Bonnie Hunter Quilts

In response to Shirley's blog post asking how many Bonnie quilts we had each completed, I thought I would share a few photos.  I do not have photos of all of my "Bonnie" quilts.  Some were near duplicates and have been given as gifts but here are a few.

My first was Carolina Christmas, which I gifted to my sister on her birthday in February following the mystery.

My second was Pineapple Blossom.  I was inspired by Elaine A.'s beautiful quilt done in shades of blue.  I have actually made three of these and have the fourth half done.

Then came Roll Roll Cotton Boll, Bonnie's 2010 mystery.  This one is a queen size, and then I made an identical quilt in a king size for a friend, so that made two of these. 

Then came Kiss in the Corner, which was a gift for our granddaughter who married the following June.  (Appropriate name for a bride, don't you think??  Kiss....)

THEN I received Bonnie's newest book, Scraps and Shirttails II, and fell in love with Tumalo Trail.  This one went home to Miami, Fl with a friend who also fell in love with it.

Of course, we had Orca Bay, as our last 2011 Mystery, which I renamed my Tennessee Stained Glass because I just thought it looked like a  beautiful stained glass window.

I have Jamestown Landing almost done, but no photo and am almost done with another Pineapple Blossom.

Am also working on my Easy Street Mystery.  Step one is done.. Step two is in progress and I went ahead and started a second one in Bonnie's colors... but only have a portion of Step one finished on the second one.

Happy Sewing Everyone!!

Cathy

Hunter's Star Quilt

In response to Jo's request over at Jo's Country Junction, to post about something new I have tried and either liked or disliked, we are going to talk about Deb Tucker's Rapid Fire Hunter's Star Ruler.  This is one ruler that has multiple uses during the cutting and construction of the quilt.  You have a choice between finished block sizes ranging from 6" to 8" using her smaller ruler.  Ambitious me, decided on the 6" finished block, as four of them go together giving you a finished size of 12".  Remember, I am accustomed to making Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville quilts and they have lots and lots of small pieces, so that is what I am used to.

The ruler works great.  I found it easy to use and Deb Tucker has a great video that tells you exactly how to use it.

And here's the finished product.  A bed size quilt that measures about 106" x 96".  All done in batiks.  Isn't it lovely???

Yes, I realize that there is a "tree shadow" on the quilt in the last photo but the gorgeous Tennessee winter sky was too pretty to resist.  I had to include that picture.

Happy Sewing, all.

Cathy

Orca Bay is Done Done!!

Well, I put the last few stitches into the binding on Orca Bay this morning.  Just in time for Bonnie's Monday Link-up.  This was such a fun quilt.  Thanks so much Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville for her generosity.

Here's a couple of final photos.  I needed to go a little larger so I added three 2" finished borders outside of the pieced border that the original pattern called for.  The quilt finished at about 96" x 86"... larger enough for my queen size bed with extra drop on each side.  I know there has been a lot of discussion about ending it with the pieced border and giving the eye a "place to rest", but I really like the way it turned out.  It gave me the opportunity to introduce a little more blue into the quilt and tie in those little string blocks.  In addition, I used a beautiful blue backing I had been saving for "Jamestown Landing".  It went so well with the blue in this quilt, I just had to use it on this one.

In addition to finishing up my Orca Bay, I also completed a cross stitch I have been working on since October of 2011.  It is a Heaven and Earth Design titled "Be Good for Goodness Sake".  I don't think the picture does it justice, but Santa is so lifelike I could swear he was "watching" me with those eyes as I was stitching the project.

Well, that does it..

Happy Sewing everyone.

Cathy

Orca Bay Big Reveal... Parts 7/8

The grand finale of Orca Bay, Bonnie Hunter's 2011 Mystery Quilt, has been revealed.  As expected, it is a beautiful, beautiful quilt, well worth all the cutting and sewing, cutting and sewing we participants have all been doing since the week preceeding Thanksgiving.  I always enjoy Bonnie's mysteries so much... watching each individual's quilt as it unfolds.. each one is different and likewise beautiful in it's own way.

Here is a picture of my progress so far..  With all components finished, I have assembled this much of the quilt..

I am, however in a quandry about my little periwinkle blue string blocks, which form the cornerstones of the pieced sashing.  They play a big role in the way the eye "travels" around the quilt and mine are just too monochromatic, in my opinion.  I do not feel that you can actually "see" the direction of the strings because the blocks are so tonal, even though I used a wide variety of fabrics when making them.  And although I generally love periwinkle blue with red and white, I am wondering if the periwinkle is a vibrant enough color or if I should have gone with something more in the jewel tones.  What do you think??  IN ADDITION, now that I have three rows of them together, I see that although I have them all traveling in the same respective direction, as I should, they are wrong!!  The "strings" should be pointing TOWARDS the light Ohio Stars, instead of away!

So, my possible solutions.

1.  Do nothing.. which isn't going to work for me, because although I am NOT a perfectionist, I know I am not going to be happy with it the way it is..

2.  Take apart.. turn the blue blocks in the right direction and re-assemble. (Which will ease my mind because I know it is made correctly, but isn't going to change the overall appearance that much because the blocks will still be fairly monochromatic with no real contrast amongst them, so they still won't give the eye that direction of travel they should.

3.  Split the blue blocks and add a few new strings with more contrast, sew them back up, re-square them and put them back in the quilt.

4.  Make 64 NEW blocks in a more vibrant color (I am thinking greens in the teal family or gold/cheddar) and not use the periwinkle blocks in this quilt at all.

What do you all think??