Easy Street Steps 5 and 6

Hurray! I'm caught up! Steps 5 and 6 are finished. These are just a few samples of all the finished pieces. Ready for the new clue tomorrow, and even more ready for what comes after that! I'm so curious to see how these all fit together and if some of the ideas that others have come up with are close to what Bonnie has designed for us!

 

 

Easy Street mystery quilt

Okay - so I've just figured out that we are only sewing together into some sort of block are the black on white constant, the blues and purples - and the grey. The greens are just being cut into squares or triangles and not attached to anything. Everyone else probably noticed this already - but I just noticed it. So, Bonnie, what's up??? This is getting very interesting - but I notice that she's winding us up for a great finish. I'm really glad I decided to try and do this!

oooops!

Well, was hoping to be able to have some of Easy Street Part 5 done tonight - but realized when I tried to put the squares together that I had cut the purple squares at 2 1/2" - not 2". So, guess what I'm going to be doing for the next little while? Yep, trimming purple squares. Bummer! Guess I won't be posting Step 5 till next week.

A new baby nephew!

Today I celebrate the birth of new great nephew, Evan Joseph! We are so excited to welcome him and I can't wait to meet him. He was born this evening to my youngest niece, Beth and her husband Steve. Evan has an older sister Ava who I know is thrilled to have him!
Evan makes my 9th great niece/nephew - what a blessing these beautiful children are to our family.

Easy Street step 4!

Well, here's a sampling of step 4. Not so sure how well these are turning out. Many of my attempts are pretty wonky and I'm hoping when they are attached to whatever it is they are going with, they'll kind of straighten themselves out. But I have to admit it's really fun to start putting some of these pieces together. I find it more interesting that I'm satisfied with just going along a step at a time without wanting to see the end result. I'm one of those people who reads a book out of order - the beginning, then the end ('cause I just have to know how it ends) and then go back and read the middle to see how it gets to the end! I am enjoying other peoples' guesses at how these pieces are going together!

 

 

 

Hope everything is going well for all the rest of you - and that as you anticipate Christmas you have a wonderful celebration!

Easy Street Part 3

Well, here's step 3 of Easy Street. I really like these blocks and put them together in a way that makes sense to me. Have no idea if this is the way they'll go together, but it's pretty fun! I'm posting this on Sunday and have half these blocks done. Will finish the rest a little later. Have some other blues I'm using, but this is a good sample. Decided to use just regular shades of purple, blue and green rather than the brighter colors Bonnie suggested. So far, I'm pretty pleased with how things are going together.

Enjoy!

Easy Street update week 2

So, here's my update on the "Easy Street" quilt.  Silly me cut waaayyy too many pieces, thinking I needed the 192 pieces I needed for the 4 patches. Ooooops! Oh well, now I have lots and lots purple triangles and black/whites to match.
Am finding Bonnie's way of making flying geese so easy. I hope I can figure out how to use these rulers for other flying geese projects. Now, I won't shy away from them so much. I've only made 35 geese so far, will do a few each day this week. Have other projects I need to be doing at the same time. Anyway, here are the ones I have finished.

 

I'm so pleasantly suprised with how good they look. These are all different shades of purple even tho some look blueish. I love purple and that was part of why I decided to do this quilt. Purple has been my favorite color for years!

 



193 - yep, 193 - 4 patches sewn, pressed, and ready to go. Can't believe I made it! Okay, Bonnie, what's next??

It worked!

Hey it worked! I added Bonnie's link to the mystery quilt on my blog - so impressed with myself! Need to sew this afternoon to make progress. Almost all the 4 patches are sewn, will press them tomorrow. Am also working on a Christmas Tree using the L'il Twister and really have to make progress on that. Have fun everyone!

Easy Street Mystery quilt Monday 11/26

I have no idea if this is going to work since I'm completely new to this blog thing. But I want to join in the fun so let's see what happens. I've only been quilting for 3 years so my stash isn't as full as some others and I had to give in and purchase the grays and black on whites. These aren't colors I'm normally drawn to, but I love the gray I found, so fun! And from what they told me at the store, it had just come out. And if you can see the music in the black on white prints, that made those a winner for me. Music is my main job (I play the piano for choirs at a local high school) and these two prints were fun and still not too busy. Hope you can see this and it works!

Ann Mary - in IL!

Am gathering all the pieces for Bonnie's mystery quilt! What fun! Had to order the companion angle ruler - guess everyone's wanting one right now - gee - I wonder why?? Am using the same colors she's suggesting, only not in the bright colors, but more subdued ones. What really has me puzzled is how we're going to use the black on white?! Should be fun. Hope I can keep up. Christmas is such a busy time in my world.

I've done a couple craft shows this year, mostly due to my family's encouragement because they think I do really beautiful work. And bless my family, they have been my best customers. So my latest show was this past Saturday and I think I learned a few things. If I really want to sell, I need to make smaller things that don't cost quite so much to make, ones that I really don't consider being really quilted items.  Then, perhaps have some of the pricier items along side - the ones I really enjoy making and that are much prettier, and maybe I'll get lucky! I also need to make my display much more 3 dimensional so people will really look.
But what I really learned was this. I need to put my love and energy into making beautiful quilts for my family and friends, and do these smaller things on the side, just for fun. I love what I've made for these shows, but apparently it's not appealing to others, or they're just not willing to spend the money. And I do understand that. So my love and enjoyment needs to go into things I can give to people I care about.
I know this may seem really obvious to others, but I'm a slow learner sometimes, and am still really new to this world of quilting. But now I know where my energy needs to go.

Attended the funeral of the mother of a dear friend of mine today. This is the friend who got me into quilting a few years ago. My friend's Mom lived in an apartment attached to her home, like a mother-in-law suite. After everything was over and we had a little time to talk my friend said, "who am I going to show my fabric to when I come home from shopping?" Really tugged at my heart. It reminded me of my Dad, and even though he's been gone for 10 years, there are times that memories are still very strong. My Dad was a great Cubs' fan, (I guess some things are passed on!) and everytime the Cubs would win (okay, no comments about how few times that could be) I would call my Dad. The first time the Cubs won after he died, my hand went to the phone, and I just paused. Such an empty feeling. I know how my friend will feel the first time she comes home with new fabric and can't go downstairs to show her Mom. Memories are precious. Hold them close.

well now

This is a new experience. This will certainly not be the most exciting or informative blog you've ever read, and I really don't intend it to be. I'm not one to share an enormous amount about myself, simply because I'm pretty private, and pretty introverted. But in order to be part of Quiltville's upcoming mystery quilt, I need to have a blog - so here goes.

I began quilting about 3 years after my girlfriend's instigation - and I'm really grateful she pushed me until I got going and took my first quilting class. I have loved working with beautiful fabric for many years, since I was a kid really, and this gives me the opportunity to do just that. It's so exciting to have such gorgeous fabric available and be able to use so much of it in one project. My stash is growing by leaps and bounds, which becomes challenging when you live in a small space. So, I'm hoping that by taking part in the mystery quilt, I can break down some of that stash and force myself to use it, instead of buying more new stuff.

I haven't made many large projects yet because of space constrictions, but am ready to tackle those now. Wish me luck!