Grand Illusion - Part 5

Bonjour, tout le monde! I hope you're enjoying this festive season! The puppies had fun with the wrapping paper! Sasha was buried under it at one point!

Well, Bonnie was right to say that this week's clue was a quick one! And with my project being half sized, it was even faster. I'm linked up with her progress posts each week! Look for my purple portrait in the sea of contributors.

One of my favorite blocks to make is the 4 patch. It is a great one for practicing lining up seams and precision piecing on getting that center point perfectly sewn.

Ten inches of yellow and five inches of black and pink were all I needed to construct two "B" 4 patch blocks. Needless to say I worked on banging them out first!

The "A" blocks needed one and a half WOF strips to give me enough to make 13 blocks.

Sewing the side seams with the yellow folded towards the needle helps to keep the center point butted up together, like the way we want to see it!

Pretty good!

All of these blocks were done in less than an hour. 

The mystery box is getting pretty full! Can't wait to see what it will become at the end!

To see the posts on the other clues, check these out: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Are you doing the mystery? If so, are you keeping up? Do you have any idea what it'll look like when it's done?

If you enjoy mystery projects but want less of a challenge, consider doing my mystery, Dazzle Burst, which will be revealing part 1 on January 1st! If you are a comfortable beginner or better quilter, you can take on this one! The supply list and video are available in the Mystery Projects Tab. 

Dazzle Burst Video

Introduction and supply list video!

For anyone who benefits from visuals more than from documents, this is for you!

http://youtu.be/3u_ibdXX2K8 

Grand Illusion - Part 4

Well, I had a sore back today. After sleeping crooked, carrying heavy groceries around, tossing trash into a dumpster, and feeling the effects from sitting on the floor to wrap some things the last couple days, my back had enough! But that didn't keep me from diving into clue 4 of the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt!

Bonnie was right to say that this week's clue was a bit less intense. We already had practice making this block in Part 1 of this project. 

I love these colors! Sunny yellow, glassy turquoise, hot pink, creamy white, and midnight black!

Pressing back, center seams open will help make the top lay flatter when it's quilting time.

I'm making a half sized quilt top so I did 20 of each block. 

Into the mystery box they go; all ready for action! Now, I'm going to take some aspirin and lay down!

How are you doing with your progress? Link up at Quiltville and share your quilt blocks with the world! But you have to do it while the link up is available so get that sewing machine going!

Repair Services

A woman gave me a coat that had a rip on the back seam of her coat. "Can you fix this?" "I accept the challenge!"

The rip was on the back, lower seam. I trimmed out the strands, serged the edges, and added a piece of fabric in the seam. It folded into a pleat that sat behind the coat. I think it looks pretty good!

If you have clothing that needs repair, let me know! I'll accept the challenge!

Grand Illusion - Part 3

Here we go - Grand Illusion's clue #3! I have linked up on Quiltville's page with lots of other talented quilters where we can share our progress with each other. Thank you for visiting mine!

I grabbed some new black fabric. The fabric I used last time was a little weird and I saw a good sized remnant that I liked the other day so it was put to use! Since I chose to make a half size project, I needed 3 WOF strips of black, 12 of green, and 9 of neutral. 

Sewing the strips together is hypnotizing! I love these colors! It looks like ribbon candy!

Bonnie was very clear about needing to be precise in the 1/4" seam and having the pieces come out exactly right. My machine has a small etching on the plate (right in front of my fingertip) so you know where the edge of the fabric needs to not cross over for the 1/4" allowance. I try to stay just next to it so I get the "scant" 1/4" seam.

The sets are pieced and sub-cut. Stacked in piles of 10, ready for the second seam!

Press, press, press! Snip, snip, snip!

Stack, stack, stack! All done for this week!

Into the mystery box they go. It's looking rather interesting in there!

How did you do on this week's clue? Any ideas on what it will look like? We can only wait to see!

My weekend had some present wrapping as part of the festivities. My puppy thought a spot under the tree was a good place for a nap. I agree!

My mystery project, Dazzle Burst, will begin showing its clues in January. I am so excited to share it! If you are of a confident beginner, you will be able to make my project! 

"Dazzle Burst" Mystery Introduction

It's been two years since my first mystery quilt pattern, Ringing In The New Year, was released. I figured it is past time for another mystery!

There were a lot of ups and downs that transpired over those 24 months. Beginnings and endings, births and deaths, joys and struggles. But whenever I wanted, I knew I could look forward to the wonders that would come out of ThistleFire, my sewing room! This was a place where I could express my artsy-self in fabric and thread. Ringing In The New Year was a hit! It won 2nd place in the county fair and several were ordered to be enjoyed in homes. You can find that pattern in the mystery tab!

There are many pattern ideas that I have but Dazzle Burst is ready to be debuted. And what a way to start a new year - bursting into 2015 with something dazzling! My project will come out at 54" X 62" be a personal sized quilt that could be continued on and multi-bordered to make it large enough for any bed. You'll just have to do the math and get more fabric!

My mystery projects are manageable sizes and can be done by a confident beginner so as long as you know the basics of quilting and can sew a straight line, you should have no problem making my patterns! Just read the posts and follow along. If you aren't comfortable doing giant projects or feel like you can't keep up with the skills of other QALs, try my patterns out. I hope you do!

So let's get at the supply list!

Dazzle Burst Mystery Quilt - Introduction

A while ago, I was walking through the paint isle and grabbed a bunch of color swatch cards to keep in my sewing room. These are handy for picking out colors while in the fabric store! Our project is going to be two colors with two tones of each color. 

My two color choices are blue and yellow. The two tones of each color are the top and bottom squares on my cards. 

Here are my fabric choices. Two dark and two lighter shades of each color!

I chose mottled solids but you can use a small pattern print or go all scrappy! Just stay within the shade scheme. 

The exact names of the colors doesn't matter as much as the tones do. Grab the dark yellow card and get one yard of this shade.  

Get one yard of the dark blue.

Get one yard of the medium yellow. 

And get one and a half yards of the medium blue. 

Get 1/2 yard of a complimentary color, like rusty-orange or a darker shade of blue, or pick out a fabric with coordinating blue and yellow shades in it. 

Grab a package of batting that's around 60"x70". 

Your last fabric also needs to be large enough to cover 60"x70" so get 1&3/4 yards of 90" or 3&1/2 yards of 44" and seam it to make it to size. This can be any color you choose or you can make it from your stash!

Get 7 yards (or at least 240") of a dark shade of single-fold binding strip that will go well with the colors in the top. You can purchase it premade or make it yourself. I will make my own by cutting 4" width of fabric strips, sewing the ends together to make it very long, and pressing it (with starch) in half. 

Pull out your rotary cutter, mat, ruler, scissors, thread, pins, iron sewing machine. Get a new blade and needle installed if needed. :)

Optional items: EZ Angle cutting template and spray starch. For a homemade version, see this post.

That's it! Feel free to change up your colors, just choose a cool color (like blue) and a warm color (like yellow) and get two shades of each color. 

The first clue will be revealed on January 1, 2015! I hope you'll join in on the fun! 

Farewell For Now

Rest in peace, my dear friend. I'll miss you - see you in heaven. 

Grand Illusion - Part 2

Onward with the Grand Illusion mystery! Part 2 was a pleasure. I love making diamonds! I tackled this clue over 2 nights. One for all the prepping and one for all the sewing.

Day 1: First, I choose the instructions in Bonnie's clue where you sew squares on the edges. I got them all cut with the aid of June Tailor's Shape Cut (see my post on Clue 1 to see it). I got the bright idea to fold them in 1/2 to make the diagonal line where you sew. Sometimes I gotta try different things to discover what way works for me! Well, it wasn't going to work at all. The fold line didn't show up well in the sewing step, so I went ahead and marked them as instructed. Gotta trust Bonnie's expertise!

All the black corner squares were pinned in place with the diagonal line in the correct direction.

In case you were wondering... This is my marking tool of choice. Fons & Porter mechanical fabric pencil. It's very natural to use and offers white and dark "lead" that loads easiest if you slide it in the hole on the point of the pencil when the eraser is pressed in. I love it!

Day 2: After the black corners were sewed down, they were scissor-trimmed and pressed. The pink squares were set up ready to be set on the other corner. 

I enjoy having a movie or show on in the background when I work. Today's choice was A Knight's Tale. RIP Heath Ledger. We love your work on the big screen. How can you not love that face? Gone too soon.......

After a few hours of sewing, I was happy with my completion of 50 Double Diamond blocks! Woo hoo! Most of the centers lined up. Precision pinning before sewing this seam would help with consistent accuracy.

It's quite the stack!

 Into the mystery box they go. Looking forward to clue 3!

Are you in on the mystery? Find everything you need to get started at Quiltville's blog in the Grand Illusion tab! Link up here to share your progress!

If your quilting skills are not quite up to par for this level, or if you want to make a project that is less extensive, check out my mystery projects! There is a complete one available (Ringing in the New Year) and a new one that I will be releasing clues for in January 2015 called Dazzle Burst! 

Thanks for checking out my posts. I love to hear from guests so give me a comment and say Hi! You can also visit my Facebook page Pamelyn's Postings or my Etsy shop, ThistleFire to keep connected!