A Little Bit of This and a Lotta Snow!

Barb and I got our A Quilting Life BOM made right away this month.  

Bekcy completed her "Ruby" Jubilee!  LOVE IT!

I just got the Merry Mayhem New Year's  mystery back from Melissa and got the binding on it yesterday and today.  I am keeping this one for a fall quilt.

We got dumped with a boatload of snow yesterday!

I completed four more green RSC blocks in the larger size this past week.  I also had a stomach bug so did not get much more sewed!

 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge in Green!

I had so many green hsts that I have already made ten (eight pictured) in the larger size and have more prepped in the smaller size.

I see from this picture that some of the greens are SO light as to almost not be there but in person I did not notice that.  I wish there was more variety, but I am using whatever I have and not making more hst's if I do not need to. Linking up with Angela for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2023!

 Here is a four star book I just reviewed.  "Exiles" by Jan Harper is the third book in her series featuring Aaron Falks, but can be read as a stand alone book.  Falks is a federal financial investigator who visits his good friends in the Marralee Valley one year after the disappearance of Kim Gillespie.  Falks did not know Kim but helps his good friend Raco (who has been investigating on his own) to try to uncover the truth about what happened to Kim when she disappeared from the annual food and wine festival.  While some think Kim left behind her baby (and a teenage daughter) and killed herself, this just doesn't ring true for others.

A secondary mystery (from six years ago) involving another person in the circle of friends also has Falk curious since it relates to a woman he is interested in.  As a reader, I was trying to connect the two mysteries and find the one "bad guy" throughout the book.  There were some great clues left and I was able to figure out some of the mystery but there were still surprises in the end.  The book is very engaging and since I read it with two other people, there was much to discuss along the way.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the ARC of the audiobook.  I also read the book at the same time which was helpful because there were many characters and I would have found it a bit confusing just on audio though the narration was well done.

Modern Quilt Studio Mystery 2023!

I have been very busy sewing the Modern Quilt Studio Mystery 2023 since the first of the year.  Here is my stack of light blocks.  I am pretty happy with how they look together.

When I lay out the dark blocks I am less happy!  I feel like the orange really stands out and does not work well. I also cannot find a good mix for these blocks.  I move one, then have to move another then another, etc.

I decided to just put the top and the curve together and revisit the bottom on another day.  Here it is together.  Weeks and Bill told us to "nail the curve" which was great advice so I spent quite a bit of time getting this large curve just right.  A few things did not line up as I wanted but I got it there.

I am not happy with the curve on the right which is orange.  When I set the rest of the curve blocks beside it, the curve is not great--kind of hard to see.

I decided to redo that corner with a darker color so I will be happier with it.  

Then I had to figure out a configuration that worked for the bottom darker blocks.  I copied the pattern for the top for the most part and it looked great, but the bottom did not.

I put them on my bed and changed them around and around and took pictures.

I put most of the orange on the bottom and feel like I like the look of it better in the rows above the orange.  I decide to redo many of the orange blocks.

I left the orange blocks that had circles on them since I worked so hard to get those circles right!  At first I left the triangles (orange and green) but eventually I redo that one too.

The picture above winds up being the one I go with but I changed that triangle block to green and blue. (I have eleven extra blocks and some parts left over).

I am over the moon happy with how this turned out. I could see making the curve again in another quilt.  I would love this where the curve blocks use a dark and a light of the same block so the fade looks even cooler.  I am kind of surprised we did not do it that way.  I CANNOT WAIT to see everyone's quilt on March 3rd!  We are to keep our finishes a secret until then.  This mystery had three different reveals and we got to pick which one we liked the best.  This was my favorite, but I liked one of the others quite a bit too.  

I wish I had done their first mystery when they did it. I never heard about it at the time.  Not sure we can still get it--think they may have retired it.  The directions were superb with many pictures and video to go with each clue.  If they do another mystery down the road, I am in.  

Here is Hazel doing some "sewing" like her Lala.  She potty trained super easily (not one accident at my house) and loves to read.  This girl is the light of my life.  I enjoy every minute I get with her and am looking forward to her baby sister too!

                                            

 

Pink Dakota Farmer Blocks!

I realized tonight that my pink Dakota Farmer blocks did not make it to the blog.  I made two of the larger blocks and ten of the smaller ones.  There will be several quilts made from all these blocks when it is all said and done as I am just using up as many of the hst's in each color as I can.  Tonight I started working on green though I am not sure what the color is.  I figured I could trim and if that is not the right color I will be ahead on that and can switch it up.  

                                     

These blocks were made weeks ago but did not get their moment of fame as I thought I had already posted them by the time I blogged!  Linking up with Angela for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2023.

Finishes, So Many Finishes!

Becky sent me this awesome snowman wall hanging for Christmas.  I love it!  

I had my Ocrevous infusion mid February.  Took Babel to read but was hit super hard by the Benadryl so I had to start it over that night.  Five stars, I really liked it!

I continued to do a row a week on my Sparkling New Year mystery quilt.

I got the first border on it.  It is a little wavy even though I did my usual measuring method.

Today I got the final border on it and I am happy with it!

I spent all day yesterday in bed...have been super extra fatigued lately but today I thought I would try to get in several finishes.  I sewed the backing for my Tea Party quilt which I am sending out to Andi to quilt.  I did a quick iron of the top too.

It took me a minute to realize when I stay stitch my string pieced borders it is MUCH easier if I do it from the top (like picture) instead of with the wrong side up where I have to fight the many seams.  Sometimes I surprise myself by how slow I am to catch on to stuff like this!

This Grassy Creek started out as Barb's.  She did not want to do the string piecing so she sent it on to me.  I have been working on it on and off ever since.  I accidently cut the string pieced borders at the wrong angle so I went with it and it looks fine.  

It is too big to actually get a full picture of.  I was so happy to finally get these final borders on!  Another one checked off my list!

The UFO for February is my Lori Holt quilt.  My daughter is pregnant with baby girl #2 so I plan on giving this quilt to her before August when the baby comes.  I laid this all out but am thinking it is too busy as it is.  I may redo the alternate blocks so it is cleaner.  What do you think?  Obviously not getting that done in February, but I did finish the quilts above (Grassy Creek was on the UFO list and hasn't been picked yet) but soon.

Barb also sent me all her Emerald Jubilee blocks since she did not like the final layout.  I am not sure if I will finish it as I did my Ruby Jubilee or if I will make several quilts with the blocks or what.  Barb said she enjoyed making the blocks but did not feel like she wanted to finish it.

This Amythyst Jubilee is Becky's.  She also copied Bonnie's layout for the most part and it turned out amazing.  We all had so much fun sewing these this year.

 

Valentine's Mini Mystery and More!

The reveal of the Modern Quilt Mystery for 2023 is out.  It is awesome.  We are to keep it mum until March 3rd. Here is my clue before the reveal...and you may notice that the next picture has my half circles changed around by direction and some of the colors too.  

I realized that I had some too similar colors on both halfs of the quilt blocks.  I may need to redo more as I lay it out, but have not had a chance to do anything with it since Friday.

I added another row to the Sparkling New Year mystery last week too.  Two to go.

                                            

Barb, Becky and I started another little valentine mini mystery from Kathleen Tracey too.

Mine is done and quilted and hung up!  Guess I can link this us with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge since it is in pink.  Barb did some cool hearts for the challenge, but was not happy with them so she decided to do a different block.

This is block two in the Quilting Life BOM.  

BJ finished her Tea Party!  She has really been doing great working on all four mysteries once clue at a time.  She has been rotating through after doing a clue in A, does a clue in B, etc.