The Top Is Done!

I have finished my version of Bonnie Hunter's 2018 Mystery, "Good Fortune"! I'm so pleased with the outcome and had great fun with the excitement of waking up every week to find a new clue, the rush to get all the pieces made, the fun of pulling a myriad of fabrics from my 25+ year old stash to get that great mix of scraps, like Bonnie does in EVERY one of her quilts!

I swear, the first thought I had when I smoothed out my quilt on my design wall and took the photo was, "I can't wait for Bonnies Mystery 2019!" (you're laughing, Bonnie, right?)

I'm bringing this quilt to the quilter, Cathy Evans of Yuba City, California tomorrow and it will be in the Valley Quilt Guild guilt show on March 9th and 10th.

Thank you, Bonnie Hunter, for sharing your generous talent with us. You bring so much joy to so many quilters all over the world! What a great feeling that must be.

Here's the link to this Monday Link-Up, the last one of this mystery. Take a look at all the iterations of this quilt and marvel at the creativity and dedication of so many Quiltville followers.
https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-last-good-fortune-mystery-monday.html

Good Fortune--Coming Along!

I finished all the pieced parts of Bonnie's "Good Fortune" quilt using "my" colors: aqua instead of blue, lime instead of a deeper green, purple instead of red and pink instead of orange. I always like seeing different colors used. 

I'm following one blogger who's using 'dark' as her neutral and am eager to see the finish.

I haven't made the "paper pieced" steps because I might just make them single pieces. We'll see after the reveal.

I didn't do Bonnie's mystery last year and regretted it! The first I did, many years ago, took 39 hours to piece the top! (I kept track every time I entered my sewing room.) That may sound like a ton of time but it's one of my favorite ever quilts so very worth it. Come to think of it, I used a similar color palette for that one as I'm using now--no wonder I love it--LOL! 


I'm going to guess we'll have 2 more clues before the big REVEAL--one of my favorite days of the whole YEAR! What's your guess?

Take a look at all the participants in this year's mystery by going to Bonnie's blog: https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2018/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-6.html

Good Fortune Mystery Clue #3

Thanks for stopping by! I'm so happy I've been keeping up with Bonnie Hunter's "Good Fortune Mystery"! I've chosen a limey green for clue #3 rather than a more kelly green since lime is my favorite color.
The most fun part of this whole yearly mystery is seeing what my fellow quilters all over the U.S. and the WORLD have been making! 
Access Bonnie's wonderful blog to find out how you can create your own Quiltville.blogspot.com mystery! You'll be happy you put in the time, effort and COLOR!!
https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2018/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-3.html

Good Fortune Clue #2

Bonnie's blue is my aqua :-)  
I've really enjoyed making these HSTs using Bonnie's wonderful Essential Triangle ruler. I used to make the 10-inch squares that you sewed corner to corner, top to bottom and left to right, TWICE each way but after cutting them apart, I'd always end up having to 'square them up' afterward, a very time-consuming process for half-square triangles. Since I bought the Essential Triangle tool, I find the squares come out perfectly every time. Yes, you do have to be very careful to line up the ruler exactly but it's worth it.

I do have another trick I use to get that very last 'point' (dog ear) off the triangle so they're perfect after pressing: After chain-piecing the triangles you've cut with your Essential Triangle tool, bring them over to your ironing board uncut. Instead of clipping the threads to separate the string of triangles, take your scissors and clip the POINT of the triangle on the one side. Voila! The triangles are separated AND, when you press them open, there are no more 'dog ears' to clip off! 

Check out Bonnie's blog for everything you want to know about this fun mystery!

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2018/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html

Good Fortune #1 complete!

I LOVE doing Bonnie's mysteries but like to make them my own by changing one or two colors. This year, instead of using red, I'm using purple. When I see clue #2, I'll see if I want to use a different color. I'm thinking I'd like aqua instead of the darker blue and more of a lime for the green. We'll see.         

If you want to have a fun time and end up with a beautiful quilt, go to Bonnie Hunter's blog at quiltville.blogspot.com

A Satisfying Finish!

My Bird Seed quilt is finished! I absolutely loved every minute of Lorna McMahon's Sew Fresh Quilt design. I encourage you to take a look at her designs here.

I tried the quilting technique Lorna uses in her quilts and really liked it. then I made a 2-color binding using black and a 1/8" red flange (to keep the little red birdy company--although he seems to have found a 'sweetie' to do that--tee-hee!)

Let's see what everyone else has bee working on on Judy's blog

Bird Seed

I follow a few quilt blogs and one I really love is at SewFreshQuilts. "Let's Bee Social" is written by Lorna McMahon who has a wonderful spirit and wit and obviously loves animals, as I do. Her patterns are well-written and, best of all, they can be (very reasonably) purchased and immediately printed on your home printer--instant gratification!


Her Blackbird pattern really caught my eye and I just had to make one. Here's my pre-quilted rendition. Isn't it cute?


There are a LOT of tiny pieces in her pattern, the blocks of which measure 6" square !! I have to admit that I drafted a larger version so mine are 9" square. I call the quilt "Bird Seed" because the background fabric is 'newsprint' advertising seeds and flowers--something I didn't realize until I was cutting it up.

Seriously, check out Lorna's blog!