Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt {Finished!}

This quilt is one of my Quarter 1 Goals for the 2015 Finish Along.  HERE is my original post.

Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt - the Dotted Spotted Version - is finished!

Best use of a clothesline - quilt pictures!

 It was a windy photoshoot!

On my daughter's bed.

It matches her room perfectly!

Turquoise backing and binding for pop!

Quilt Stats:

• Pattern:  Grand Illusion by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville, 2014 Mystery Quilt Along
• Number of Pieces in Quilt Top:  Approx 2800
• Size:  Approx 95" square
• Fabric:  100% dotted fabric from a repurposed Craftsy 2013 Block of the Month Kit + a few other dots
• Batting:  Quilter's Dream Wool
• Backing:  Robert Kaufman Spot On Yardage from Craftsy.
• Quilting:  Allover small meandering stitch in white thread on Mrs.Singer, my long-arm quilting machine.
• Binding:  Double fold, Spot On, attached by machine.
• Value:  Super bubbly!

Craftsy quilt kits are a great way to build your stash even when you don't care for the pattern!  It's my favorite way to get my hands on an entire fabric collection plus background fabrics for amazing prices!

My quilt was entry #72 in the original post at the beginning of March, and you can find my March goal post HERE.

Linking to:
~ Let's Bee Social ~ Needle and Thread Thursday ~ Crazy Mom Quilts ~ Fabric Frenzy Friday ~ Link a Finish Friday ~ Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? ~ TGIFF ~ Creative Goodness ~ Too Cute Tuesday ~ Free Motion by the River ~ Sew Cute Tuesday ~ Show and Tell Tuesday ~ Fabric Tuesday ~ Main Crush Mondays ~ 

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Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt {Top Finished!}

My Grand Illusion Mystery quilt top is assembled!  I am so happy to have this off my sewing table!  It has been a long time coming with several projects jumping ahead of this one in priority.  

Being a mystery quilt, I had no idea what I was making when the block patterns were released each week back in November and December 2014.  One always hopes it turns out well.  It is a delightful quilt, but if I had known the pattern, I probably would not have used these fabrics; I'd have chosen solids or fabrics that read as solids.

My favorite part of the quilt are the three borders, one pieced and two simple.  The black dot border ties it all together.  I like to add a border, even if it's narrow, to give the edge greater stability during the quilting process.

Now that it is all assembled, my daughter and I don't like it as much as we did when there were four blocks together on my design wall.  She's decided she wants to keep the Rainbow Wave quilt on her bed after all.  This one will go in her hope chest, though she's likely to change her mind next week and put it on her bed!  Yes, next week!  This quilt is on the rails, awaiting quilting, and hopefully will be done in time to link up to the 2015 Lovely Year of Finishes and 2015 Finish Along link parties.

   

Linking to:

~ I Quilt ~ WIPs Be Gone ~ Fabric Frenzy Friday ~ Sew Cute Tuesday ~ 

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March 2015 Goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes

February's goal is rolling over and becoming March's goal.  February was a short month and all, ya know!  My Grand Illusion Mystery quilt is still not finished but will surely be finished in March!  

Every fabric in this quilt has dots or circles.  The inner blocks are pieced together, and the green checkered sashings and aqua cornerstones are pieced and ready to go to complete the quilt top, whoops, then the border blocks must be sewn together and added to the quilt.  I forgot all about the borders, so I'm not as close to done as I thought! :{  Then comes quilting and binding.  The backing is a bright turquoise with medium white dots.

It's wild, it's crazy, it's for my daughter ... 'nuf said!

Linking to:

~ WIP Wednesday ~

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Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt-Along {Block Assembly}

I'm making slow but steady progress on my Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt with one more seam to go to complete the inner block.  It has been slow going because I'm pinning every seam.  I have pressed most seams open for less bulk, so the seams do not nest for easy sewing without pinning which is my usual trick.  In addition, my block units are not very accurate due to inexperience with the Easy Angle Ruler recommended in the instructions, and I am having to compensate in this step by using my ruler to measure where the 2-1/4" seam should be.  When I pressed the seams open, I was tickled to see the points match very well in spite of the inaccurate block units.

The next step is adding the green, white, and black checkered block borders with turquoise cornerstones.  The graphic below shows a computer mockup of the completed block.  There are 25 blocks in all.

This bold quilt will be a queen size.  My daughter has claimed it as her own and wants it in her room!  It matches her blue and green walls perfectly.  Ka-Ching!! 

This quilt is my February goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes 2015, but I am not so sure I am going to make it since the custom king-size Sparkler quilt is also due by the end of the month, and I've been slowed down by a cold this week.

Two of my favorite Craftsy classes are on sale through tomorrow!  The classes, both by Camille Roskelley, are Pre-Cut Piecing Made Simple and Playful Piecing Techniques.  I love Camille's teaching style and all of the tips I have learned from her that have made my piecing more accurate, which is funny to say after I just shared how inaccurate my blocks are for the Grand Illusion Mystery QAL! The inaccuracies were caused by my ineptitude with the Easy Angle Ruler, and I do not plan to use it again as it has too much room for error in my opinion, even if it does save fabric. 

Linking to:

Freshly Pieced

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My February Goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes 2015

My proposed February finish is my Grand Illusion Mystery quilt, a mystery quilt along with Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.  I've laid out four blocks on my design wall for a picture.  I have begun assembling the blocks and plan to finish the quilt by the end of February, hopefully sooner!

This bold and lovely flimsy {I learned a new word from the Stashbusters Yahoo Group!} will be a queen size quilt.  My daughter has claimed it as her own and wants it in her room!  It matches her blue and green walls perfectly.  Ka-Ching!!

Linking to:

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Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt-Along {Mystery Reveal and My Block Assembly}

Ta-da!  I am so tickled with the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt-Along reveal! Some of the quilt-alongers on Facebook have not been pleased with the pattern in combination with their fabrics, but I love my crazy dots with this bold, twirly pattern!  I would decorate my entire house this way if I could!  This fabric is a repurposed quilt kit from Craftsy!

I've laid out four blocks on my design wall and will work on assembling them next week.  They are not sewn together in this pic.

Mrs.Bernina started making a funny nose a few days ago and, rather than ignore it since she was still stitching, I had my handy Mr.Fix-It take a look.  He figured out that the carbon brushes in the motor need replaced.  An inexpensive and simple fix {hopefully!} once they arrive.  It means no real sewing in the meantime!  I do have a backup machine, but I am not sure about it stitching an exact 1/4" seam, and I don't want to mess this one up!  Plus, Mrs.Bernina is a real pleasure to sew on compared to my backup.

This bold and lovely flimsy {I learned a new word from the Stashbusters Yahoo Group!} will be a queen size quilt.  My daughter has claimed it as her own and wants it in her room!  It matches her blue and green walls perfectly.  Ka-Ching!!

Linking to:

Quiltville

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Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt-Along {Clue #5 Finished!}

Clue #5 Finished in the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt-Along hosted by Bonnie Hunter!  The Finale was just posted at Quiltville, and it is one gorgeous quilt!  I am SO very happy that I participated in this Quilt-Along!

My Dot fabrics were purchased as a quilt kit from Craftsy.  I love Craftsy for great fabric prices and buy quilt kits just for the fabric even if I don't like the pattern - the fabric is that good of a deal!

Linking to:

Quiltville

Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt-Along {Clue #4 Finished!} + Commitment to Healthier Living!

Clue #4 blocks are completed.  That's 80 more for a total of 400!  I just might go buy some more black dots since all I have left in black is this big dot, and I'd like a bit more variety.  

I'm ready to start Clue #5 but first I'm going to rearrange my sewing room, moving desks, tables, shelves, and a whole lot of fabric.  This will be nothing short of a major mess.  I'm sure you like to see major messes, so I'll take some pictures for you!  I'm going to the local comic shop to get comic book boards tomorrow with the plan of refolding all of my fabric.  Okay, I'll work on Clue #5 before I finish that HUGE project because I have at least 750 yards of fabric!  Why yes, thank you for asking, I do plan to keep track of yardage as I refold it all.  If that doesn't get the stash busters involved and make buying fabric a capital crime {that means the DEATH sentence, ladies}, I suppose nothing will.  {SIGH}  You have no proof that I already mentioned buying more fabric in this very post.

And just in case you are not on a fabric diet {okay, even if you are - diets are meant to be broken flexible!}, Craftsy is having a terrific Year-End Clearance Sale!  Run on over, because buying fabric is justified when you run!

Speaking of healthier habits, although one could easily argue that buying fabric is cheaper than professional therapy, would you like to join me in a healthier 2015? I'm committing to exercising six days a week {I've already begun!}, tracking what I eat everyday, and doing a better job of meal planning.  My family just heads to carbs if solid meals are not available, and as a homeschooling mom that means three meals a day, folks, and they're all teenagers so this requires a lot of food and planning! I need super hero help in this department!

The Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle will help me with all of these goals and encourage me on to develop other healthier goals, as well.  The Healthy Living Bundle will be available for 48 hours only - that's it! After that it will no longer be available.

Join me for a healthier New Year!

Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt-Along {Clue #3 Finished!} + {Clue #4 Progress}

Clue #3 finished!  These easy strip pieced blocks were a nice change after the more intensive Broken Dishes blocks.

 Clues #1, #2, and #3 checking each other out - 320 blocks in all! 

Here's Clue #4 ready to assemble into blocks!  I forgot that we had 80 leftover HSTs for this step and was not looking forward to making Broken Dishes blocks again this week!  When I realized there were only 80 HSTs to make and 160 squares to cut I was so delighted!  This time I used squares rather than the Easy Angle ruler, and it was so much faster.

Christmas dinner tomorrow is later in the day, so I'll have time to assemble them.  We're making the desserts, and we made most of them today so tomorrow is clear to sew!  I say "we" because for holiday meals I get all the kids in the kitchen, and we bake together.  They will leave home knowing how to make pie!!

Linking to:

Quiltville

Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt-Along {Clue #2 Finished!}

Clue #2 is finished!  Exactly 100 blocks in yummy dots!  The points match very well on most of the blocks - I was kinda worried about them not being right.  Center seams are pressed open so the little "V" appears which will help me sew them together in the next step with more perfect points.  

I used method #3 for these triangles, tossing the small triangles in the garbage.  I do NOT consider this a waste because I do not usually keep small pieces like that anyway.  It's all in perspective, folks!  I did think about making them into a separate HST but simply don't have time, so I tossed them, and it was liberating!!  {GASP!}

Clue #3's green, neutral and black strips have been cut and are eagerly awaiting sewing.  It's great to work with the green since it hadn't been used in any previous clues and was the last color we're pulling in.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to work on Clue #3 because Clue #4 comes out tomorrow, and I don't want to get any further behind!  My goal is to finish along with the group!  I think I can ... I think I can ... I know I can!!

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Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt-Along {Clue #2 Progress}

Oh, yum!  That's over 600 rectangles and squares to be sewn together!  I've made a bit of progress - completing 6 of the 100 blocks so far!  I've been using my sewing time on a custom photo memory quilt that my customer wants by Christmas and which I will be mailing off to her in plenty of time!

I'm using option #3 since I really struggled with the Easy Angle ruler during the last clue, and templates aren't my thing.  I'm enjoying the process.  I also really appreciate Bonnie's tip to sew just outside the diagonal line I drew on the back side of the fabric so that when the square is folded back it measures the correct size since a tiny bit of fabric is taken up in the fold.  I have never read this tip anywhere before, and it makes perfect sense.

I forgot to mention in Clue #1 that I pressed the last seam on the broken dishes blocks open.  This displays a small "V" in the seam that shows me where the seam line should be when it is sewn into the next block.  When I sew right at the base of this "V", the point will end up perfect when the seam is opened.  This is a fabulous trick I learned from Melissa at Happy Quilting in the Star Light Star Bright Quilt-Along she hosted this year.  She mentions it in this post. I am also ironing the last seam in these blocks open so the points will should be perfect as the blocks come together.

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