Strings Strings Strings!

Strings Strings Strings

I loved my Jamestown Landing(shown below) from Bonnie Hunter's String Fling book so much, that I decided to start another one.

Only this time instead of the blues, I think I will use greens. Green is my favorite color and I have not made a quilt for myself in a long long time. The decision to do this had a lot to do with the neutral strings that seem to multiply overnight.

I need 168 4.5 inch neutral string blocks. I already have a good start of 50, but my string bin does not look emptier.  I swear, the more you use, the more there is in that bin.

I started trimming them but have not made good headway with that.  I am in no hurry for this quilt. It is just something to work on in between other things that I am working on. 

With string blocks, you cover paper, in this case I used old telephone book pages. Then trim down to size.

After trimming the block, you can remove the paper.

It may take months to get this one done as it takes a gazillion half square triangles!  Actually it just takes 420, but it might as well be a gazillion. Since you work with scrappy, it does take a while to cut those half square triangle pairs.  

I also have several other projects going on:

Allietare 

Bricks and Stepping Stones

Scrappy colored string blocks...

and the list goes on.

Another Sporadic Post LOL

It has been a while, again, since I have posted, but lots of quilting has been going on.  My husband's best friend has been going through chemo in the past 2 months and is a huge superman fan, so my cousin, whom I am teaching to piece and quilt, and I made him a superman quilt. Please ignore the vacant house in the background. :) It is a disappearing nine-patch. He loves the quilt and says he is under it most of the time.

 

Another friend of my husband's has been wanting a quilt for a while, so I gave him my Jamestown Landing, a Bonnie Hunter pattern. It was a long time in the making as I did it as a leader/ender quilt. It is made entirely from my scraps except for the backing. My husband's friend and his wife did not have a family heirloom quilt to pass down to their son. They wanted one. This will be their heirloom.

 

I also completed the top for Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion mystery in January. It is not quilted yet.

I had a bunch of half square triangles left over from several quilts that I have put together into a baby quilt. It has not been quilted yet either.

Currently, I am working on a disappearing nine-patch made of a bunch of Batik samples that I have had for years. Here are 2 blocks complete.

 

I am also working on Bonnie Hunter's Wild Child quilt from her book String Fling. Below are the 80 4.5 inch string blocks required for the quilt.  It seems the more strings that I use, the more I have. I swear the things multiply in their containers. I made these 80 blocks and cannot tell that I have used any from the container.

Our GardenWeb online group has finalized our plans for our yearly retreat!  We had to change locations this year but the place looks nice. It is going to be at the Holston Center in Banner Elk, NC this year. Closer to home for me and in a familiar area. I am already looking forward to it, even though it is not until Labor Day weekend.

Grand Illusion

 

I have not posted in quite a while! Thought I would add my latest finish. This is Bonnie Hunter's latest Mystery Quilt. It is called Grand Illusion, named after the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. I have not quilted it yet. I am working on a quilt for a friend right now.

Lately I have been teaching my cousin how to quilt. She has already finished a disappearing 9-patch and even quilted it on my longarm!  She is working on a couple more of them now for her twin granddaughters.

Finally Posting Again!

 

I have not posted in a while, but it is not because I have not been busy quilting. I made this quilt, Happily Scrappily Irish (a Bonnie Hunter Pattern) out of 2 inch scrap squares. The background is the only yardage I used on the top. I have been cutting up all my scraps into usable sizes lately. I probably have enough scraps to keep my going for quite a while. :)

On the frame right now, I have this butterfly top. It was found in a box I purchased from an estate sale. I am going to quilt it and then find someone to gift it to. 

 

I have several tops that I got at that same estate sale. They were stuck down in a box of fabric that I purchased. None of them are my style, but I might can find someone who will love them. 

I recently finished my challenge quilt for retreat this year. I cannot show a photo of it until after retreat is over. 

My husband and I are currently in the process of building a screened patio on the back of the house. So lots of weekend time has been spent working out there with him. I don't mind the work, but listening to the cuss fits gets on my nerves. LOL

It is only about 6 weeks until Retreat! I can't wait. 

Finally finished my Celtic Solstice!

 

I finally got this quilt complete. As I was loading it onto the frame, my cousin came by. Her eyes lit up when she saw the quilt. So after it was complete and I had washed it, I called her and asked her to come over. I gifted the quilt to her. I hope she enjoys it for many years to come!

Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Progress

Each year at Thanksgiving, Bonnie Hunter generously offers up a mystery to her followers. Last year's was Easy Street, which I did and loved. This year it is called Celtic Solstice. A month or so ago, she posted the fabric requirements (http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/10/2013-mystery-time-introducing-celtic.html). She gives these early in order for us to get our fabrics together. I was fortunate to have all these in my stash, so I went with her color scheme which is: Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Neutrals. Then, the day after Thanksgiving, she gave the first clue/part (http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/11/celtic-solstice-mystery-part-1.html). This part entailed making quite a few Peaky and Spike parts.

I am making the smaller (75" x 75") version, so I made 96 of the parts with the neutral centers and 92 of the ones with the orange centers. Each Friday for the next couple of months or so, Bonnie will release a clue. At the end, we will have a beautiful quilt top. If it is anything like last year's Easy Street, it will be a real beauty!  I am posting another photo of my Easy Street below. My husband claimed this one before it was even done. It now resides on our bed.

This photo is before borders. It is an extra big King size.

2013 GardenWeb Quilters Retreat at Camp Cheerio

 

I just returned from a fabulous retreat at Camp Cheerio, which is a YMCA camp in NW North Carolina. I belong to an online forum called GardenWeb. We get together at Camp Cheerio for retreat every year. The photo above is our Saturday Quilt Show. The camp provides us with motel-type rooms, all meals and the upstairs space in this building which is the Sloan Center. 

 

This year there were only 10 of us, but we had a wonderful time.

 

The photo above is just a taste of what the meals are like. The food is like no camp food that I ever had as a child!  I got lots completed at retreat. Will show more photos later.