Friday, December 11, 2015

Allietare Clue #3 - Bonnie Hunter - Mystery Quilt

After a day in the kitchen yesterday and still managing to do a little sewing, I am thrilled for today.  My dear friend, Allison Bayer, is coming over for the day and we are doing clue 3 together.  Come along and peek in on our day.  We won't tell anyone you did, you little peeper you.

We are sharing space in the living room on a six-foot table today.  Why?  Well, because the studio is piled high with batting I need to take care of and it's Christmas time.  Sitting by the tree, listening to Christmas music just sounds wonderful to me right now.

I love that Allison is like me and an early riser.  I got up at 5 and made the dough for bread and cinnamon rolls, cut my strips of gold, and set up the room.  Oh my house already has that wonderful yeasty smell going on.  (For this amazing recipe - click HERE)  Why don't I do this more often?  Allison arrives by 8.  Perfect.  We are soon set up and ready to rock and roll.  First things first --- strip sets.



I am using up LOTS of short little leftover neutral strips from the previous clues AND the strips I cut this morning are from a bunch of samples so they are short already.  Woohoo --- variety coming my way.  Allison and I share strips to give each other a little more variety and I soon have a stack high enough to cut into "twosies",   We take a cinnamon roll break and then move onto turning those "twosies" into beautiful four-patches.  This is a GREAT clue.  I absolutely LOVE four-patches.  Here is Allison's lovely work space.  My own is NEVER as organized and neat.  We have two lovely ladies with us today -- a beautiful shortbed 301 and my Featherweight.  Their sound just makes my heart happy.





It's lunch time and along with our homemade bread, we have a Fresh Tomato Bisque.  (To see how it was made and get the recipe, click HERE.)  We take a wonderful break which makes it sound as though we have been working SOOO hard, but this day is just delightful and laid back.

We are even treated to a rare visit from my friend Lisa Soderlund.  She is a remarkable collage artist and has her two most recent commissions fresh from the frame shop to show us.  All we can say is WOW and how do we get this woman to work with fabric pieces instead of little bits of magazines?  Here is a LINK to her website.  Check it out.  Look what she has to show us today:


Incredible!!  Ya gotta look close cos they are all tiny, tiny bits of different magazine pages.  


 Okay, back to sewing these clue units.  We are getting there.  Allison and I both count and short 12 or 13 units each.  I go back to sewing and she realizes that it is time for her to pack up and head home before the traffic.  Oh thank you, my friend, (and where is the picture of the two of us?) for sharing my day.  Let's do it again real soon.

I finish up my remaining dozen four-patches and take the time to do a little more Christmas decorating.  They come right back off and I get to try my new gadget for the first time.  This was gifted to me at retreat by Shirley and I LOVE it.  In mere seconds, the chain is apart.

A quick press, a run to the studio for larger strips to cut into my bricks, and a few strokes of the rotary blade leaves me with a completed clue.  Woohoo.


Here is Allietare so far.  Please remember to link back to Bonnie's post HERE to keep the fun going and check out all the other blogs.  Now for the countdown to next week.  I can't wait and am already making plans to have a repeat day with Allison.  Yes!

And I am not sure on that top "sewing" brick as a neutral, but it's there cos I love it.  We'll see how it plays later.  The rest of the stack is far more mellow, lol.

18 comments:

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    1. Thank you -- was leftover from a grandson's quilt. That's the best part about scrappy quilts -- everything finds a home.

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  2. Deb, You and Allison are so fortunate to live close enough to sew together. I'm looking forward to our retreat and opening up my outlooks for a new year. See you in February! and Merry Christmas.

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    1. We are indeed fortunate and know it Kitsey. You have the same wonderful times with Ana and I envy that. Can't wait to see you at retreat.

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  3. It is always so nice to have someone in person to sew along with...what fun!

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    1. It does indeed make everything better when you spend time with a good friend, no matter what you are doing.

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  4. Oh, how nice you have each other to sew with...looks wonderful.

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  5. I am sure you two wonderful ladies had a great time but I have to admit to being just the teenie st bit jealous!
    I was just thinking about how many of you will be doing Bonnie's classes at Fabric Fanatics. I am guessing Janet and Marti will be there who else?
    I am thinking it will be like a great big big party for you all!

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    1. We had oh so much fun Val. We MISS you so much. I think it's time for you to be stateside for awhile so that we can play. New Zealand is just to far away for quick get togethers.

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  6. Sounds like the perfect day! (And with the perfect food, to boot!)
    I love your fabrics - especially that gray print!

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    1. Thank you so much for stopping by. It was indeed perfect.

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  7. That sounds like my idea of a perfect day! Thanks for letting us peek in on you.

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    1. You are welcome and thank you for visiting the blog. Please come again.

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  8. It was indeed a perfect day of sewing with a sweet and dear friend! The thoughtful and carefully crafted meal was divine! We are indeed fortunate to live so close and I can hardly wait to work on Clue #4 together this Friday with another gal pal joining us!! The fabric and laughter will be welcome at such a busy time of the year. Hugs, Allison

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    1. Ah my friend. It just gets better and better doesn't it? I'm already counting down until our next time together.

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  9. Beautiful little four patches, your units are all very nice. I love your machine, I too sew away on an old Singer.

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    1. Thank you so much. The vintage ladies are the absolute best. They do multiply though, lol. I think I have about 20 now.

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