Old Tobacco Road - (Intro) - Bonnie Hunter - Mystery Quilt

It's time for another Mystery Quilt.  This time we have chosen Bonnie Hunter's Old Tobacco Road for our adventure.  Here are my fabric selections:

Please play along with us.  It'll be so much fun.

Easy Street - Clue #7 - Bonnie Hunter - Mystery Quilt

Clue 7 --- we are almost there.  Today the last units are being made as well as setting and corner triangles.  I have limited time and am hoping to bust this out before the meet and greet brunch/shopping trip today.  It's time to sew.

First up:  taking the leftover bricks and attaching them to the leftover colorful flying geese.  It takes me about half an hour and this step is finished.  I start in with the corner triangles the minute the last unit has gone through.

Yay -- saved all the points.

Meet and Greet -- Warehouse District Shopping

After 10 days of testosterone in my house (3 grandsons and Mister) I am ready for some girl time.  Stephannie has set up a brunch and shopping trip to the warehouse district and I am so ready for it.  LeeAnn and Candy pick me up (I have such nice friends) and we are the first to arrive at The Original Pancake House on Northwest Highway.  The manager is ready for us and takes us right back to our table.

As ladies keep arriving, our tables grows and grows.  Soon, there are 20 of us and it is so very nice to see old friends and make new ones.  Our table is treated to three of the restaurants famous Apple Pancakes complimentary and they are absolutely delicious.  We keep trying to get a group picture and are soon rescued by the staff for this as well.  Yay!  Look at all these wonderful smiling faces.

Easy Street - Clue #6 - Bonnie Hunter - Mystery Quilt

This weeks clue is a VERY easy one and it could not have come at a better time for me.  With three grandsons in the house, finding the time to do even a simple step is a bit daunting.  However, during quiet time today, I do manage to find an hour to sew.  It's amazing, I know.

 Fortunately, all my bricks are precut, leaving me the simple task of sewing a huge stack of them together.  Chain stitching here I come.

About 45 minute later, I have a very long chain that is ready for the iron AND I have a new ironing board cover for the over the door board in the office.  The other one was  . . . . well, awful.

Orange Crush - Clue #6 - Bonnie Hunter - Mystery Quilt - THE BIG REVEAL

Ah yes --- the big reveal.  Well that is a wee bit funny since one could peek ahead and just about everyone did.  I tried really hard not to and simply moved ahead a couple of times during the clues.  Now we are on the last week.  Whew.  It's time to get to work again.  I have about 45 leftover shaded four-patch blocks (yep, got carried away and it turns out that for a change it is a good thing) and am going to use them in the border.  That means I need about 55 more or so.  They are cut and ready to go.  While I am working on these border pieces and other border strips, I want to get the label made as leaders and enders.  I have a starting plan using some leftover blocks and pieces from cutting the orange squares used in the album blocks.  Once I have the rest of the units put together, I make the border strips and lay everything out.

Easy Street - Clue #5 - Bonnie Hunter - Mystery Quilt

I am barely keeping my head above water on this clue and many others already have worked ahead and their tops are complete.  Oh well -- life gets in the way sometimes.  This week we are making tall flying geese.  Well, that's one name for this unit anyway.

We start by marking our smaller squares with a diagonal line and then sewing it to the larger squares just INSIDE the diagonal line.  It works beautifully and soon the first sides are attached.  They get pressed and the corners trimmed before I add the second corner.

After pressing, a quick trim leaves the second side ready as well.

I am getting quite the tray of happiness.  I'm so glad that this weeks clue was an easy one.  Golly, I cannot figure out where all the time is going right now.

This clue only takes about 2 hours including marking all the triangles as I go.  Perfect.  Love the colors here.  See ya next week.  This pattern is Easy Street by Bonnie Hunter and can be found in her book More Adventures With Leaders and Enders if you wish to sew along.  As always, you can find all my posts on Easy Street by clicking the tab at the top of the blog.

March Quilt Update

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I have moved the previous posts to the end of the entry.  I hope that you make it that far.

Goals:  Trip to DC this month

Round Robin (RR) blocks (14) - put into row, attach, and mail by April 28th - cut and ready to sew and another one cut as well
Grand Illusion (GI) Mystery Quilt blocks made, set. sandwiched, bound, labeled, quilted - no
Zyra Tea Set completed - ugh no
Weed Whacker blocks made, set, sandwiched, quilted, labeled, bound - blocks made, layout finished

Wanderlust - quilt, attach binding, label, bound, - no
BOM blocks (3) complete -  yes
Easy Street Clues 2, 3, 4, 5 - 2, 3, 4 yes
Orange Crush Clues 3, 4, 5,  - yes and almost set
2 Christmas Blocks made - 1 test finished, made changes -- then 3  Also finished selecting and graphing additional blocks.  
BD blocks complete - yes and partially set

1st -  March is supposed to come roaring in like lion -- right?  Not happening.  It's a dreary, drizzly day in Dallas but we must go forward with the plans for the day.  I wake and quickly head for the kitchen to make a birthday cake for Mister.  "What," you ask.  "Wasn't his birthday a week ago?"  Well, yes it was BUT today is the day to get together with his family and celebrate AND I didn't make him a cake ON his birthday since we were traveling and playing.  Once the cake is finished, we are off to Irving for lunch and party time.

Okay -- now we are back home and just chillin'.  What can I do to at least feel semi-productive that doesn't involve cleaning house?  OC clue 3 is calling me so I get that cut out of the stacks of scraps from stripping out scraps yesterday.  I also cut WAAAYYY too many small triangles for clue 2 so those are ready and waiting to be used now.  A quick dash out to the studio nets me an armful of scraps to press from the never ending tub.  Once those are finished, the rest of the evening is spent snuggling with Mister and watching The Great Britain Baking Show final AND the Downton Abbey season finale.  Yes --- yes, I do love PBS.

2nd - I stayed up late last night to make a "day by day" goal list for this month.  Usually that helps get me motivated in the morning when I know exactly what I need to tackle for the day.  And true to form - it works magnificently.  Another two minute trip to the studio gives me another armful of scraps to press AND this months 3 BOM's.  I now have my direction set.  First up is to press the scraps into submission and stack them with the ones from yesterday.