Celtic Solstic Mystery Update

My Celtic Solstice is finally pieced and quilted.

I was hoping to have the binding on before linking up to Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville blog but there was some user error on my part. My binding is a combination of the green outer border and the yellow backing. I had started sewing it on and didn't realize until 3 sides later that I sewed folded edge to raw edge. I spent about 2 hours ripping it all out and haven't had a chance to sew it back on. That is on my agenda later today.

I quilted this on my Juki TL 98Q machine that I have on a Proflex frame. I used Isacord 40 wt thread in celery #5832. I really like how the color works with the quilt. I discovered Isacord thread from following Leah Day at http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/. My machine seems to like it and I think it gives a very nice appearance.

The quilting is a free pantograph pattern I found at Urban Elementz called Raindrops. I had to reduce the size a bit due to the throat space on my machine but it worked pretty well.

I am very pleased with how this has turned out being my first mystery quilt. I love following Bonnie Hunter and Leah Day on their blogs and have learned much from both of them. I have linked this post to each of their sites.

My Mom has also completed her Celtic Soltice top and has asked me to quilt it for her.

A few blocks turned this way and that but she wants to let them be. I informed her that all of my quilting at this point is purely practice and she is ok with that. I will probably just do this one totally free motion and not follow a pantograph. Thinking about all over swirls perhaps. I will share it when I get it completed.

That's all for today. Thanks for reading and happy quilting!

Chris

I THINK I HAVE A PROBLEM

A few of the reasons I decided to start a quilt blog:

1. To start documenting my projects
2. To keep track of them all in one place
3. To help keep me motivated to do more
4. To try to tame the ADD I have with too many projects
5. To be accountable so that I get projects finished

 With that being said I re-arranged my sewing room today with the help of my hubby. I am now able to access my sewing machine I have on a quilt frame in a much easier manner. Now I don't have to lose a gazillion pounds and look like Olive Oil in order to get behind my machine.

Before

After

 








In the process of re-organizing I decided to take photo's of all the many uncompleted projects I have hanging out. Many of them just need quilted and I am going to make a pledge to work on these this year without starting too many new projects. Admitting the problem is a start, right? So here goes. Fair warning this is a photo heavy post.

Celtic Solstice

First up is the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt that my first blog post was about. The top is completed and now I need to quilt and bind it. This is first on my list, will be working on this directly.
The rest of the photo's are in no particular order. Some of these quilts have been hanging around for 10 years. I should be ashamed!

Americana - ready to be quilted

Jelly Roll Race - needs quilted (haven't decided if I like it or not)

My Very First Quilt - All this needs is trimmed and binding. What am I waiting for?

Converging Cows - needs binding (What was I thinking)

Pumpkin Go Round Table Topper - needs lots of applique

Small Wall Hanging - needs quilted (might be a good practice piece)

Pumpkin wall hanging - needs quilted

Mountain Majesties Learning to quilt class- halfway quilted

Flag Twister - needs another border and quilted

Montana Log Cabin - needs quilted

Batik Mystery Quilt from Quilt Guild - needs last border and quilted

Star Blocks started for a king size bed quilt

Leah Day Free Motion Quilting whole-cloth lesson

Tree Table runner - needs binding. This is #2 I finished the first one.

Christmas Tree wall hanging - started cutting

Baby Girl quilt - had good intentions years ago

Crossroads Log Cabin - love the colors, many small pieces

Flying Geese King Size - Just needs binding

Tote Bag - need to finish putting it together

Kaleidoscope Quilt blocks. Making a king size, love this fabric!

Large tote bag quilted panel

Christmas Star table topper - needs quilted.

That is a total of 23 unfinished projects, holy schmokes! I will check back on myself next January to see how many I have finished and how many I am just giving up on. I do have many quilts I have actually finished. I will post some of them another day. You would think that I wouldn't consider starting something else new until I complete some of these, ha ha. I am starting a new quilt but it is only one block per month, surely I can keep up with that. I will fill you in on it next time.
Thanks for reading!
Chris

My first Mystery Quilt

My Mom and I have been following  Bonnie Hunter at www.quiltville.blogspot.com this past year. Every year she provides a free mystery quilt to her readers to show her appreciation. We have decided to embark on this journey and try something new. This years mystery is called Celtic Solstice. The first thing we needed to do was gather all of our fabric. She provided the numbers of paint chip cards from Lowe's to help out. Keep in mind that this started in October this past year. Bonnie gives the first clue the day after Thanksgiving and then publishes a clue every week for the blocks you are to make.

The very first week we had to make 200 blocks that are only 3 1/2 inch square. What did I get myself into? The first 2 rows in the photo to the left are from week 1.



 Week 2 was even worse with all the little pieces that went into one tiny little block! And this is where I got behind for a while. Not to mention this was all going on during the Holidays. I can't believe I even managed to get a Christmas tree up this year.

Almost There

And the block building continues to grow and grow!















At this point we are wondering how this is all going to come together and then on New Years Day our final clue arrives. It is the REVEAL! We finally have instructions on how to put all these thousands of pieces together into a very beautiful quilt top. Oh, except I don't have all mine finished yet. So now the race is on and I have been sewing, sewing and sewing some more.Then I realized I had better clean out the machine and put in a fresh needle to start putting all of those blocks together. It's amazing how much lint accumulates in there!

 Lots of Lint!



Finally started placing pieces up on my design wall to see the result. The final layout will have 7 rows across and 7 rows down with added borders all around. The first pic is the original design for the mystery quilt. I decided to go with alternating the yellow and green blocks to give it a slightly different look. I am really liking this. It has been a lot of fun doing this with my Mom. Everyday we talk and see how far the other one is. It will be a while yet till we finish this crazy quilt and then on to another project.

On my design wall

As of this post I have the first three rows sewn into blocks. 21 blocks done, 28 to go. Then to do borders, quilt it and bind it. Might be a while. I will post my progress along the way.
Linking up to  Mystery Monday Link-Up, Part 6!

Hope you enjoyed my post. Blogging is a new adventure. I'm hoping this will help me get some projects completed.

Chris