42 Blocks for Daybreak; Chickens and Bears

 Yeahhhhhh- one week of intense (obsessive) piecing and here are 42 blocks from Bonnie Hunter's newest book.  She calls the design "Daybreak".  I used scrappy, but didn't do string piecing in this version. 

A gift from a dear friend.  Some of these chickens started in my home  years ago, but in a fit of me going crazy from too many UFOs, I gave the chickens and fabrics to my friend, knowing she would find a good home for a finished project.  Then, this lovely surprise gift came back to me!.  Seeing it in an original setting makes me wonder why I didn't love it at the time.  The combs and wattles and chick beaks are all dimensional. I can't stop looking at it - so cute!!!  What a warm and loving gift to me. 

What are those little dark critters walking over the corner?

That's what they are - meant to be attached to the trunk of a tree, looking very real.  The pine tree will protect them from elements, and too much sun.  Aren't they realistic?.  I lived near Smokey Mountains for long time and bear cubs were sometimes seen in the mountains. 

A lot of cooking happened over the last 2 weeks - I decided to try out the seldom-used food chopper and determine if the blade was still sharp, but never imagined this would happen.  I covered the teensy cut with a bandage and because there were potatoes to peel, I put on a rubber glove for a hour or so, while I went about my duties.  When I removed the glove, the finger tip was really full of my body fluids!  

Obsessive Piecing Happening Here!

My wonderful LQS has AGAIN gifted me with a huge box of scraps and I can't stop using them! 

This is part of "Daybreak" from Bonnie Hunter's newest book that came much earlier than I had expected.  I have a dozen blocks made.  What fun these are, using gifted scraps, but also clearing out some of mine.  Finished block is 8 in.  Note that I DID keep the orientation the same in each 4-patch. 

There's  a Thousand Pyramids top, folded up, waiting for border ideas.

... and a Strip and Slash, with all the blocks made, but only half a quilt made.

... and 4 Bonnie's Tiles started but it was put on a back burner. 

All of these started from ONE BOX of scraps.  HUGE Thank You to Pat's Creative Stitchery!

Pre Thanksgiving Enthusiasm

Pumpkin bread, served with cream cheese/honey spread.  I made two, one for Guild meeting, and one for us, but due to snow and bad road conditions, our guild meeting was cancelled - yep, more for us. 

I wanted to use up MORE scraps and leftovers, so started this Strip and Slash technique, by Jackie Robinson.  I've made 5-6 of this previously and enjoy her efficiency method.  I tried to concentrate on greens and yellows but a lot of other stuff gets used as well, which helps to add dimension and interest.  It would be FLAT with just two colors.  I have 400 blocks made and need 50 more - no problem. 


My wonderful LQS gave me another HUGE box of scraps, all new fabrics of course, but bits and pieces of whatever - how exciting I was to open the box, almost like Christmas!  I'm noticing a LOT of purples, blues and greens so decided, once again, to make a quilt from fabric from that box, without adding much of my own stash.  This is Bonnie Hunter's Diamond Tile - I didn't like it at first when seeing it in Quiltmaker's magazine but the design grew on me.  I'm thinking of a narrow sashing but ... we'll see.  The yellow block is kinda blahh  - it was my first.    I'll also change the background on some blocks to something with more character.  They don't take long to make and finish at 7 in.



(Why am I starting new quilts at this busy time of year? )

On the Other Side of our Studio, and a Group Quilt

No boats this time from DH, but instead, he made this amazing chuck wagon.  The undercarriage is especially marvelous, made exactly like the real thing.  The wheels were especially complex (IMHO) and of course, they roll and turn and brake perfectly.  Inside are sacks of potatoes, coffee, beans and flour, as well as blankets and firewood.

I was hoping we might find some toy draft horses, or oxen, to adjoin the wagon.  We discovered that the nearby ranch store, Baumgarrs has wonderful model animals, of various scale sizes the could actually be the right size.  Yes, I'm getting carried away.

On the quilty front, this is a group quilt our local quilting gals are making for a donation or raffle quilt to benefit a worthy cause, with appreciation for our monthly quilting gathering place.  Our group has new quilters and others more experienced, but all these blocks and border units turned out really well.  I  am putting borders on the quilt - don't ya jes love that ribbon border?   It's bright and bold - I think the quilting might help to blend the variety of Friendship Star blocks.   These blocks are 9 in. finished and the quilt is approx. 82" x 101".   So far, so good!  (It's kinda crumpled in this photo.)

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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