Garden Party DONE

DONE!

I quilted each of the 4 borders in a different design.  Hey, a gal needs to keep practicing.  I did swirls, circles, paisleys and a leafy/viney thing in the borders.  Red on top, white on back resulted in "pokies" on the back.  The few pokies in the top just needed a permanent Sharpie.  No solution for the back pokies - many efforts -- I finally admitted defeat and called it good!  8-))   Thank you again, Ms. Bonnie Hunter for this fine project.  

The lesson I learned was that I used JUST WHAT WAS IN THE BOX.  No fiddling, trying new fabrics, trying to match, colors, etc.  I DID add the red and white, but somehow, forcing myself to just use what was available, resulted in a faster process, an amazing number of fabric combos that I would never have used before, and a delightful surprise when almost each block looked really fine!  There's a good lesson for all of us who struggle with colors, matching, to the point of over-analysis which leads to paralysis.  

This is 83 in. square - a big  machine quilting project on my domestic machine.  It's easy to make and you can reduce the number of blocks for a smaller quilt.  Bonnie's pattern is in her latest current book.

Fun backing.

Garden Party - pluggin' along

I'm approximately half way into machine quilting this large quilt.  The first part I used Essential Pro quilting thread which has always worked wonderfully in other quilts but this project did NOT like that thread.  I experienced numerous skipped stitches, frazzled  and broken thread.  Despite the use of Sewer's Aid, 1 bigger needle, then a second new needle, the problems persisted.  So exasperating!!  I dug around in my threads and was delighted to find a large spool of a similar color from Superior Threads.  Wow, it works like a dream - I've worked 4-5 hours with not one issue!   Dig that backing!

 Yikes, what fun!!!

We installed a flag pole recently.  There is a solar light at the top, so no floodlight is needed to meet flag etiquette.

Every year we take a photo on my birthday under my HUGE Birthday Tree of 9 years ago when it was only a twig.  We now have some shade in the afternoon!   For whatever reason, I always hold a quilt for the photo.

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Garden Party - Top DONE

What happened to my plan of "only smaller tops"???   This is 83 x 83".  Frankly it WAS just plain fun to keep using all the combinations of fabric.  mmmm I've said that about a previous quilt  ..."couldn't stop making the blocks." 

The backing is white with quarter-sized polka dots!  Exactly what it needs, MORE COLOR!  LOL 

And yes, it looks exactly like Bonnie Hunter's with same name.  I really didn't want to copy hers - it was just so adventuresome, and tedious, I was afraid to make it any other way.

Garden Party - Trepidations

I keep looking at Bonnie Hunter's Garden Party to be sure this is going to "turn out".  Hers is so cheerful and mine is pretty much a copy of hers so I'm feeling confident.  I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it certainly will cause a few heads to turn, perhaps whispers, hopefully giggles.  My favorite response is "Look what she did!" 

Every block would make an interesting and attractive quilt by itself, even the odd combinations.  You probably figured the edge will be bordered and then points will be cut leaving a straight edge.   

The red chain sure does holds it all together. 

The most recent rows are laid out while I am balancing myself on crutches - arghhhh!  This is likely an ancient untreated injury, pre-highschool, which has raised it's ugly head.  Plans are underway for some kind of orthopedic repairs on my ankle. Might slow me down for a time.  8-((

Garden Party - Beginning

I like it already!  Somehow that red/white alternate chain block holds it all together.  Each individual block is like a little quilt in itself!  Thanks Bonnie, of Quiltville.blogspot.com.

A few more rows added today.

The blocks turning into rows have been the least demanding - they are all fitting together quite nicely.

Garden Party - WIP

Here are my parts and pieces, blocks, side setting triangles and corners.  I tallied up all the bits and except for 2 sets of borders, here is the total.  Frankly, I'm surprised that piecing it all did not take longer!   I dislike that my project is nearly the same as Bonnie Hunter's, but hers looked so good, and my colors were as varied as hers, I remembered that old adage, "don't change what ain't broke!"

House painting is getting close to DONE.  Happy Day!

More is MORE (Garden Party blocks)

The finished blocks will be on point, with an alternate block between them all.  Hah, as I look, I'm see one block needing fixing!  Today I made about 10 -12 for a total of 31 so far - aren't they neat?  Whatever comes out of the box is pretty much what I'm using, but the corners are white or very light. Some of the blocks have a center strip of light, others are dark - interesting.   Digging thru this large box of pre-cut strips is much easier than digging thru my folded stash,.  I might make a Log Cabin or Pineapple of these left overs ... they are all strips of 1 1/2 inches. 

Thanks to Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com for this delightful project.

(Large print motifs did not work well.  In the lower right of first photo you can see a mish-mash of nice little cowboy boots - can't even tell what they are.)

Long time - no see!

This has been the longest time between posting!   There have been Quilt Shows, quilt display, quilt gathering, and even quilt making!  Here is a Scrappy Bargello, ala Quiltville/Bonnie Hunter project.  This will be a donated "Hugs and Stitches".  The orange fabric is Lucy and Linus going Trick or Treating! Each of the blocks used the same 6 fabric combination.  There is an extra checkerboard row at top and bottom to making it rectangular, about 54" x 64".  The appendages belong to DH, about 6'4".

I vowed to use stash for the backing.  That second and 4th pieces are little foxes.

And, finally .... ta dahhhh, my LQS gave me a generous box of quality scraps.  I've looked at those scraps for almost a year and finally decided to do SOMETHING, and cut them ALL into 1 1/2 inch strips.  I saw Bonnie Hunter's "Garden Party" on Youtube and decided that was the exactly the right project. 

These blocks are small (5 in. finished) !  This project uses only 1 1/2 in. strips, and is featured in her book "Addicted to Scraps".  It took me 5-6 blocks to get into a rhythm and then they went faster.  I only finger pressed during construction - saved time.  Here are 24 blocks - 2-3 days worth.   My goal was to use up the fabrics, and I did NOT stress over what colors did or didn't "go" together.  Goodness  - you could spend days just trying to make decisions and matches - just get on with it!!  In the end, they all seem to "go together"!  I've not decided on colors for the second block with cornerstones - was planning to use greens but somehow, RED seems a better choice.  Thank you Bonnie for another great design!

(My New York Beauty block are all done, but not together in rows.  )