Design Wall Monday - Orca Bay - 1/2/12

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - ORCA BAY - 1/2/12

Those of us who are linking up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times - Design Wall Monday -
and -
Those of us who are playing along with Bonnie Hunter's ORCA BAY MYSTERY QUILT -
are linking up on Mondays.  Check out our progress on her blog - Quiltville's Quips & Snips!!
We are all working at our own pace - following along with her clues -
IT IS NOT A RACE.  ;))

I'm linking up with them both -
And - since I am LEFT-HANDED - I'm also adding my LHQ blurb -
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Note - these instructions are written in LEFTISH.
If you are right-handed - just reverse the directions.
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You gotta admit - I was PRETTY damn close!!

Check this out - here -

I figured out the "geese" and the blue "cornerstones" -

I just had the geese framing the white blocks not the black ones -

So I guess you could say that I "just reversed it" - ;))

And I might just do my Orca Bay - My Way - ;))

Anyway - I think Bonnie is AMAZING!

And I LOVE her Mysteries!!!!!!!!

I can't keep up with the speed demons out there - but I have FUN anyway!!

I spent most of Saturday cutting out the red squares -

And I got a little carried away - ;))

I know we only needed 56 for the blocks -

But figured - what the hey - might as well cut some for the corners on the red string blocks - and away I went -

I used my 2-1/2” die -
And just layered some scraps for starters -

Then I layered a sheet of paper from an old flyer -
(The same stuff I used for the foundation squares on the string blocks) -

Then the mat -
And ran it through -

Now - this would have gone MUCH faster if I could have gotten some CLEAN cuts!!

After some clipping -

And more clipping -

I got some pretty cool squares -

I thought I had layered too many -
But the next batch didn’t come out any better -

So - I took my time and eventually got this -

I made the two extra LARGER HST -
And cut the neutral 2-1/2” squares -
I needed 112 - I got 113 - one extra - ;))

Then I cut the 100 HST from my neutrals -
And a couple extras -

So I still have the 112 black squares and 700 wings left to cut -
(The triangle die should be in by the end of the week - YAY!! ;)) -

And a WHOLE LOT OF SEWING still to do -

But - I like having all the pieces cut out - ready to pull when I need them - gives me a chance to plan the colors a little - so that I don’t use up all of one fabric in one section when I really want some of it in another part of the quilt -

So I guess there is an advantage to being a SLOW POKE QUILTER -

And besides -

A surprise bonus -

When I cut out the 2-1/2” squares - I layered the fabric with paper flyers - so I got a bunch of 2-1/2” paper squares as a bonus -

I’m having a little trouble getting my QST to come out to 2-1/2” - so guess what??

I cut the paper squares diagonally - and now I can use them as a guide when I sew the Part 1 pairs into the QST - cool, huh???

So now I’m going to PLAY while everyone else in the house watches the parade and football gamessssssssssssssssssssssss - ;))


Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Here's wishing you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

May it be filled with love - good health - good wishes - happiness - prosperity - and, of course, a whole lot of quilting!!

My New Year's Resolution -

I'm not very good at New Year's resolutions -
Let me rephrase that -
I like to MAKE New Year's Resolutions -
I'm just not very good at KEEPING them.
But I like to make them anyway - just for fun!!

Sounds like last year, huh?

Probably because it IS - ;))

This year - just to be different -

I resolve/hope to finish NO UFOs in 2012 - ;))

And to start enough new projects to get my list up to 100!!

Last year I resolved/hoped to finish a “bunch” of UFOs -

And we all know how well THAT turned out - don’t we?? ;))

So I thought that if I “just reversed it” -
(Inside joke for Lefties - ;))

I might have better luck.

And -

In keeping with this spirit - I have hereby renamed my UFO lists for both 2012 AND 2011 -

WISPs - Works in SLOW Progress -
Seems fitting - don’t you think?
(Should be Works in VERY SLOW Progress - but WIVSP just doesn't have the same ring to it. ;))

I may even declare my blog a U.F.O.S. - UFO Sanctuary -
Where UFOs are free to roam and frolic with no worry at all of EVER being finished and thereby being banished to “DONE-land”. (I may even make a new button. ;))

Anyway - I’m writing this on New Year’s Eve -

And am scheduling it to go “live” at 12:01AM on January 1, 2012 -

So I have NO IDEA whether or not BOB got the Orca Bay Mystery solved correctly - but -

I think I’m right on the geese being the sashing -

And the blue string blocks being the cornerstones -

But Bonnie has probably put it on point -

And who knows where the 100 NEUTRAL/WING HST go -

Or the TWO (??) EXTRA 3" FINISHED QST - ?!?!?!?

So we'll see how close I am later!! ;))

In the meantime -

HAVE A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -