Grand Illusion Mystery - Part 1 & Caswell block

I have completed all the blocks for part 1 of Grand Illusion Mystery.

At the last minute I changed one of the colours I had set aside before; instead of blue I chose brown and instead of bright red fabrics I picked more burgundy reds.

But whatever colour I select, the full effect of my choices will only show it's full impact once the quilt is put together.
All the fabrics came from my stash and some pieces even came from my scrap box.
I have the Easy Angle ruler but I prefer the papers to make the Half Square Triangles .
I find paper piecing fast and accurate and I get free papers downloaded from the this website.

 I am linking up here.

I still had time to finish another Caswell block... long way to go to make 30 blocks and the border.

Dot Modern Quilt

The pattern for this quilt came from the book by Nancy Mahoney, "Simple Circles and Quick Curves".

 

It was pieced sometime ago and I quilt it this week on the Handi Quilter.

 

I quite like the big variety of modern looking fabrics I have been collecting for a while.

I am ready to embark on Bonnie's mystery tonight; fabrics chosen, sewing machine serviced a couple of days ago, sewing studio tidy and weekend meals organised.  Husband and daughter will not been having too much of my attention.

No gardening this weekend; just me in my studio, my fabrics, sewing machine and music !
And occasionally looking out of the window to this view...

I have had a very productive quilty week !
While tidying up my studio I found this floral print and along with a couple of other matching fabrics I made this top.

 

I was planning to make a friend at work a quilt for her 60th birthday next year so this quilt will be going to her.

I think the colours will suit her home décor and she is always very interested to see the quilts I make.

She doesn't read my blog or Facebook, so I am sure it will surprise her.

I also made this little quilt with my huge collection of solid yardage and scraps.
I saw this design on the web and in no time at all I put it all together.

I plan to make another lap size quilt with the same design but bigger blocks and a lot more variety in the  fabrics.

I made a few more 9 patches for a new quilt I have started... that's all I am revealing for now......

 And lastly more gardening has been done and the flowers are putting on a show ....

More gardening over the weekend and if time permits a little stitching... and next week  Bonnie Hunter's mystery starts !

 

Inspired by Tumalo Trail Quilt

I had a box of 2" squares and from time to time I have been making 9 patches for the fun of it. And then I decided it was time to put them into a quilt.

I went over Bonnie Hunter's books and Tumalo Trail  (Scraps & ShirttailsII) seemed to be the perfect design to use up these blocks.

In the book the squares are 1 1/2" so my quilt turned out bigger; I don't think I will be adding a border.
I am pleased the way it turned out. It's not going to be quilted immediately as I have another quilt in the longarm machine at the moment which I am hoping to finish in before the end of the month.
I have a couple of other projects on the go and these should also be completed before the mystery starts.

It was so fun playing with such a variety of fabrics and using up a lot of my scraps. Anything goes.

I had to cut more squares and cut other sizes for another scrap quilt that I also doing.
I am becoming quite a scrap quilter these days ! It's Bonnie's influence...

I continue to spend some time in the garden, maintaining and adding new features and plants.

This picture was taken last week (facing my sewing studio)... it's lovely to be able to look out and see the flowers in bloom.

 

 Some close ups of these beauties....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mariner's Compass Wall Hanging and Grand Illusion Mystery

Finally finished my Mariner's compass top.

This is a Quiltsmart product and the pack included the instructions and marked interfacing.

Most of the fabrics are batiks.



I am planning to do Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion Mystery.

The first clue is starting on the 28th November and I can't wait. This will be my 3rd mystery from Bonnie in addition to a couple of other quilts. I just love how I can use up my stash with her patterns and at the moment I am doing another quilt from one of her books which I hope to have the top completed before the mystery begins.

 

I am not entirely following her chosen colours; instead went through my stash to see how much fabric I had and also which combinations I had not made a quilt on.





 

I have been collecting grey fabrics for a little while so I have decided to use these instead of white/cream. At this stage I am not certain if I should use several grey fabrics as per the above or use only one very light grey fabric that I have a large quantity of.

Caswell Block and a belated birthday gift

Although I started off with great enthusiasm with the Caswell quilt, I now only work on it on my lunch breaks, so I don't expect to have it finished in the near future.
Here is my latest block.

 

I have a couple of other fairly large projects on the go at the moment which I hope to share on the blog shortly.

 

My friend Lynne, who is almost finished with her Caswell blocks made time to gift me this very adorable pocket wall hanging. 

 

 Her stitching is so perfectly done and she used wool.

 Going around the garden early in the morning I loved this flower pot outside my studio.

And this is Noddy looking out in the garden enjoying the early morning sun today.

Fun Quilt and more signs of Spring

Several years ago I purchased a panel with several quilting related sayings which I turned into a fun wall quilt. 

 I made Ohio stars and used each of the little panels as the centre.

 Each of the blocks are very appropriate for us quilters.

 I had a yard of this fun novelty fabric which was just just enough to put on the back.

 Also very amusing.

 I have had this flowering Cherry tree for several years, tucked away in the back of the shed so when it began to flower this year I could not believe it was my tree and how beautiful it is... I don't even remember planting it....

Blocks ! More blocks, Mini quilt and Fabric.

Another Caswell block completed.

 I am still enjoying playing with my scraps...

 Bonnie Hunter from Quiltville has been making these blocks on Quilt-Cam, so I have tried to play along.

 

They are quick and fun to do and I cut the squares at the same time I do other ongoing projects. 

 I get a chance to combine different fabrics and use up small pieces of fabrics.

I treated myself to scrap box from Craftsy. There are 2 fat quarters of the same print.
Don't know yet what project I'll be using them..

 

 View of my studio garden... I had an old tree taken down along the fence, so this area needs a bit of revamping.

Another Mini Quilt

From scraps...
Completed this week.