Started down Easy Street

Over at Quiltville.com Bonnie K. Hunter has generously started a new mystery quilt: Easy Street.  Handing one clue a week for several weeks she will lead us through heaping piles of four patches, hst's, or maybe even qst's...but she does promise that there will be no strings.

Clue #1 has us making four patches - 192. My colour palette will closely follow Bonnie's;1) because the colours she has recommended sound perfect to me 2) why mess with perfection. I was doing some kas-stash shopping I came across this thunder-struck gray and I know it is from 2001. However there will be nothing but a memory left once I am done this quilt. It was fun to sew together a Debbie Mumm to a Mark Lipinski...hey maybe these two opposites will play along very nicely in my quilt.

Bonnie has also given us instructions for doing the interior four-patch twirl...sounds like a little dance number. This opens that interior intersection and your little four-top will lie as flat as hardtop. So far 100 are made and the 92 remaining are waiting their turn.

I also have my hand block ready to send off to the International Quilt Festival of Ireland.  My very good friend (Kim Caskey) and I are co-hosting a 9-day Enchanted Tour of Ireland, June 5 - 13, 2013 and are sew hoping you will join our tour.  We have special sights and activities planned: I Spy with a Quilter's Eye is just one.  There is still room on our coach, and if need be, we will get a second one.

This block with be added along with 100's more the the 100,000 welcomes Quilt that will greet visitors to the Quilter's Castle in Galway, June 2013.  Anyone can make a block to send, even if you can not make it :-(. I would be more than delighted to send you the instructions.

Mystery Quilt Class success

When attending a mystery quilt class, or any class for that matter, I like to come as prepared as possible. The instructor has structured the class to optimize your time together, so make the most of it. Notwithstanding the times I have completely forgotten my power source cord for my machine and had to get home and back and try not to throw my schedule too much.

This preparation includes servicing my machine...check. I like to wipe out the bobbin cage with an oil saturated cotton swab to catch any caked on fuzz and debris. When your machine puts on those many miles of stitching, it is amazing what you will find in there.

New needle...check. I have just invested approx $300 in fabric for this new quilt (well at time when I was accumulating this staff that is what I may have paid for it), how about blowing that budget wide open and put in that new $1.89 needle.

Pre-winding or purchased pre-wound buttons...check. I like to use "Bottom Line" in a neutral shade, and do up at least a half dozen or more. Also pictured are some pre-wound "Super Bob's".

Colour fabric map...check. The class hand-outs includes a class supplies list along with a fabric map page, and pre-class cutting instructions. I do that home work and label (re-inforced with a pin) my pre-cut pieces. These piles of pre-cuts then will either go into a zip-locked plastic bag or small bin designed just for classes or small projects.

Staying organized in class...check. My favourite method are the plastic sleeves in a small binder that is dedicated to that project for the duration of the project. I take photo's (like the ones used here) and file those with the instructions as I go along. Once completed, a summary documentation page is added and the whole thing is then filed in the "Year of Completion" binders. The whole binder system is another blog-about-entry.

For personal care and comfort throughout the day, I pack my own tea mug, de-cafineated tea bags, some pre-cut fresh fruit, a non-greasy hand lotion (all time favourite is Melaleuca's Renew) and a water bottle. This is of course all over and above the pack a lunch or lunch money-in-pocket options.

It is also an opportunity to collect more small pieces (or seed) for the next quilt. Something along the lines of a sour dough starter. Here we were making 'flying geese' and while I was marking one sewing line, what would it take to make the second sewing line and create these adorable hst's for the next time I need hst's that size? They always seem to find a home. They would make an especially elegant border for the label. And to some people that is a really big deal. I have since learned how to make the most of those bonus hst's. (pity I wasted so much fabric!)

Honest, I have been known to smile...alot.


Thought I would deviate a bit from the original instructions and make a pieced border of 4-patches on point.

Love on a Hot Afternoon: Custom Machine quilting by Kim Caskey

I love to quilt and the process is made even more enjoyable by being prepared and staying organized.