Celtic Solstice, part 6 - Bonnie's reveal!

Instead of waiting until Friday, Bonnie Hunter revealed the pattern for the Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt at midnight on New Year's. Happy 2014!! I threw my blocks on the wall to see how my quilt will look:

Nice!

This shows only three blocks across and down, and the finished quilt will be 7 x 7 blocks, so much bigger than what is seen here. I decided to see how it would look with those chevron units reversed too:

Oooohh!!

Since the quilt is for her, I asked PikaGirl which layout she likes better, and she said number 2, so that's what I'll sew. Although... I wonder what it would look like if I alternate one row reversed, the next row not reversed, etc.? I only had enough of the chevrons done to lay out this much, so I think I need to get to work making more ASAP!

Bonnie's been posting Celtic Solstice photos to her Facebook page as people have been sending them in. She also has the link up on her Quiltville blog for bloggers to share their work. The variations have been so fun to see. Go take a look! And, of course, I'll keep posting on my progress as I continue working on my quilt here.

I've been keeping busy on other fronts too. I picked up the patterns for a smaller and larger sewing machine spool pin doily from Bonnie's blog, and thought I'd try my hand at making a few. They crochet up very quickly since they're so small, but, because they're so small, I'm finding that I can't do more than a few at a time before my eyes start going all buggy. Here's a pic:

About a year ago I dyed some white crochet cotton a mottled, yellowish color using onion skins. The string became an ungodly, tangled mess in the process and has been sitting in a bag waiting for me to untangle it. These doilies each use so little string that I just need to untangle a couple of yards to make each one. I crochet the doily, cut the string, and then it becomes much easier to untangle the next few feet. What a winning combination: untangling an old mess and getting something so pretty to use from it at the same time! Some of my friends have seen them and wanted some, so most of what I've made has been given away already. I think the next batch I make I'll take to my next guild meeting to use as door prizes. And send some to my mom and my sister, sewing/quilting enthusiasts too. And... ??

I also delved into a little sewing poetry. On Facebook, someone posted an ode to Celtic Solstice using an old children's poem as a base. Well, I started channeling author Lewis Carroll instead and came up with this:

One, two! One, two! and through and through

The seam ripper went snicker-snack!

She left those threads all torn to shreds,

Then went to sew it back!

It's from the Jabberwocky poem in Carroll's book, "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There."  Only the one stanza so far, but maybe more will come to me as a sew some more.

Up next for me is packing up the Christmas decorations, surviving the bitter, Arctic cold that is swiftly descending upon us (-40 to -60° F wind chills expected for tomorrow morning? Seriously?!?!?), and making a list of all my WIPs, UFOs, and PIGS to get myself organized for 2014. That last one, I'm sure will become an 'upcoming soon' post, so stay tuned!

What has your crafting life inspired you to do?

Happy sewing!

Meredith

Playing with Blocks: Birds in the Air

I was right! Last week I guessed that Bonnie Hunter might use Birds in the Air as the next unit for us to make in the Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt, and when I opened up Clue #5 last Friday, there it was!

Unfortunately, this step uses those 100 extra Half Square Triangle units that we had to sew in clue #5... and which I never got around to sewing. So, a little extra cutting, and we get...

500 little pieces to make 100 Birds in the Air

So I sewed for a while (have you seen my tutorial on sewing Birds in the Air?), and while I don't have all 100 Birds finished yet, I do have enough sewn to start playing with blocks. Want to play along?

If a bird in hand is worth two in the bush, how much are sixteen birds worth?

Birds in the Air, like Log Cabin, is one of those really versatile blocks that can arranged in a variety of settings with some very different looks. Check our some of these:

Making Birds in the Air

Clue #5 in Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt has us making Birds in the Air units.

Unfortunately, this step uses those 100 extra Half Square Triangle units that we had to sew in clue #5... and which I never got around to sewing. So, a little extra cutting, and we get...

500 little pieces to make 100 Birds in the Air

That's five, stretchy half square triangles to make each unit!

First I got all those pesky HST units sewn together. Then I laid out all the pieces how they need to be sewn. Flip over the first wing, making sure that the edges all align...

Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt, part 4

Something short this week, I think, because I want to get back to sewing! I seem to be one of those odd ones out, and, now that Christmas week is upon us, I now seem to have extra time, rather than less. Yea!

The kids are occupied on their computers. Husband came down with a 24-hr. stomach bug (but is better now), and Ma Nature decided to deliver a Winter Wonderland snowstorm to the Mid-West, so we weren't going out even if we wanted to. I decided to ignore the housework and sew up my own little storm.
 

The view outside my sewing room

This week, Bonnie had us making 4-patch units for the Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt. I was so eager to get started, that I forgot that we were supposed to strip-piece these to save time. Oops. Instead I cut my blue and raspberry strips, and then layered them onto my QuiltCut2.

In record time I had stacks of paired squares all ready for sewing.

Soft fabric, warm fabric, makes me want to purr. Put you through my sewing machine. Whir! Whir! Whir!

Karma and Celtic Solstice

Well, it looks like Karma (or maybe her brother, Hubris?) caught up with me on Clue #3 in Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt.

Clues #1 and #2 gave us triangle-in-a-square and chevron units to make. While many people seemed to have some problems with these blocks, I've sailed through them pretty easily. Mind you, I haven't finished making the complete number of units for each step, but they've been coming together nicely with pieces flipped only a couple of times, and they're coming out to size. Yea! In fact, I was doing so well, that I even wrote tutorials on those units (see triangle-in-a-square and chevrons) to help others who were struggling.

I was feeling pretty good about myself and my sewing skills.

And then Clue #3 came out: half square triangles and pinwheels! And everyone rejoiced, because HSTs are one of the most common units in quilting, and there are a jillion ways to make them, and most quilters are pretty comfortable and confident when they sew them. Add to that, that pinwheels are such a fun and happy unit, who could be unhappy with this step?

Then add to that, that they're fairly quick to make, so I might even have some time to catch up on my sewing for the first two clues. Or getting ready for Christmas. Or finally getting around to checking out that crazy new health insurance exchange. Y'know, those pesky things that interfere with our quilting lives...

Playing with Celtic Solstice 2.5

This post comes in between clue #2 and clue#3 in Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt, thus the '2.5' identifier.

For Clue #1 we made these V-blocks in two color combinations:

Can you spot the 'Ooops' block?  ;-)

For Clue #2 we made chevron units:

All the units have a cut size of 3-1/2" x 3-1/2", so once they're sewn into a quilt, they'll measure 3" x 3". I've got no idea what other units Bonnie is going to have us make, but let's see what fun we can have with just these...

Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt, Part 2

Last Friday, Bonnie Hunter released clue #2 for her mystery quilt Celtic Solstice. This week we're making chevron units!

To make each chevron unit, she says we'll need:

• 2 green 2" x 3-1/2" rectangles
• 2 yellow 2" x 2" squares, and
• 2 white (background) 2" x 2" squares.

Except I've changed my colors from what Bonnie's using, so instead I have:

• 2 turquoise rectangles
• 2 coral squares, and
• 2 black (background) squares.

I found a nice trick to the cutting for this step. I cut my turquoise strips at 3-1/2", and then I layered two turquoise strips, two coral strips, and two black strips.

I subcut my stacked strips at 2" intervals.

Using the Wonder Triangle Ruler

This post is a tutorial on using Marti Michell's Wonder Triangle ruler to make the Triangle-In-A-Square units in Bonnie. K. Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt. If you're not making Celtic Solstice, then you'll still get some useful tips on using the Wonder Triangles ruler, so please read on!

Bonnie designed the Celtic Solstice mystery quilt using the Tri-Recs ruler, and she wrote her instructions assuming that ruler would be the one that people used. Those instructions still work just fine if you're instead using the Wonder Triangle ruler (W.T. from now on in this post). However, there are a couple of differences between the two rulers that you should be aware of for things to work out right.

The Triangle-In-A-Square (TIAS) unit

The first little kink comes with Bonnie's cutting instructions. The rulers (Tri-Recs and W.T. both) come as a paired set: one ruler is for cutting the larger, center triangle (the 'triangle' part of the Triangle-In-A-Square), and the second, thinner ruler is for cutting the smaller triangle 'wings' on each side of the center triangle. Once these are all sewn together, you've made a Triangle-In-A-Square (TIAS) unit. Cute, right?

With the Tri-Recs ruler, you can cut the fabric strips for both the center and wing triangles 1/2" wider than the finished size of the unit. Since the unit we're making in Celtic Solstice will finish at 3", Bonnie tells us cut all of the strips for this clue at 3-1/2".

In the W.R. instructions, however, we are told to cut strips for the center triangle 1/2" wider than the finished size, but strips for the wing triangles should be 5/8" wider than the finished size. It wants the wing triangle strips cut wider than the center triangle strips!

DON'T WORRY!! You CAN actually use the same width strip for each of the triangles if you are using the W.T. ruler! So cut all the strips you'll need for clue #1 at 3-1/2" (per Bonnie's instructions), and I'll show you how it works out.

Take a deep breath. Everything is O.K.!

Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt, Part 1

Hello! This is my first real post on this shiny, new blog, and I thought I'd start it off with a shiny, new quilt to match. The quilt is Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt, going on now at Bonnie's Quiltville blog.

So what is a mystery quilt, you ask? Basically, one person writes up the instructions to make a quilt. Then, without showing what the final quilt is supposed to look like, the instructions are released to the quilt makers one step at a time. That's right, we have no idea what the finished quilt is going to look like! That's the mystery! It's also a great leap of faith, trusting that the other person has designed something that you'll like, and that the fabrics you've chosen (almost) blindly will work out. It's one great big exercise in releasing control and just enjoying the process, no matter what the end product looks like.

Quilting: Easy! Releasing control: Eeek!

But, with Bonnie Hunter in the lead role, I also know this will be be an experience where I'll get to learn and grow as a quilter too. In fact, for our first 'clue' Bonnie has us using the TriRecs ruler to make triangle-in-a-square units. I've never used it before, but by the time I finish the 188 units I have to make in this step, I'm sure I'll be feeling right at home with it!