Sweet Freedom Mystery gets Quilted!

The first of three (3)+ Sweet Freedom Patriotic Mystery quilts gets quilted:

Sweet Freedom 'New Year' 2020 - coming off the frame

Wonky Star quilted out - isn't this neat?

Choosing to quilt this patriotic mystery w/Victory digital quilting design from My Creative Stitches was not a tough decision...what a great New Year patriotic design for a New Year/2020 patriotic quilt!

Victory quilting design quilted out beautifully!

Vegas Gold Premo-Soft quilting thread in the needle was a perfect machine quilting thread choice - matches the rustic Gold sprinkled throughout this patriotic quilt and quilted out great!

Vegas Gold Premo-Soft machine quilting thread

Flying Geese/Eagles get quilted, too ;-)

Panel quilting close-up

Gold thread w/Victory E2E - what a great combo for our Sweet Freedom 2020 quilt!

Long view - yep, quilting sideways is Fast & FUN!

Time to bind/label...

Happy Valentine's!
~Deb

Frolicing Along in 2020 - Clues 5-8!

Catching up with our Frolic Mystery in a marathon cutting/sewing session this weekend while it rains/hails/snows & blows ;-)

Lots of pics to share from ALL the different clues - should be a FUN reveal!

Clue 5 - ALL pressed!  (You'll remember from previous blog posting on New Year's Eve, these units were sewn, ready to be pressed)

Chain stitching Clue #6

One-winged flying geese from Clue 6 - ready for the 'second' wing

Clue 6 - Blue/Green Flying Geese!

Clue 7 - pinwheels

Clue 8 - what an interesting Clue w/multiple parts that include 'previous' clues!

'Varied' aqua/blue/raspberry colored Geese - IF we don't know how to properly cut/sew/press flying geese by now, we NEVER will, LOL!

HSTs - we've got 'em w/this clue...check these out!

Blue/aqua HSTs - my jar of quilter's clips is dwindling fast!

Blue/Pink HSTs

MORE Half-square triangles cut/paired, in a 'holding' pattern until further clues are released:

Pink/Blue HSTs cut/clipped & ready for their marching orders ;-)

Clue(s) 8a and 8b:

Clues 8a & 8b ALL counted/paired and ready for what's next

I don't think I've done this much counting since grade school!  What a great re-fresher course, I'm good but...don't think we're done counting, just yet ;-)

This Frolic Mystery is now being turned into a Tribute quilt to our 'Hacker' family.  Seems each year 'sometime' during our annual BH Mystery, 'someone' in our family meets their untimely demise. This year, my Dad's youngest brother, "Mickey" passed away suddenly.  Our family sends their deepest condolences to his loved ones for their loss.

Last year, my youngest baby bro died unexpectedly following emergency abdominal surgery, and I dedicated that Good Fortune Mystery to him, since it included many of his favorite colors - including Chicago Bears Blue & Orange.  I debated on finishing that quilt, since his death was just days following the launch of Good Fortune Mystery but, it was good medicine for my grief.  I was able to sew through the tears while remembering ALL the good times we had.

This year, I'm enjoying remembering ALL the good family get-togethers and family dinners we used to have with Aunts and Uncles, cousins and Grandparents, while I sew on our Hacker Family Tribute quilt...

Ready for the Big Reveal?  Me, too!

Later,
~Deb

Frolic Mystery:
Introduction
Clue #1
Clue #2
Clue #3
Clue #4
Clues #5 - 8

Frolic FUN on New Year's Eve 2019, soon-to-be 2020!

Spending New Year's Eve getting caught up on our Frolic Mystery - already up to Clue #4:

Clue #4 - Frolic Mystery

On to Clue #5:

Frolic - Clue #5 ALL cut!

Clue #5 getting paired up and ready to sew

Time to sew, Mama, SEW!

Chain piecing Clue #5

About halfway through Clue #5, hoping to finish in a few:

Halfway through Clue #5...MORE sewing/pressing needed to finish up ;-)

Time to get back to it...

Happy New Year!
~Deb

Frolic Mystery:
Introduction
Clue #1
Clue #2
Clue #3
Clue #4
Clues #5 - 8

Clue #3 of our Frolic Mystery is already HERE!

It's HERE!  We're actually up to Clue #3 of our "Frolic Mystery".

Clue #3 - Complete!

This Clue took a bit longer, since there are almost two-hundred HSTs ;-)  I decided to use one of my GO! dies to make some quick work of cutting - worked great!

Clue #3 - ALL cut out and ready to sew

The sewing was nice and steady while listening to 'Scrooged'.  One of my fav times in chain sewing is arriving at the very last unit...ahhhhh

The very last unit is stitched...Yeah!

Final confirmation - NO more HSTs left in the 'neutral' basket...Yes!

Empty basket of neutrals is Good!  (Cut a few extra blues for another project)

ALL complete and stored away 'until' time for them to come out for final assembly

Frolic - Clue #3

In between cutting & sewing, managed to finally get our family's Christmas tree up - just need a few elves to help finish hanging the ornaments & candy canes, Christmas train, and we're Golden

2019 Family Christmas Tree

Time for one last Dark Chocolate covered cherry...Mmmmm.

Secret weapons

...and now, it's snowing...Perfect!

Later,
~Deb

Frolic Mystery:
Introduction
Clue #1
Clue #2
Clue #3
Clue #4
Clues #5 - 8 

December 7, 1941 - 78 Years Later...

We Remember:

Thank You to those who sacrificed and fell on that fateful day, and those who remain.

My Best,
~Deb

Clue #2 - Frolic Mystery

This week offered a somewhat easy/Fast clue for our Frolic Mystery...Thanks, Bonnie!  For those who needed to play a little catch-up from last week's frolic-ing start ;-). this week's clue provided a wonderful opportunity.  For me, will give me some much needed time to catch-up on a few of my other holiday projects and activities!

Clue #2 of Frolic

This clue went together quickly = Fast & FUN!

Sewing those strips

Pile of strips ready to sew together

Time to cut to size:

Cutting strips to size in sets cuts cutting time in half

Bagged & tagged:

Clue #2 - bagged/tagged, ready & waiting

Next!  Dancing in the Moonlight still needs its binding/labeling, and two Veteran quilts need finished up in time to be quilted, while three Christmas quilts and two baby quilts are waiting in the wings to be quilted/bound/labeled...time to sew, Mama, sew ;-)

Later,
~Deb

Frolic Mystery:
Introduction
Clue #1
Clue #2
Clue #3
Clue #4
Clues #5 - 8

4+ Calling Birds and...a Frolic Mystery!

The annual Bonnie Hunter Mystery, "Frolic" is underway w/first Clue, which includes 4+ calling birds - at least mine does...see for yourself ;-)

Clue #1 - w/4+ Calling Birds ;-)

They could be bluebirds but...because it's the Christmas Season, I'm sticking with 'Calling Birds'.

A few of my fabrics for this Mystery - more will be added as they are 'found' during the latest 'Organization' of the fabric inventory:

"Frolic" Mystery fabrics

And while sewing, don't forget to 'twist & shout' those center intersecting seams - makes for a much flatter unit and so much easier to quilt:

Twist & Shout those center seams!

It's not too late to join in ALL this Mystery 'Frolic-ing' FUN!  All the Mystery info can be found by following this direct web link:  https://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/frolic-mystery.html

'Til the next Mystery Clue:

Happy Quilting!
~Deb

Frolic Mystery:
Introduction
Clue #1
Clue #2
Clue #3
Clue #4
Clues #5 - 8