The Allietare Mystery Quilt Finish

Today, I finally finished the 2015 Mystery Quilt, Allietare, by Bonnie K Hunter @ quiltville.com

It's taken a whole year but so worth it. This picture was a photo fail: last year so many Allietare quilts were photographed in the snow and they looked stunning. Unfortunately, with 12" of new snow and winds upward of 29mph, it was not the day for a photo shoot, to say the least. 

I free motion quilted the whole quilt myself on my Janome 8200. I was afraid, at first, that I would ruin my Allietare because I am a beginner/novice at FMQ. But I learned a lot and by the time I was done, I saw my quilting skills improve quite a bit.

Now....on to the next Mystery Quilt 2016: En Provence.





Update: Better pictures of Allietare!

Love the scalloped border.

A Little Catch Up and A Little Potato Salad

It's about time I got caught up with all of the Allietare quilt business. I have half of the top sewn together. Let's let the photos do the talking:

Some of the 2,000 plus parts and pieces

First look at the blocks…...loving them!

Partial lay out

Full lay out 

Half of the top is sewn together.

I am also posting some recipes for my daughters and anyone who finds interest. Starting off with potato salad. With spring like weather, I started thinking of hamburgers on the grill and what would go better than grandma's potato salad.

Part 2 Allietare

Better late than never. I finally finished Clue # 2 this weekend, along with a little rotary cutting mishap. Ouch!

That kind of slowed down progress for a time, but should serve as a reminder to NOT use the rotary cutter at 1:30 in the morning!

Chain piecing the "santa hats".

Here are the finished "santa hats" (sounds much better then headless geese). Still have to square down several sets, but all in all they turned out pretty good. Ready to start on Clue # 3.

I am so impressed with the other wonderful quilters who are also enjoying this year's Allietare mystery quilt created by Bonnie K. Hunter. You can see their work HERE.  If you want to join in, it's a FREE PATTERN for a limited time, as Bonnie will pull her instructions from her website sometime after she reveals the finished mystery quilt.

Allietare Part 1 Linky

Hi Everyone. Lynn from upstate NY here.

It's true you are never too old to learn new things. I'm a newbie to making a mystery quilt, to blogging, also learning about my vintage White 43 sewing machine. Learning how to use the Easy Angle ruler, too (which took a bit of time to remember which  way to position it correctly). All of Bonnie's tips have been very helpful.

These are my 300 triangle pairs, sans dog ears. I am using Bonnie's suggested colors, but my grey is more of a taupe.

I save these boxes (cases of canned dog food, or soda). They are great for holding quilt parts, I have several quilts going at one time, they stack well, and help me stay organized.

My White model 43. DH brought it home one day this spring. At first I wasn't that impressed. But after reading Bonnie's posts about vintage machines and how great they are for straight stitching, I came to have more respect for these old girls. And after further inspection of this White machine I realized it was in very good condition. So I decided to dust her off and give her a good oil bath, and she works just great. Oh yeah, that container on the far side of the machine is my first Leader Ender project too.

I am really enjoying all of this....thank you so much Bonnie.
Check out the other Linkys at http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/11/mystery-monday-link-up-allietare-part-1.html

Beginning anew

I've started following a mystery quilt along by Bonnie K Hunter at http://quiltville.blogspot.com. Last year, I followed along with the Grand Illusion mystery quilt but did not actually participate. So this year I decided to take the plunge and I'll share my progress and learning with you.

Printed off the Introduction

My fabric choices,  75% from my stash

Learning a lot already this first week:

• how to use the Easy Angle ruler

chain piecing the triangle pairs is rather easy because of their shape from using the E.A. ruler

chain pressing is a real time saver

• using a vintage White 43 straight stitch sewing machine for the first time 

Stay tuned.....

I am so excited about the Building Blocks Quilt Along. I have always been apprehensive about fmq and am going to take Leah's advice to "embrace your ugly stitches" and get started with all of you creative people. Thank you Leah for making this possible.