Grand Illusion Parts Two and Three

Just tell me again, who starts a mystery quilt, a BIG mystery quilt this close to Christmas?  I must be mental.  Don’t let me do this next year.

It’s been bedlam here the last few weeks, and tonight was going to be no better.  We had another Christmas party to attend, but when I went to gather the various children (we have an extra one here at the moment) my youngest was fast asleep on her bed.  Poor little mite has been pretty teary all day, a sure sign she’s burnt too much midnight oil.  Plus running ragged, swimming, riding her bike – we forget how little she really is.  So I’ve stayed home with her while she sleeps and the husband has taken the other two out.  I must admit to being slightly pleased that I have an extra, unplanned few hours up my sleeve, though the party would have been great fun.

So rather than squander my time alone, I’ve (somewhat) organised the Grand Illusion steps.

Step one is done, finished that within the first week.  Yay me.

Step two is – well, see for yourself:

Far from finished, is what it is.  Far from finished

Step three is done:

Step four?  Just a glint on the horizon at present.

Part of my problem (apart from there not being enough hours in my day) is that I haven’t near enough fabric.  I’ve been frugal with my cutting, but I really don’t think I’ve anywhere near enough to finish the next few steps which means I’ll have to buy some.  I know I had the right amount of yardage before I started – maybe there was a mistake in the tallying up, maybe Bonnie underestimated?  Who knows.  But I need more fabric which I’m a little miffed about because I really didn’t want to buy any more.

But such is life.  I’ve come to a grinding halt with this quilt until I purchase more fabric, and I guess I will have to do that online because there are very few fabric places I can go to around here.  So I think I’ll have to shelve this quilt for a couple of weeks at least.

I’m praying that I’ll have enough black fabric to finish it, because that was the one fabric I was a little bit nervous about before beginning.

So, lovely readers, that is my update.  I doubt I’ll be back on before Christmas, so I wish you all a wonderful, happy day.  I’ve really enjoyed blogging this past year, and my only regret is that I didn’t do more of it.  Next year I hope to find my groove with blogging a little more, and already I have a few things in mind that I might be able to share on the blog, to make it more interesting.  But hey – I promised that at the start of 2014, which I know was only about six months ago!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll talk soon!

Suzie

Grand Illusion Mystery part two

One down, ninety nine down....

Birdlife

Quilting is a distant memory these past few days – so many Christmas functions.  I’m determined to get into the sewing room and try step two of Grand Illusion at least some time this weekend.  So I have no quilting photos to show you.

But there is this, taken by my brother whilst sitting in his car.  It sums up the nature of our local cockatoos.

Hope that made you smile.

Suzie

Show and Tell–House and Home

Some of my older works are pretty embarrassing.  Fairly naive in still and designed solely for shop wall hanging kits. It’s like showing your first quilt – slightly cringe-worthy but presented for you to have a look at none the less.

A million years ago these small wall hangings in the country style were all the go.  Not one of them hangs in my house now.  It’s not just my taste that has evolved – the world of quilting doesn’t really seem to be doing these sorts of designs. 

Guess that’s why quilting is so interesting.  Just when you finish something in one style, along comes a whole new style to try!

Suzie

Grand Illusion Mystery = Part One Done (almost….)

I worked hard over weekend and managed to get quite a lot of my first step done.

I must admit, this isn’t a quilt that is shy in colours.  Not by a long shot.  Normally I try and go with my own choice of colour but I really just couldn’t make a decision this time.  I wasn’t even going to make this quilt – I have too much on the go and it’s so close to Christmas.  But I decided if I had enough of the colours that Bonnie chose, I’d make it.  And as I mentioned yesterday, I did.  So this is what it is like.

It’s interesting to see how the blocks fit together and how much they change the block depending on the direction you place them in.  It would be foolish to think this will be the layout of the quilt – previous experience has proven that her mystery quilts are a whole lot more intricate, which explains their popularity.

Turn the blocks 90 degrees and you get a whole different block.

Turn another way, and it’s all totally different again!

I still have lots of the blocks to sew.  I’m just having a little break.

I have linked up with Quiltville’s Mystery Monday Link up here:

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2014/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-1.html

Hope your weekend went well, I’ll be back another day with more quilty goodness to show you.

Suzie