Bonnie Hunter 2024-25 Mystery -- Old Town
03-08-2025, 02:50 PM
#562
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: West Central Texas
Posts: 2,822
@Iceblossom Wow! Really good - I love the red prints. My mistake was not stay stitching the 4 patches, so they were more difficult to join the borders. Your borders are looking really great.
03-09-2025, 01:55 AM
#565
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Peoria, IL -- Midwest Transplant
Posts: 7,260
Maybe you will join us next time, Toogie. Isn't it great how all the quilts are connected yet different? Just our different fabric/color senses plus the little changes we make. The Mystery links are only active until usually about Valentine's day, so a month or so after the reveal. Then a non-mystery set of instructions is offered for sale. Usually I save the PDFs too, this year I realized I just had the print outs.
I really enjoy working on these, a lot of it is from seeing what the others do. I sort of like having the prods of the clues to keep me active during a rather dark time of year. This year I was not very productive real time, but hey -- I was blind and we had things going on. I am so impressed by those of you who were fast and with the clues each week and for those of us who are keeping on with the project no matter the speed or lack thereof.
Bonnie and I have different design senses and that's ok. My general feeling is that a queen sized project doesn't really need pieces smaller than 2". Quilt Lady Janice would say that "Blossom doesn't like thousands of little triangles" and she would still be correct! I get to do whatever I want for the rest of the year, is good for me to try some things especially not knowing how they are going to turn out. The mystery is good for me, even when I don't like the tiny goose/hourglass units in the sashing...
I really enjoy working on these, a lot of it is from seeing what the others do. I sort of like having the prods of the clues to keep me active during a rather dark time of year. This year I was not very productive real time, but hey -- I was blind and we had things going on. I am so impressed by those of you who were fast and with the clues each week and for those of us who are keeping on with the project no matter the speed or lack thereof.
Bonnie and I have different design senses and that's ok. My general feeling is that a queen sized project doesn't really need pieces smaller than 2". Quilt Lady Janice would say that "Blossom doesn't like thousands of little triangles" and she would still be correct! I get to do whatever I want for the rest of the year, is good for me to try some things especially not knowing how they are going to turn out. The mystery is good for me, even when I don't like the tiny goose/hourglass units in the sashing...
03-10-2025, 06:31 AM
#566
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Peoria, IL -- Midwest Transplant
Posts: 7,260
I think way back at the beginning of this thread I showed a picture of my back yardage, which was a striped coordinate of the Melon I used. Both of the fabrics were thrift store buys (at the same time obviously), about $1/yard but had proven challenging for me to use due to color. I'm really surprised that color isn't more in your face -- but that's ok! I will bind the quilt with it. Is a huge piece of fabric, the seam will be horizontal offset from the center of the quilt. I did match the ins and outs of the print on purpose.
Tomorrow I will take the (completed) top to group and "prepare it for the long armer" which will be me. Eventually. No, my long arm is still not set up but we are getting closer to that goal now that we know I can see and will be able to for the at least near future and maybe longer.
So I will do a bit more defluffing and take off my block numbers and such.
Tomorrow I will take the (completed) top to group and "prepare it for the long armer" which will be me. Eventually. No, my long arm is still not set up but we are getting closer to that goal now that we know I can see and will be able to for the at least near future and maybe longer.
So I will do a bit more defluffing and take off my block numbers and such.
03-12-2025, 02:44 PM
#567
Super Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ballwin, MO
Posts: 4,603
Since I made the monumental decision a few weeks ago, to start sending out my finished tops for quilting (not knowing if I'd ever be able to finish another quilt myself), I've spent most of my sewing time constructing backings and getting quilts mailed out. I'm in somewhat of a hurry with the first five (smaller quilts but for one), as those were promised long ago.
So I'm not making much progress on my corner units. I'm almost done with the first row (five blocks) of units, and would have been done but for turning one of those pesky HSTs the wrong way. My horizontal sashing rows are also going together. It made more sense for me to press other than directed (because I didn't have a triangle point attaching to a triangle point), so I'm going to have to press my block a bit differently, with my center row pieces pressed towards the outside. Hope it will look okay!
Fortunately for me, I don't feel the same impatience with blocks and rows as I often do with finishing unit clues.
So I'm not making much progress on my corner units. I'm almost done with the first row (five blocks) of units, and would have been done but for turning one of those pesky HSTs the wrong way. My horizontal sashing rows are also going together. It made more sense for me to press other than directed (because I didn't have a triangle point attaching to a triangle point), so I'm going to have to press my block a bit differently, with my center row pieces pressed towards the outside. Hope it will look okay!
Fortunately for me, I don't feel the same impatience with blocks and rows as I often do with finishing unit clues.
03-18-2025, 11:03 AM
#569
Super Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ballwin, MO
Posts: 4,603
Can we see? What aren't you loving?
I'm having some massive shifts in thinking lately, triggered by the process of paying to have my quilts quilted. It has given me a new perspective on what actually makes sense for me. One thing that doesn't make much sense is large quilts that hang over the bed, because I can't tolerate the weight of a bed covering hanging down. So no more full size mystery quilts for me; I'll have to do what some of you have done and start out with a smaller quilt in mind. The other thing is that I'm facing the fact that I'm not fond enough of some of my tops to pay to have them turned them into quilts; that is facilitating me sorting out more tops that I will hand off to my quilty friend whose groups finish them for charity. DH is going through them with me, so that I don't let any go that he particularly likes.
This brings me to our current mystery. I'm thinking that I don't like it well enough to have it quilted, so why put the time into finishing it? The problem for me is that the bright red overwhelms the inner star; what I would like is to make a smaller version of the pattern that has the darkest color as the star points, and a less prominent color surrounding the stars. So I'm thinking I'll take these pieces off the wall, bag them and reassess my Indigo Way, which is lurking underneath. Underneath that is my huge Harriet's Journey sampler. It's not put together yet, so I'm thinking I will separate out the preferred blocks for a smaller quilt.
I'm having some massive shifts in thinking lately, triggered by the process of paying to have my quilts quilted. It has given me a new perspective on what actually makes sense for me. One thing that doesn't make much sense is large quilts that hang over the bed, because I can't tolerate the weight of a bed covering hanging down. So no more full size mystery quilts for me; I'll have to do what some of you have done and start out with a smaller quilt in mind. The other thing is that I'm facing the fact that I'm not fond enough of some of my tops to pay to have them turned them into quilts; that is facilitating me sorting out more tops that I will hand off to my quilty friend whose groups finish them for charity. DH is going through them with me, so that I don't let any go that he particularly likes.
This brings me to our current mystery. I'm thinking that I don't like it well enough to have it quilted, so why put the time into finishing it? The problem for me is that the bright red overwhelms the inner star; what I would like is to make a smaller version of the pattern that has the darkest color as the star points, and a less prominent color surrounding the stars. So I'm thinking I'll take these pieces off the wall, bag them and reassess my Indigo Way, which is lurking underneath. Underneath that is my huge Harriet's Journey sampler. It's not put together yet, so I'm thinking I will separate out the preferred blocks for a smaller quilt.
03-18-2025, 04:08 PM
#570
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Pratt Kansas
Posts: 1,299
Joe'smom, I went back and looked at your picture. I think your blocks are pretty. But, I take your point, your aquas aren't shining, are understated next to the red outer star.
I have a suggestion about your lesser loved quilts. Quilt backings are expensive. I'm a frugal gal, but even so, I end up spending around $60 for a queen backing. What if you used quilts you didn't love as backs? Some do it as a matter of course, their fun is making the flimsies, and this halves the batting costs, and backing costs are just putting a frame on the under quilt to make it big enough for holding edges for quilting.
I have a suggestion about your lesser loved quilts. Quilt backings are expensive. I'm a frugal gal, but even so, I end up spending around $60 for a queen backing. What if you used quilts you didn't love as backs? Some do it as a matter of course, their fun is making the flimsies, and this halves the batting costs, and backing costs are just putting a frame on the under quilt to make it big enough for holding edges for quilting.
