On to Clue #5 of Allietare!

While I still have plenty to finish on Clue #4, wanted to get as much done on Clue #5 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare Mystery so once completed, could go back and 'catch-up' on Clue #4!

The first part of Clue #5 getting ready to be assembled for Allietare #2,
a 2016 Fundraiser for our East Central IL QOV Group ;-)

Allietare #1, the one I'm keeping for me is waiting in the wings, waiting to be sewn into the necessary units:

HSTs from Clue #1, will now be used for Clue #5 of Allietare #1, ready and waiting
try saying that twice w/white chocolate in your mouth ;-)  Typing it was challenging enough!

Chain piecing these units is a breeze - especially with the great pressing instructions Bonnie gave us, they nest perfectly!

Chain piecing the HST units, they nest perfectly together w/Bonnie's pressing instructions

I have plenty to finish up to keep me busy for the rest of the day during this monsoon season we are determined to have in our MidWestern part of the country ;-).  We're currently under flood warnings until tomorrow afternoon.  Luckily our house is on high ground.  Much of our farm ground will soon be under water but, since it's not time to plant, not much of an issue for now.  Only the roads will be impassable for the time being.  A good time to sew/quilt!

Prayers for those tornado victims and their families to the south of us. The pics have been heart-breaking.


To see what ALL the other Allietare Mystery quilters are up to, Please follow this direct web link:
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-5.html

UPDATE 12/29/2015 - Finished up the first part of Clue #5 for Allietare #2:

The first part of Clue #5 for Allietare #2 complete!

Finished the second part of Clue #5 for BOTH Allietares:

Second part of Clue #5 for Allietare #1 - denoted w/light gray constant

Allietare #2 w/darker gray - Second part of Clue #5 Finished!

Now to finish up the first part of Clue #5 for Allietare #1 in the lighter gray ;-)

UPDATE 01/02/2016 - Clue #5 is now complete for BOTH Allietares!

Clue #5 ALL done for Allietare #1!

Now to go back and finish Clue #4 for BOTH Allietares ;-)

Time to get back to it.  Take care EVERYONE and stay safe!
~Deb

Let the Allietare Mystery of 2015 Begin
Clue #1 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare MQ
Clue #2 of Mystery Quilt Allietare
Clue #3 of Allietare Mystery Quilt
Clue #4 of the Holiday Mystery Quilt - Allietare
Clue #5 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt

Playing Catch-Up w/Allietare

In between ALL the Christmas celebrations, got a few hours to cut/sew on Clue #4 of Bonnie Hunter's Holiday Mystery Quilt, Allietare:

Clue #4 - getting started

All the pieces to Clue #4 have been cut - for BOTH Allietares!

3 hours later - ALL the cutting was complete for Clue #4 for BOTH Allietares

Sewing has begun on Clue #4 for the first Allietare:

Chain piecing Clue #4...LOTS of chain piecing!

There's still plenty to do before Clue #5 arrives in just a few hours...time to get back to it...

Hope you ALL had a wonderful and:

Merry Christmas cake - it was yummy!

To see what ALL the Allietare Mystery participants are currently up to, Please follow this direct web link:  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/sewing-parties-are-best-kind-of-parties.html

UPDATE 1/25/2016:  Got the tree and 'most' of the Christmas decorations down, celebrated 3 January birthdays, endured a flood followed by an ice storm, and more recently the latest MidWest Blizzard!  In between ALL of this Fun, have been working like a mad woman trying to get caught up with ALL three Mysteries!  Here's Clue #4 finally finished for BOTH Allietares...Whew!

6 of the 12 piles

Each pile contains 20 sewn units totaling 240 units for BOTH Allietares!

I just did the math for Clue #4 = 1440 Total parts for BOTH Allietares...No wonder it took yours truly soooo long to sew!

On to Clue #6 to cut/sew the blocks together, since I already have Clue #5 completed...WooHoo!

Later,
~Deb

Let the Allietare Mystery of 2015 Begin
Clue #1 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare MQ
Clue #2 of Mystery Quilt Allietare
Clue #3 of Allietare Mystery Quilt
Clue #4 of the Holiday Mystery Quilt - Allietare
Clue #5 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt

Allietare Clue #3 well underway!

In between Christmas shopping and wrapping presents, found some time to squeeze in the cutting/sewing of Bonnie Hunter's 2015 Allietare MQ Clue #3:

Gold & Neutral 4-patches for Allietare MQ Clue #3

Again, chain piecing to the rescue!

Chain piecing the 4-patch units

Still LOTS to do before the next clue arrives!

The first batch of Clue #3 for Allietare #1 getting ready to be sewn into 4-patches

You may remember, I am creating not one but TWO Allietares - one I'm keeping just for me ;-), and the other is being created as a 2016 fundraiser for our East Central IL QOV Group.

UPDATE 12/19/2015 - Second batch of 4-patches for Clue #3 for Allietare #2 complete:

Second batch of 4-patches ALL finished!

To see and enjoy what ALL the other Allietare Mystery Quilt participants are up to, Please follow this direct web link: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-3.html

For now, time to wrap a few, sew a few...;-)
~Deb

Let the Allietare Mystery of 2015 Begin
Clue #1 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare MQ
Clue #2 of Mystery Quilt Allietare
Clue #3 of Allietare Mystery Quilt
Clue #4 of the Holiday Mystery Quilt - Allietare
Clue #5 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt

Off and Sewing on Clue #2 of the Allietare MQ

Running a bit late w/my date for Clue #2 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt of Bonnie Hunter's.  Had a previous Quilt of Valor deadline that had to be met prior to getting to resume sewing on this mystery. You'll be happy to know, Miss Betty & I met our deadline and now, let the sewing/pressing/trimming resume!

Both Clue #2 sets of Allietares have one side sewn,
just starting to sew the second side.
We'll trim and press EVERYTHING once ALL the sewing is complete!

Sewing the diagonal w/offset needle position on Ruby Sue - works great!

Chain piecing those Santa Hats is the ONLY way to go on this Mystery ;-)

Since you'll remember, we are creating not one but TWO Allietare's - one for yours truly, YES, I'm actually keeping one this year, and the second for a 2016 fund-raiser for our East Central IL QOV Group.

We're keeping this posting short - time to get back to the business of Clue #2 of the Allietare MQ.

To see what ALL the other Allietare Mystery Quilt participants are up to, Please follow this direct web link:
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/allietare-mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html

Time to get back to the Allietare MQ FUN!

UPDATE 12/10/2015: First set of 'Santa Hats' complete:

Fist set of Clue #2 - Santa Hats ;-)

Back to finishing up the second set...

UPDATE 12/12/2015 - Second set of Santa Hats complete!

Second set of Santa Hats from Clue #2 - FINISHED!

On to Clue #3!

Later,
~Deb

Let the Allietare Mystery of 2015 Begin
Clue #1 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare MQ
Clue #2 of Mystery Quilt Allietare
Clue #3 of Allietare Mystery Quilt
Clue #4 of the Holiday Mystery Quilt - Allietare
Clue #5 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt

Quilting the Purple Heart QOV

This very special Purple Heart Quilt of Valor was started several months ago, The Flight of the Eagle - and now it's time to quilt it.  But first, a Purple Heart embroidered quilt badge to carry on with all those embroidered eagle and Lady Liberty quilt blocks:

Purple Heart embroidered badge

This very special QOV kept Miss Betty & I on our toes, wondering exactly 'how' we would quilt each aspect of it.  We had most of the quilting design elements pre-determined however, there were a few areas we weren't quite sure how to approach from a quilting standpoint.  Once we got it loaded onto the quilt frame, and started quilting, ideas and solutions started to materialize and we thoroughly enjoyed quilting this wonderful Quilt of Valor.

Here are a few photos of our progress:

Quilting the center medallion Eagle

Piano key border w/stipple quilting in this particular embroidered quilt block

I used one of my favorite templates, the Quilter's Groove Pro Line™ ruler by Lisa Calle...worked great to help me get those perfectly straight piano key lines:

Quilter's Groove Pro Line™ ruler by Lisa Calle to quilt straight lines

Most of the embroidered blocks received McTavish quilting to give the Eagle flight and movement. For those blocks requiring more highlighting and 'quietness', they received stipple quilting.

McTavish quilting to create movement and flight for this embroidered eagle

ALL finished and ready to be awarded to the Purple Heart Veteran it was created for

I have to say - quilting this Flight of the Eagle Quilt of Valor originally posed a bit of a challenge for this quilter, but once Miss Betty and I were underway quilting, we really enjoyed quilting it, especially the center medallion Eagle.  We spent more than 6 hours layering in our last cone of LAVA Diamond Head quilting thread to enhance the eagle's features, especially his beautiful feathers. 

We used a complimentary gold thread on the red backing as well, which created a secondary quilting design for the QOV recipient.  We were in such a rush to finish, we didn't capture any additional photos.  Those in attendance at the awarding of this Purple Heart Quilt of Valor did indeed take several photos.  When/IF we receive any of those, we'll be more than happy to update this posting and share ;-)

This Quilt of Valor was awarded to a very special Purple Heart Vietnam Veteran and a relative of this blogger. It was my supreme pleasure to add unique design elements to an already amazing QOV quilt pattern, then create and quilt it, and to ultimately be honored to award this Quilt of Valor to such a wonderful Veteran.

A Big Thank YOU goes out to this Purple Heart Quilt of Valor recipient and ALL our Veterans whom have served and sacrificed for our Freedoms.

My Best,
~Deb

PS...to see how this Quilt of Valor was originally created, Please follow this direct blog link:
http://eastcentralilqov.blogspot.com/2015/09/flight-of-eagle-qov-underway.html


UPDATE 2/23/2016:  Just received this wonderful Thank You card from this Purple Heart Quilt of Valor Award Recipient:

Front of Purple Heart QOV Thank You card

It was a true privilege to create and quilt this Purple Heart Quilt of Valor for this very deserving Vietnam Veteran...Thank YOU!

Colorful Quilt of Valor Finish!

This vibrant Quilt of Valor was a joy to quilt:

Colorful AND Patriotic - what's not to love?

Miss Betty & I try to quilt joy and happiness and love in each and every Quilt of Valor:

Stars & swirls in the interior,
McTavishing in the exterior border

Our version of 'firecrackers' in the white borders - we LOVE quilting these ;-)

Once again, we enjoyed using Superior's Fantastico Cornsilk on this quilt - quilted out beautifully!

Time to bind and label,
~Deb

Clue #1 of the Allietare Mystery is Here!

It's here, it's Here, IT'S HERE!  Clue #1 of the Allietare Mystery has been released by our favorite Bonnie!  After going over the nitty gritty, I decided that Yes, indeed - this will work!  I think I can...

Clue #1 of the Second of Two Allietares is sewn/pressed and ready for dog ear trimming

Yep, I decided that I can create not one but two (2) Allietare Mystery Quilts during the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's holidays...Oh why not?!?

Here's the first one w/Clue #1:

Clue #1 of Allietare Mystery Quilt #1 - sewn/pressed/trimmed

Chain piecing the Magic 8 units:

Magic 8 units getting sewn together w/chain piecing

Magic 8 units complete - time for cutting:

Sewn and ready for cutting

First unit cut:

Magic 8 unit cut into eight HSTs - 
this 'spinning' cutting board makes FAST work of cutting out the HSTs!

And here we go:

One Magic 8 unit turns into 8 HSTs

Several Magic 8 units turn into hundreds of HSTs...literally:

Several Magic 8 units cut, several to go

And the final result:

Two sets of HSTs for two Allietare Mystery Quilts

I kept the light/white backgrounds the same for BOTH Allietares, but to keep things organized, I changed the gray constant fabrics - one is darker than the other.  We'll see how these choices play out as each clue is released, won't we?

Clue #1 from both Allietare Mystery Quilts - one set has had the dog ears trimmed off,
the other is ready and waiting ;-)

So what do I need TWO Allietare Mystery Quilts for anyway?  One is for yours truly - since I typically make my mystery quilts for others, this will be one of the first ones I will actually keep for me!  The other will be a 2016 fundraiser for our East Central IL QOV Group...how neat is that?

To check out what Everyone is up to with their Allietare Mystery, Please follow this direct link:
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/11/mystery-monday-link-up-allietare-part-1.html


Back to trimming,
~Deb

Let the Allietare Mystery of 2015 Begin
Clue #1 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare MQ
Clue #2 of Mystery Quilt Allietare
Clue #3 of Allietare Mystery Quilt
Clue #4 of the Holiday Mystery Quilt - Allietare
Clue #5 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, EVERYONE!

Enjoy your Holiday with Family and Friends...and don't forget to have FUN ;-)

~Deb

Midnight Flight Continues to Elude and Challenge! w/Updates

Don't know WHY I continue to make things as difficult and challenging as I possibly can with Bonnie Hunter's stunning Midnight Flight! (From her latest book, More Adventures with Leaders and Enders.)

First, miscalculated and only cut enough Magic 8 squares to make half  the HSTs that were originally called for in this quilt for each quilt block.  Then, I made another goof with the four patches.  Notice anything strange in this photo?

Elongated 4-patches, anyone?

Geez - this is what I get for trying to cut/sew a quilt - ANY quilt, with multiple units while on cold/flu meds...that's my story and I'm stickin' with it!

Time to cut these red/white 4-patches down to size:

Trimming ALL the red/white four patches down to their correct size

This is more like it!

Right size 4-patch

The red/white 4-patches are ALL trimmed:

ALL red 4-patches trimmed - check!

UPDATE 11/21/2015:

Now, ALL the cheddar/white and the red/white are all trimmed and ready to be sewn into blocks. Yes indeedy, I'm consistent IF nothing else!  Elongated the cheddar/white 4-patches, too:

the reds and the cheddars ALL trimmed!

OK, that was definitely another learning experience ;-)

I was determined to finish this quilt in time to start Bonnie's annual Mystery Quilt that begins on Black Friday. This year it's Allietare!  At this rate, I'll be lucky to have it completed by next year's Mystery!

I need a stress-buster - time for some 'quality quilting time' w/Miss Betty!

Later,
~Deb