En Provence - Clue 1 - Bonnie Hunter - Mystery Quilt

It's here!!!! It's here!!! The wonderful day we have all been waiting for - Black Friday.  Not because we want to shop but because we want to sew.  And have fun.  I have a house full of family so I will be honest and tell you that this is the first time I haven't gotten up in the middle of the night to check and see if the clue is posted.  I slept.  I slept well.  I left it to everyone else to do the peeking and fidgeting.  Now it is 6:15 and I see the clue posted 15 minutes ago.  Perfect timing for me.  Neutrals?? Of course since that is the only fabric I haven't pulled yet.

Tiptoeing quietly past sleeping grandchildren, I make my way to the studio and the neutral bin.  I just start grabbing and bring in the right size strip box as well.  Hopefully I already have some strips cut.  With a grand flourish, I dump my fabric on the sofa and head back to the studio for supplies and items to set up a sewing room for Allison and I.  She will arrive shortly and we have all day together to knock out clue 1.  I am ready when she arrives.  We are quiet as can be so as not to wake the household.  First up:  ironing for me.

The thought of ironing that whole stack of neutrals does me in so I iron one piece and stack it on the cutting table.  Then iron another and so on.  When I have four stacked up, I do a set of strips for each of us.  Allison, meanwhile, is doing the same thing with her pre-pressed strips and her Accuquilt cutter.  We just start cranking them out and in no time we have stacks of strips and double the variety we started with.  I have a decent stack of strips before I call it time.  The family is starting to wake up (well it is almost 10) and I need to get breakfast started anyway.  Allison has spread her strips out in a different method but she is ready to sew as well.

Within moments in the kitchen, I have two pans of German Pancakes ready to go and am working on a bowl of berries to top them with.  These are fun to watch and throughout the cooking time almost everyone takes a peek at them.  Ooh they are ready.  Let's eat.

While I clean up from breakfast, Allison has changed our cutting room into a sewing one.  Tables are up and machines in place.  It is time to sew.

We start feeding our strip sets into the machine and I learn a new trick from Allison.  If you use the handle slot, they will just flow gently down to the floor.  We have both made 1/4" seam checks and just start stripping away.  Soon, Allison has a lovely little stack under her machine.

I have made a quick trip to the kitchen and now have the turkey carcass from yesterday boiling away for a yummy soup lunch.  When I return, I press my strips and start pairing them up for cutting.  Press 6, pair into 3 sets and cut.  Yes, I am cutting 6 layers at once to get my subcut "twosies".  (I know, blurry picture - apologies.)

Some people count after sewing them, I like to count while cutting so I start putting them in stacks of 10 and then 5 stacks of 10 into ones of 50.  Yes, I will cut extra because that's just what I do.  The ends are being saved if they are more than 3/4" as I will use those bits up in my label later on.

I go through all the strips I have sewn only to discover that I am not near close enough to the total required.  It's back to the ironing board and cutting table for me (after a moment in the kitchen to add vegies to the soup).  Allison has left to pick up a machine from a customer and she returns to a lovely stack of strips on her machine.  Yep, I was busy and hope I have enough this go round.  Round 2 . . .

Mister has arrived home from work and peeks in to take a picture or two of us.  Gotta love that man.

I am successful in this second cut but I seriously use ALL the strips to get the to magical number the mystery requires.  Whew.  Now for some lunch.  It's good and once everyone has their bellies full again, most of my house empties out.  My granddaughter has a soccer game in Plano and then a football game (she is in the marching band) in Mineral Wells later this evening.  All except the two oldest boys have gone along and will return tomorrow before lunch.  The house is quiet and it's time to make some four-patches.  Oooh, oooh, oooh check out what is going on by my feet.  This is the Fibonacci Sequence at work.  Very cool.  After the last units are sewn, I lift the entire swirl up to the ironing board.

Allison has finished as well and hers are batched up and ready for pressing and spinning.  It is time for her to go home though.  I know -- oh so sad but next Friday will be here quick.

After she leaves, Mister takes the boys and I out for burgers and then we return home to make cinnamon rolls.  Yes, we are getting started at 8:00 at night and are going to make two batches.  Call me crazy but these two teenage boys loves to cook and bake and this Gammy loves to work with them.  While the dough rises, I take a few minutes to settle in at the ironing board and working in batches of 10, I clip, spin, and press these cuties.  By the time the rolls are ready to roll and cut for the second rise, I am almost finished.  We have opted to  put the rolls in the refrigerator to rise overnight as it is almost midnight now.  I so want to finish this clue TODAY so I settle back in and make it just in time.  TA-DA!!   (Keep reading all the way to the bottom for your link back to Bonnie's page)

Well now, that feels oh so good.  Oh the rolls?  Do you want to see how they turn out the next morning?  Here ya go.  They are amazing.  I know.  Terrific work Jon and Jacob.

See ya next week and don't forget to return to the link up by clicking on this link:   http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/11/en-provence-mystery-monday-link-up-part.html

Thanks for stopping by and stay creative.