UFO Challenge 2017

     Are you participating in the allpeoplequilt.com "UFO Challenge 2017"?  
I don't remember seeing it posted last year but one of the girls in my quilt bee mentioned it to me so I went and checked it out.  I like the idea of it....kind of like what i've done over the years with making my "Big 3" list every month, except this one, you make a list of 12 and allpeoplequilt.com picks a random number and you do that project.  

     The January number was posted the other day and it's #6......

REALLY?  I'm thrilled it's #6, and here's why

 

The Fig Tree 2016 BOM is my #6 and it's been sitting up on my design wall now for a few weeks....I need it off the wall and out for quilting PRONTO!

These are just a few of the up-close blocks.  I love them all and especially love the Fig Tree fabrics.

I do want to say though, this BOM is/was not for the faint of heart.  It was a challenge at the least and frustrating at times as well.  I swore that was the end of that but I did sign up for 2017 BOM thru them and i'm praying it's easier....or that will be the end of their BOM's.....

Swooning Along

     As if I didn't have enough projects going on, I joined another "no pressure" sew along with girls on Instagram.  I've said it before and I'll reiterate it here now....that Instagram is a dangerous place to visit!

     This one is a Bonnie & Camille "Swoon QAL 2017".   We were challenged by Mel at mel_is_a_swapaholic to pull 18 coordinating fabrics to make the 9 blocks in the pattern.

I couldn't decide between "Hello Darling" or "Vintage Picnic".  I pulled both out and then went to bed.  When I got up I looked thru both, pulling out pieces I knew I wanted in the quilt......and FYI, I wanted the quilt larger and "less square" so I pulled enough for 12 blocks....

I think a few from each line is just the ticket!

I cut out Block #1 on Tuesday night before I went to bed so when I woke up yesterday all I had to do was start sewing..... Here's block #1

AND.....since it was sunny out I held it up to the window to see how it looked with the sun coming thru...like a stained glass piece...

I love the look......

I'm on my way to Swooning Along in 2017!

Peggy

" En Provence" Part 5

     Can it already be Week 5 of our Quiltville Mystery?

     This week Bonnie went WAY easy on us..... 64 3-1/2 inch HST!  WOW....that was easy!

There are many ways to make hst but I am an old fashioned girl... I make mine oversized and trim them down.  I am grateful for my Bloc Lock Ruler....I get perfect HST!

So...here they are!

If you'd like to see all the others that are linking up, check Bonnie's blog....

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-5.html

I want to thank Bonnie for these mysteries....this is # 5 for me and I'm as excited as I was when I did #1.  I also wanted to thank Bonnie for choosing my picture to post last Monday on her blog...what a nice honor!  

Have a good week......it's almost 2017!!!

Orca Bay

       Yes, I said Orca Bay.....which was Bonnie Hunter's 2011 Mystery.  I wasn't on the "Mystery Train" at that point but one Saturday in January 2012 I had 2 friends here from out of state and both girls had done Orca Bay and brought their tops with them for the visit.  I was mesmerized with this quilt and at that point I said I'd have to join in and do the next one.  I did join in and have been doing the mysteries since 2012 and enjoying each and every one.

         My friend that did the mystery originally brought me all her steps printed off....what was to stop me from making Orca Bay?  Nothing except life, children, grand babies etc.......  But, earlier this year I pulled out the instructions and the bin of fabrics I'd collected fabrics in and voile....off I went starting it.  Here is what I have so far..........

28 neutral/red/black Ohio Stars with neutral backgrounds and 28 block with red center Ohio Stars with just a tiny bit of the neutral.   (I LOVE THEM)

I'm working out of order here so my next step completed is 64 Red String blocks.

I finished them yesterday and even sat and pulled the papers off.....

Bonnie suggests using telephone book paper for the foundation and lowering your stitch length, which I did and it worked like a charm!  

Now, the last step I have completed is blue strings.....

Aren't these awesome?   The red ones are 5-1/2 inches and then get cut on the diagonal...these are only 3-1/2 inchers and I have 72 of them....and man o man did I collect a variety of blues.  (can you tell I like polka dots? LOL)

I'm ready to move onto the next step which is 354 2 inch half square triangles............I did almost cry at the enormous # of them but I told hubby at lunch that I'll do 100 at a time till I'm done!  I made almost that many for my "Jamestown Landing" quilt so I can do it for Orca Bay!

Peggy

Mystery Monday Link-Up Week 4

      Here is my Mystery Monday Link-Up for the "En Provence" Quilt.  It's been BUSY around here this fall/winter so to say I'm happy Bonnie +Bonnie K Hunter  made our first 4 clues easy is a real understatement!

I'm not sure what to call these purple/neutral units....I call them star points, but they are easy and since I like the purples I'm working with, i'm happy with them.

If you'd like to see what everyone else is doing, here's the linkup for Bonnie's page....

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-4.html

Saturday after cutting the above units out and starting my sewing, hubby and I braved the icky weather and went into NYC to see this guy.........

WHAT a show!!!!!!!!!   We've seen Billy Joel 3 times now at MSG in the last 2 years and we've traveled twice to Florida to see him with friends and family.  The man never disappoints!

He did some Christmas songs as well as his regular repertoire and as you can see from the pictures, the lighting for the night was green and red.  We had a great meal beforehand at a local bar/restaurant and a great show!!!

The Gifts

     My husband retired 1 year ago this week and although I know he's tired of watching Paw Patrol and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I KNOW he's happy he's home and enjoying our time together.
We've gone on vacations, short day trips, shows in NYC and then in October our daughter had her 2nd daughter which has added to the "chaos and busy-ness of Casa Aront" but all in all neither of us would trade this for anything......

     Gone but not forgotten though doesn't apply to his secretary at work.  When she heard we were going to be grandparents again she got the Mister to working on something special.  On Wednesday we drove the hour to his old office and here's what we brought home with us.......

This toy box is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.....

And here's a picture of Gemma in the morning before we left to go......

She's just as beautiful as her mother and big sister Olivia....a little more vocal than we'd like LOL but all in all a beautiful baby.

OH, and speaking of Olivia....here's a really cute shot of her that morning.  What is up with that hair?

And not to leave out our other "baby".....here is my great niece Shelby sitting in Olivia's high chair helping me make soup LOL   Mama Shannon was getting her hair cut so this cutie kept me company.

She is the spitting image of her mother!

AND....as a thank you for our new toy box, I gifted Roe and Kim with this quilt

and a gift card for Kim to get some supplies for a new toy box for Shelby......but we're not expecting that till the summer for her birthday!

Off to sew on the Step 4 units of my Quiltville Mystery!

PEGGY

En Provence Mystery Part 3

   Welcome to my Part 3 update of Bonnie's 2016 mystery.

    I can't believe it's part 3 already....time is just going so fast.....but then again, don't we say that every year?

     I've long been a purple lover so I was happy to be sewing with it this week especially since I don't sew with it often.

     Our step this week is 168 4 patch blocks in a variety of purples....

I got to strip cutting pretty quickly on Friday.  Subcutting went quickly as well......

Look at these fabrics!

And here you have it....168 purple 4 patches.  I'm going to set them aside with the other steps and work on some other little things until Friday.    I'm getting excited to see what we'll be making.  I've seen some girls laying their parts out...

Here's a link up to Bonnie's Linky Party....go check it out!

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-3.html

Be back next Monday with another update.  Have a good week....

Peggy

Quiltville Mystery Linkup

     Another week, another step in "En Provance".....Bonnie Hunter's Mystery for 2016.

     So, our mission this week is 100 Magenta/neutral "triangle in a square units".

I did all the pressing and cutting on Friday.....

I sewed a few on Saturday and made a dent of about 60 of the 100 needed.  

The magenta is a "constant" in the quilt so making sure I don't cut wrong is important.

Hubby and I had a nice lunch at Panera today and then did some Christmas shopping but when I got home I buckled down and finished up the units.

Here is step 1 and step 2 side by side.......  I'm ready for Friday and Step 3.

If you're interested, you can still join in.....just head on over to Bonnie's blog and you'll be hooked up pronto..........

Here's the link up page...........http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html

Happy Monday Everyone............

"Simple Life"

   

So, this awesome quilt is called "The Simple Life" by Thimbleblossoms.  It's made with "RUBY" flannel and if you can even believe me, I cut it out and sewed up all the alternating blocks in 1 afternoon.  A few days later I assembled all the stars and then got it assembled into a top in 1 afternoon.  The flannel was super nice to work with!

I sent it out to my favorite quilter Sarah and she had it back within a week.  With the holidays, I wasn't able to get the binding on but that was taken care of today.  Binding on and it's on the couch next to where I watch TV at night and it will be tacked down over the next week or so......

Flannel will keep some nice little girl warm this winter!

Quiltville Mystery Link Up Monday

    I'm back!  It's the Monday after the reveal and I'm back with my Monday Link Up.

    I don't always have the step from Friday finished by link up Monday but I do today.   I was happy to see that Bonnie gave us an east task this week since I was a little busy this holiday.....

I pretty much LOVE all of my neutral fabrics but these are my MOST favorite of them all.

Who doesn't like dancing ladies, words, carrots, bees, sheep, leprechauns and my "MUST" have in every mystery, a little piece of Olivia the Pig.  BTW, if anyone reading this has any of this fabric I'd sell my first born for some LOL

Look at this leprechaun......soooo cute!

Some pictures of the sewing process, my favorite blocks, my "Bonnie Spinning" of the center seam, and all 221 of my 4 patches.  In the blue basket are extra 2 patches since I obviously can't count and made way tooooo many units....BUT, I'll use them in the back or something down the road......

If you'd like to join in, by all means, it's not too late, here's a link to join in.....
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/11/en-provence-mystery-monday-link-up-part.html

I'm trying to be better at updating my blog so if you're so inclined to come back, you'll see my progress.....

En Provence! A Quiltville Mystery, Part 1

  If it's Thanksgiving Weekend, Bonnie must be in town with her mystery! Yes.....the  Quiltville mystery that we wait all year for is finally here.

Friday morning the Part 1 instructions are up on the blog.........I immediately go to my sewing room and pull out the bin of fabric.............

Here are some of my favorite "neutrals"....dancing ladies, carrots, bees, chicken wire, Dr. Seuss words, leprechauns, dots etc......

Then we have our dark purple, lilac, yellow, green and a hot pink.....I am loving all of the colors!

Step 1 is 4 patch blocks from our neutrals.............

First I have to gather some "stuff"...the fresh rotary blades, a ruler, pins, chocolates and of course the required gummy bears :)

Then I got to cutting my strips, sub cutting units and then making 4 sample 4 patch units.....SUCCESS!  They all came out the right size and are super cute!

First run yielded 119  3-1/2 inch 4 patch units.  I cut more strips today, a few more than yesterday so I should be able to get the remaining 102 blocks made.  I'm going to go work on them tonight.

Hope everyone doing the mystery is having fun, and thank you Bonnie for an easy Step 1.......

Peggy

NYC Visit

            We had tickets to see 

Hubby accidentally bought evening tickets so we had to decide how we wanted to spend our day...  Since our daughter was coming we thought we'd go in early, like 4:00 and then we could do a few things that we have wanted to do.    So, we left south Jersey around 2:30 and took a slow drive up.

We get into the city and parking was AWFUL!  The 2:00 shows hadn't gotten out yet so it was difficult....We actually pulled up to a lot as KINKY BOOTS was getting out so we got lucky and they took us right in....after driving around for way too long!

So, we are up around 45th street and the first start on our trek is "The City Quilter".  

They had a tuffett in NYC fabric

                                         A skyline out of solids of day and night in NYC

                                          They've got a nice setup of machines for classes

My only purchase was the subway line fabric for 2 pillowcases and a Quilt Sampler magazine

Our next stop was the Macaron Cafe on 36th Street.

They have a cute "button" as their door pull

At first I thought it was a macaron but NO, that's definitely a button!

After that we had dinner at Jack Doyle's Restaurant & Bar.....where the tv's in the place were non stop running of the guy climbing Trump Tower with suction cups!

I saw these two on our way to the show....

We had a great time in NYC and look forward to our next trip.

OH.....yes, we saw Paul McCartney on Sunday.

The music and Paul's performance was AWESOME.....but we were all the way up in the top of the stadium so we could see Paul on the side screens....but we played "where in the world is Paul McCartney" looking down at the stage.  A nice time was had by one and all :)