs (seven credits at community college in addition to full time teaching high school) I have been neglecting my sewing.  Finally put it some time before school started and a few hours each weekend to get this On Ringo Lake (On Green Bay) Quiltville Mystery Quilt into a flimsy!

I got the backing and binding made and it is packed up for Ros!

 Kathy has a few steps left to go so since this is my brother's wedding quilt (wedding postponed a year as his fiancé is pregnant...so time to get on the baby quilt!) I have been helping with it.  I am sewing the geese together at this point and made the backing and binding tonight.  Kathy just finished the three piece triangle part and will now start joining that to the larger triangle.  We really want to get it done for pictures at our next Mystery Kickoff Party in November!

I miss blogging and reading my blogs, but I just never seem to have time for anything but work and exercise and sleep.  Thanks for stopping by!

On Ringo Lake Clue Two!

 Today I went over to Becky's to sew because Suzy was in town from New Mexico.  Have not seen either of them in forever even though Becky lives 10 minutes from me.  We are both crazy busy with work right now but we are sewing On Ringo Lake anyway!  We finished clue two together doing different methods and that was fun!

 Suzy was working on the cutest little Dia de Los Muertos earrings.  She is an artist and does lots of artsy stuff. 

 Here is my On Green Bay/On Ringo Lake clue one with clue two all done.  A whole gaggle of flying geese.  I also am helping Kathy keep up this year on Sam and Ashley's wedding quilt and we have all the geese sewn and a bit more than a third cut to size.  Goal is to finish the cutting to size each night and have them done before the next clue comes out.  My hand is sore from all that trimming!

Linking up with Quiltville a day early this week.  Bonnie was just in town but my schedule was nutso so we did not get to meet up for breakfast.  I waved at her and hope she really enjoyed her time with her family.  Cannot wait til our paths cross again and things are less hectic!

Antics at My End

I am now doing the blog and calendar for my quilt guild Nimble Thimbles.  Today I wrote a post that some of you might be interested in--organization for quilters.  I have mentioned these pages here before but thought I would share again.  Also, if you are local or visiting, feel free to join in on one of our Tuesday night meetings.  We would love to have you!

 Here is our sweet Rosie plopped down before I could even grab my camera.  Rosie is heading over the Rainbow Bridge in less than a week...we are really going to miss her but it is time.

 Stash Kitty also never misses a change to plop down on a quilt before I can grab the camera!

 I am sending a suitcase full of quilts (and a few other gifts) to Wisconsin with my siblings going for a wedding.  I did not go as I was scheduled to teach but the class fell through..too expensive to get tickets at this point.  Anyways, I posted about the quilts I was sending back (wedding quilt for Luke and Ashley and Linc and Christin, baby quilts for Luke and Ashley's soon to be born son, my other cousin Ashley's just born son Knoxton, and my cousin Crystal's already born daughter London) and my other aunt popped in to the conversation to complain her daughters and grandson did not have a quilt.  Her daughters are not yet married (and they will get one when they get married) and I swear I sent one to her grandson...in any event I finished up this Packer quilt (blocks were gifted to me but I sadly cannot recall who gave them to me-if you read my blog remind me!) and so Brayden will be getting it.

 I did some Skype cutting with Barb on Sunday.  I got the next Pat Sloan Children's Library block cut and laid out.  I also cut Straits of Mackinac blocks in yellow and in light purple (to make up for the rainbow month I skipped for the RSC.  I will be sewing these later today at Barb's before our guild meeting tonight.

 I had to share these fun pictures from the Denver Art Museum.  Hannah and I ran across these statues and immediately wanted the other to take a picture.  We had different ideas, but sort of the same.  We are definitely related!

Gotta love art that speaks to us!

Wild and Goosey Check In and More

I managed to sneak in my Wild and Goosey block this weekend.  Here it is!  It has a few Eye Spy fabrics in it since I was cutting and organizing those today too.  I didn't realize that Quiltmaker had the pattern available for free online til somone posted it in the Quiltville Open Studio Facebook group that I moderate for Bonnie.  If you haven't started this one, do a few and make a tablerunner if you can stop at just a few!  Wild and Goosey Free Paper Pieced Pattern!

 I spent Friday night and Saturday with one of my favorite nephews--Colton!  He has gotten so big and is signing (milk, more, please, thank you,.   all done and now he signs Angela too).  He is quite a communicator for one who isn't really talking yet.  Seriously a smart little guy and the time went fast!  Mom, Dad, Colton and I went up to Prescott to a craft sale.  It was a gorgeous day (cooler up there than down here) and it was great fun.  I forgot my fitbit at home and thought I had lost it there which led to much retracing of steps (all not being counted--grrr!) but I had happily forgotten it on my pj's!

 Kathy made her second Jelly Bean Blast block...she wants to make Bonnie's Wanderlust Pattern.  It is going to be so pretty!

 I did get the yellow border on both Packer quilts, and one outer border on too.  I didn't think I had enough Packer fabric do finish the second one (so I was going to go green scrappy) but in cleaning out the eye spy stuff I found more so I think I can finish the second one after all!

Here is the Eye Spy with one more long row added...most likely will add more before I put the border on this one, have some cut and ready to go!  I work about three hours tomorrow so other than that and the drive there and back I plan to be sewing!

Satisfying Sunday!

 Kathy and I drove across town today to get cheap fruits and veges.  We spent 64 bucks and got a ton of stuff.  We then spent an hour or two with me cleaning the fridge and some fruit (and bagging it up for work each day this week) and Kathy cleaning and chopping veges for the freezer and fruit for the fridge.  Almost all healthy choices in that fridge!  Chicken fajitas on tap for dinner tomorrow--you can see all those chopped peppers in there.

 Tamara sent me some leftover blocks and we reworked them into this cute top (two more blocks left over).  I think we will add a border to the narrow sides at least.

 I spent a lot of time today finishing up my March on Green Bay Packers # 2 quilt top too.  It also needs borders along with its twin.

 One of these is for Ben and one for Colton this Christmas.  I think they will really love them.

 Kathy decided to go nuts and start on another Bonnie project!  I am so excited she is doing this one because I love it but I do not want to make this one--looks complicated.  Can you guess it is Wanderlust from Quiltmaker.  I already see she did the blue geese the same blue but when she does the hst four patch in the corner she will need to change the goose to match on that side.  See why I am not doing it, lol it is a gorgeous quilt though!

My friend Kelli gave me some Packer squares a few months ago and since I was on a Packers kick I decided to sew them into rows.  I have another stack of squares so thinking this will be twice as wide when done.
All in all, a very productive sewing Sunday!  I feel like I got everything done I wanted to and I am ready to take a break from sewing and get to work tomorrow!  I hope your weekend included some sewing or whatever it is you love!

Blogger's Quilt Festival--Green Bay!

It is time again for:

Thanks Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side for hosting!

So I decided to enter my Orca Bay..renamed Green Bay for the Packers of course!  Here it is all quilted and bound.  This was Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt started last November and recently completed.  

This quilt is special to me because I am from Wisconsin and am at least a third generation Packer fan!  I love Bonnie's mystery quilts and the annual tradition that goes with making them.  I usually copy her color scheme exactly but went out on a limb with this one because I had so many greens and yellows and happy accident it is a Packers quilt!
Ros Atwood professionally quilted it for me with this football panto and surprised me with some special words on the quilt like "Go Pack Go" and "Green Bay Packers" which makes it even more special.  This is one of my favorite quilts ever!

 Enjoy the rest of the festival!

Orca Bay is a Flimsy!!!!!

Linking this up for Bonnie's linky party! I can't wait to see all the other Orca Bay quilts. So far I haven't spotted one in my colors...usually I follow Bonnie's color scheme but this time I didn't and whew, it all worked out!

Zoe couldn't resist posing on the quilt as I took pictures. Really hard to get a good photo of this HUGE quilt in the house at night...tried the bed, having my oldest son hold it and finally clearing a space by the front door. Tomorrow I will do my best to drag it out on the driveway in the sunshine for more photos. Worth every minute and all that unsewing. Thanks again Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville, from your number one fan!
Orca Bay/Long Lake/Green Bay. Ros said she might quilt it with a whale panto in commemoration of Orca Bay but I am wondering if she has a football panto, LOL! I should also say this is my UFO for Judy's number one draw...so other than getting a backing and binding together I have just about met that February goal! (Ros sent me this football panto, I think it is a winner!)

Edit * got the new pic on top though it wasn't too sunny when I got home!

Can't wait for the next Bonnie Hunter mystery! Thanks again Bonnie, from your number one fan!

Parade of Bonnie K. Hunter Quilts!

I am not sure if I am the only one who has added EVERYONE who posted a link to Bonnie's Monday blog to reader so I can follow along with all the bloggers who are working on Orca Bay but I am really enjoying reading about the various methods everyone is using and colors and their love of Bonnie! This morning I was reading http://anniesquilting.blogspot.com/2011/11/blast-from-past.html and Annie had a little parade of ALL of her Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilts which got me to thinking I should recap too! Any excuse to post my Bonnie quilts again, lol! I did sew a bit more on clue one...after taking someone's advice I decided to use my triangulations for clue one. I am SO much more happy with how accurate they are for me. So I got out my half square triangulations (yes even after reading Bonnie's caution about the fact that these really are qst's not hst's) and made a page which oddly (HAHA) didn't look like qst's. Then I had to hunt for the qst trianguations which were oddly not on the same disc as the hst's. Finally with a little help from a friend I located it! Next I had to figure out what size to use (see why I am a direction follower?) so I went with the 2 inch finished. I made a page and hmmm..they are slightly smaller than the others. I cam make them work but not sure why they are smaller. Anyone doing triangulations or better at Math than me (that is most of you, folks!) who can tell me what size qst's I am supposed to be using?

Ok on to my mini parade of Bonnie Memories!

First up was Carolina Crossroads, but since I had just discovered Bonnie and the yahoo group

and they were already in progress on that I skipped it and waited for the next one. Orange Crush was next from March to October 2008 and I have to tell you I was LEARY of all that orange. I didn't care for this quilt all throughout the making and didn't yet know that I could completely trust Bonnie. Then as it came together (I actually made two when Kathy didn't keep up with the sewing but showing my main one) I suddenly LOVED it! I didn't want to give it away, but I did. It is on my list to make another.

Next up was Double Delight which may just be my favorite. I fell in love with Cheddar on this quilt! I spent hours on the border and learned that the time was worth it to really make this quilt perfect. December 2008-October 2009.

Christmas lights was in Quiltmaker Magazine over three months. This one was the easiest mystery Bonnie has done due to the limited space a magazine has compared to her blog. It was really doable and is a good one to start with it you are not sure about jumping in with all the little pieces of most of them! November 2009.

Carolina Christmas was made with purple since it is my daughter's favorite color. I wasn't afraid to use orange and did another wild border. November 2009-February 2010.

I had always been bummed that I didn't do Carolina Crossroads, so finally I got on that on my own and made one. Really pleased with it! June 2010-June 2011.

Last year I made Roll, Roll Cotton Boll. I think this was the only mystery I started and didn't keep up with! I had never done strings and eventually they won me over (see how much Bonnie has changed my quilting?) I didn't love this one as much until it came together. I think that is part of the fun of the mystery! This is the only one that isn't quilted. It is awaiting funds and not sure who will get it yet, so it just waits. November 2010 to September 2011.

So sans Tobacco Road I have completed six mysteries with Bonnie and now working on Orca Baby--the seventh! I look forward to it every year and know my quilting has grown leaps and bounds by following her CLEAR step by step with pictures directions. Everything is doable in small steps so she makes it seem easy! Thanks Bonnie for all that you do from your number one fan!