Easy Street Mystery Quilt

This Quilt was auctioned to raise funds for Holy Cat Whiskers Rescue in Madison, Ohio.   All the animals appreciated your help.

Their Website  Holy Cat Whiskers

Here is my version of Bonnie K. Hunter's Easy Street Mystery Quilt Completed, laying on our California King Bed -- It turned out to be a very generous Queen size.

Quilted using a Varigated Thread I put some fun stitches in both borders that came out really pretty!  

Love how the Dog Bone Binding came out - Goes with my Animal Theme!

 

An Overview of the design and fabric's with borders and binding.  

I used a 3 by 3 layout with 3" Solid purple for an inner border, and a 7" Aqua Outer Border.  This quilt measures 81" x 81" perfect for a Queen Bed as shown below.

Next is to make it into a sandwich and Quilt this!

=========================

We began shopping for suggested fabrics Oct 31, 2012 with the 1st clue given every Friday starting on November 23, 2012.  

The Big Reveal was New Year's Day and Blocks were put together for this amazing quilt design.



Link To Quiltville is HERE

What a fun Mystery this has been.  I know some folks completed their's, but I hope everyone continue to the finish line.  Don't let this become your 1st UFO for 2013!  It's been just wonderful to hop along the blogs and see everyone's version in progress with many color variations.

As my first Quilt along, I've enjoyed it.  A big thanks to everyone that's been working on this "with me" in cyber space since November, the over 200+ people from around the Globe!

I love to read your comments, so please post and say hi :-)

Below I've added the long journey (don't know how to make pages hidden, then link inside yet)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Easy Street Mystery Quilt, designed by Bonnie K. Hunter

My journey began October 31st when Fabric choices were revealed.  Without many "prints" in my large selection of fabrics it was Shopping time!  How can a gal not love that?

Purchasing quilting Cotton's from the few fabrics stores in town, I realized Manufacturers are missing a wide selection of black on White prints!
Well I found some Musical notes, Large Dots, some flowery print, but my main portion will be my FAB Cat/Dog faces ($$ pricey fabric).

Here are the color schemes suggested 
Limey, Apple Greens
Cool Aqua and Turquoise
Assorted Purples
Winter Flannel type Grey (Gray?)
Main Background to be black on White prints

Our 1st Clue began November 23, 2012 and this is a 6-8 week project.  

The BIG final Reveal came on New Year's Day!  How Exciting, this quilt was set "On Point" -- NOT for the timid layout.

Below you will find my travels through this long journey with over 200+ people following along.

Each Monday we Linked up and showed off our progress on our Blogs.  It was very exciting to see some people changed their color schemes, and some at the end, changed the blocks.

I worked on this beginning with the Fabric shopping October 31st straight through the Middle of January.  There is no way I can count the endless hours spend cutting, piecing and sewing this Quilt together.  I can say I spent at least 6 hours every day on this project.  This was a labor of love for me, as I am auctioning off my Easy Street Quilt to raise funds for a wonderful Rescue group in Madison, Ohio named HOLY Cat Whiskers (gotta love that name).

Well here are all the steps taken to get this Quilt ready for auction.  

======================================

Monday -- Is there nothing like a Linky to help get us all busy? haha I'm ready to assemble, put a notice on Craig's list asking for donated quilting time and now I can quilt this myself, then this Easy Street Quilt will go up for Auction. 

This is to help raise funds for Holy Cat Whiskers Rescue in Madison, Ohio.  Please keep in touch so we can Make this Happen.  A spot on your blog or Shout on your Facebook page can help more rescues.

I'll post when it's done with Dates and Where to find the Auction.  All the animals will really appreciate your help.

Their Website *warning you'll see cats for adoption* Holy Cat Whiskers

Here is where I'm at -- I am using a 3 Across by 3 Down layout.  

Link To Quiltville is HERE

My new "used" machine should arrive today (already in Phoenix YES!).  I've never quilted a queen size top before, so until I learn this computerized Viking Sapphire I thought I'd have to ask on Craig's list for help with the large Easy Street.  Then figuring out the "On Point" layout, I decided to use a smaller one so I can quilt this up myself if needed.  I'm excited to be getting the 10" harp so maybe next year's Mystery I can do a bigger size.  

What a great Mystery this has been.  I know some of you are done, but I hope everyone continue onto the finish line.  Don't let this become your 1st UFO for 2013!  It's great to hop along the blogs and see them all in progress with so many color variations.

As my first Quilt along, I've enjoyed it.  So many new blogs to read and learn from, so a big thanks to everyone that's been working on this "with me" in cyber space since November.

I love to read your comments!  Thank you for looking at my version of Easy Street 

===================================

Sunday -- Tip for Bonnie's Book for Newbies like me!

I got up determined to begin Assembling the On point portion of this Easy Street Quilt.  You know, I haven't a clue about "On Point" Quilts.  Hey, I just began learning in November and only via the internet and you-tubes.  

I've come a long way, Baby!

Printing out the picture's Bonnie posted with the final Clues was a Great idea - I wrote on them which portion and color went where -- Bricks, Flying Geese, Squatting Houses - we've done them all.  I couldn't upload the photo to PaintShop Pro and use that to mark them but it would be a great addition to those photo's in her book *hint Bonnie* :-) For newbies like me.

I gave a shout out to my friend PDJewelryLady for Help!  She's got her flimsy Top done.  Way to go PD, and made her's using beautiful bright colors.  I no sooner posted for help and PD was there!  Friends on the internet are GREAT when you sew after midnight lol

I copied her instructions and went right back into the sewing room -- hmm still can't get my head wrapped around this, so back online.  Oh my - she noticed that I'd only made 12 Block A's!!  I know I "thought" they were finished.  I counted out all the units and remember when I got to the bottom of the stacks thinking how great it was and now I can move onto "B" Blocks.  

Despite being a New Quilter I've kept up with the steps, even Flying geese :-)  

I do have all the Block B done so I'll do a 3 by 3 On Point Layout and get to use my Best Animal blocks, be picky in choosing them.


==================================================

Friday/Saturday Easy Street

All my Block A are finally done! I didn't have to unsew many but a couple did get picked out, mostly due to sewing tired. Block A I missed 4 somewhere?? WHAT!!

Saturday (Today) I'm working on Block B -- Only need 9 of these!!  I used a mix of Light "limey" greens that Bonnie Hunter recommended, and also some dark hunter green that was in my stash.  I really like how both contrast and bounce off each other, and the other colors!  

Here is a "light" green done of Block B.  I will switch colors between the light greens and darks in each block and maybe put them both into a few, but not many.  I like when things look more coordinated and done on purpose rather than just randomly places colors.

Then here it is Turned On Point...

 



==============================

Thursday Easy Street

Still working on Block A but I have some photo's -- Hope to finish the A Block tonight, then begin Block B tomorrow :-)

Part 1 - yeah I don't trim until after!

 Part II -- Notice I printed out the photo so I KNOW which of the 1500+++ pieces to put where -- A HUGE help!

Block A -- This one printed out, with notes as to what Blocks in what  position.  I didn't come this far to mess up now.

Block A -- Need 16 of these and I've got about 5 done -- Just taking my time and going back to check the printed out diagram many times.  No rush but these are coming together and popping the colors.

Happy Sewing all

==================================================================

Wednesday on Easy Street

I didn't work on finishing Block A, because I've gotten side tracked.  I really need a new sewing machine!  I've done all the research on the internet, Consumer reports, Amazon, eBay, *drooled* at some very expensive and (for me) over the top machines.  Now that I've gotten *kicked* back to what I really need and don't, I took time today to go test drive 4 at the local Cathy's Sew and Vac.  

My "newest" mechanical sewing machine is an 8 year old Pfaff.  Then there is my back up machine - a very old heavy metal Viking Selectra, and 2 green Elna's from eons ago.  These only sew straight but I lucked out finding some Vintage Cams!  My goal for 2013 is to set up the 1 working Elna and let her come back out and play with some fun designs.  

Well if your interested here is what I tested Button holes on, sewed seams on and generally got the "feel" of.  All these are computerized which is like going from hmm driving a Volkswagen to a Lincoln??

Brother NX650Q - Click on the link if you want to see how "space age" it looks (pretty cool)  VERY nice button holes, had tons I don't need, and a bunch I never knew I DID need!  


Husqvarna Viking Opal - Very pretty greenish *pretty* on front, not a large harp for shoving quilts under, but it sang and danced in all other regards


Pfaff 150th Tribute - Anniverary Edition - I have to believe there was a threading issue or something as the woman in the sewing center made the buttonhole and it was (almost the most money - well what *I* was testing) and a homey looking button hole... so I put that on a side list - It's above my price range anyway.  


MY NEW LOVES I listed Below -- Viking has to get a few of these on SALE!!!  Either one I would grab in a hot flash -- But they are more than $400 over what I can spend *cry*.. We have a huge quilt show coming soon, so there is a tiny ray of hope that a reduction in price will happen then.  *Pray, Sing, Dance, do the Hokie Pokie* to help make it happen!

Husqvarna Viking 140C -- This is their 140th year Edition and it is RED! omg CUTE and the BEST button hole (ok a bit better than the Brother)... But I'm in love!

And only a smidgen behind my love...  


Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 875Q -- the Brother and the Viking Opal do NOT have the larger 10" Harp space for easier quilting... The Pfaff and both the later two Vikings do.

I don't like making decisions, even after being well informed.  How can I possibly chose?  Grrr I want to spend my time sewing without all the shopping!!  Maybe they can just drop it at my Door step and let me get BACK to sewing LMAO!!!

Ok Now time to sew on my little workhorse Pfaff (don't tell her I said that or she'll need a time out in her rolling bag!!!)... we went through this "hissy" a few weeks ago - 2 days later she came out and Purrrred!







========================================

Happy New Years to All -- May 2013 be all that you put into it :-)

Our Big Easy Street Mystery Revel came this morning.  Now we are putting those 1500+++ pieces together, cutting some more (oops not 16, not 17, we needed 19 of the green cut into X's)... that's the fun of doing a "Mystery"!

Almost 3 am here and I'm working on Block A -- I printed out a very detailed photo so I can write the NAME of which pieces go into it -- this will help me and I know someone as new as me to quilting -- Well Here are Two Tips from me to you

1 - As you make each "Clue" and finish -- Write what they are called and Label the bag Clue #1, etc..

2 - Now that we can see the Blocks step by step, I had to Print out the Picture of the Block and write on that which pieces were in it -- such as, this is a "double brick", this is a 4-patch.  This made it much easier for me to follow, grab each piece and lay out the Blocks.  

This was a tip from a friend (Thank you Jann!) and I hope it helps others too.

Ok back to sewing... 

===========================================

Clue 7!!  New Year's Eve and guess what we are doing -- SEWING together parts of the Easy Street Mystery Quilt!!!   Good thing I don't drink because we get our next Clue tomorrow morning :-)

Photo coming a bit later -- Have ONE "block" done... got to sew 3 more then onto the next part of this step.

It has been a long time since November 28th!  How much would you pay for a quilt that someone worked on from Nov. 28 until ??  When we are done?

This one will go up for Auction to raise funds for Holy Cat & Whiskers in Madison, Ohio.  Will let everyone know where I'll post it.  

==================================Clue 6 Posted 

We are turning the corner onto EASY Street!  Link to Clue 6 and the Easiest one so far.

No links to other Blogs posted this week because New years will be spent moving into "Rapid Fire mode"

So last week we cut 3 1/2" square of Turquoise, and cut a ton of 2" square of purple fabrics, made 2 corners with the purple on top of the Turquoise and got ??  Squatting Flying Geese? Turkey's?  Whatever, they look Great together!

So Today (or this weekend) we either cut 3 1/2" square of white fabric with black on it, or piece 2 of those together to get that size from 2" strips.  

Because this is going to be a Quilt for raffle/auction for Holy Cat and Whiskers Rescue in Madison, Ohio I'm going to cut the larger size squares of some great white fabric with outlines of Cat and Dog faces!  Maybe add some airy other white/black fabrics in the mix too, but a good chance to Let the Dawgs out!

I spent all night catching up.  Someone mentioned we've now cut over 1500 pieces to sew back together to make up our Easy Street Mystery Quilt.

==================================================

Tuesday morning about 4 am...

I am semi back on track now.  Yesterday was spent re-cutting Purple geese with white/black wings and then again cutting turquoise wings.  I believe now I know how to make Flying Geese well.

Repeat the mantra -- "Sew the White/Black winged geese Purple TO the Turquoise part of the other *phew*   By 2 am these were done, clipped and back to the ironing board.  Began sliver trimming them and came across 1 that looked different.  oh yeah what else could I do but LMAO!!!

No Diamond Goose this time, but 1 is flying in the opposite direction and ya know, I really am going to incorporate some of those Diamond Flying Geese into this quilt!  A detour that will become a design change.  

I really want to use SOME of my Geese Diamonds, so after I see the final blocks, I hope I can sneak a few in.  Then I have 1 silly little goose kissing each other.... hmm where will this go?  On the BACKING of course!  whoo hooo that will be this quilt's little signature from me.

=================================================Clue 4 began Friday, December 14, 2012.

Come join the Bonnie Hunter Easy Street Mystery Quilt with a new "Clue" every Friday -- A who done it starring me as the who here, and over 200+ others from around the world all working on this!  The Big mystery is watching all these colors come together to make a Stunning Quilt?

Here is the LINK BACK to see how all the other 200+ people are doing! This week 64 more flying Geese -- Goose part Purple, the Wings Turquoise.  Add these geese to the bottom of 64 geese we made in Clue #2.  

A Bonus (if you aren't BUSY enough during the Christmas Season haha), Grab a bunch of the yummy Green's and cut 145 3 1/2" Squares!  PDJewelryLdy and I are swapping 20 of our greens via mail, so we'll have extra colors along with our own -- That was fun!!  I think it would have been a ton of fun if a large groups did this for -- Fill in the blank colors :-)  How fun would it be to have 145 DIFFERENT Green squares?

I worked on my geese.  Chain piecing the wings on, then noticed I ran out of bobbin thread -- LUCKY I had only sewn 2 further before I noticed and not all of them!  I took a coffee break, checked the directions again and went back to it.  

My Pfaff decided it was done sewing for a while -- So I brought out my heavy Viking.  I used her all summer long, then she went back into her case when we got home -- poor gal.  Well had to wind bobbins for this machine, put in a new needle and she's humming!  Hmm a tiny black piece came flying off from ??? somewhere on this machine.  

It is still working, but I have NO idea what this piece is, nor where it came from.  

Photo Below in case Anyone has an old metal Viking or a clue about WHAT this piece is??



Yikes, it tried to eat a couple wings then the machine realized I meant business, and the chain stitching went great!  I popped the first connected geese out to check it, and yes -- 2 flying geese heading up!  So I finished chaining the other 63... snipped them apart and over to the iron.  Ugh - My quilt could become a REAL Mystery!  I sewed the Purple Goose from Clue 4 TO the Purple Goose from Clue 2 *sigh*

Anyone want to guess what THAT makes??  Purple Geese DIAMONDS!





It's time to cut 145 Green's or doing something else at 3 am.  Wonder if I go to sleep I can imagine this was just a bad dream?

I don't think that's going to work when I get up tomorrow... ahh a Design Change - Yes I have made a small design change to the Mystery Quilt!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!! crap

Ok back to Clue 2 and I cut out more Purple with White and Black wings, sew and Pay Attention!!!  Cut out more Purple and Turquoise, sew and Pay Attention!!

Sent 20 Green Squares to PDLady today and have almost all mine cut (shown below), mailed the Quilt for Kids and I know this week will get better?







=================================================Holy Smokes, Bonnie read my mind! 

Clue 3 Posted and YES -- We get to cut into our gorgeous Turquoise fabric!!  Come join the FUN in the Easy Street Mystery Quilt -- LINK BACK HERE.  

For this beginner, the Flying Geese were pretty Easy yet with Clue 3 I'm having a harder time.  I made them all but I'm not sure some are as "squared up" as others.  Well my quilt will be unique and Wonky!  I already love it and have learned so much.  My Rotary Cutting skills are improving, I hope quickly.Turquoise fabric triangles 3 1/2" strips into 3 1/2" triangles using the Easy Angle Ruler - a snap right?  

With my purple 2" squares cut out, the White and Black fabric "Wings" chain piece through machine - I love doing this and seeing them spill out the back onto my table.  Then add the Turquoise to it and done.

I hope there is a BUNCH more Turquoise coming up -- While this color pallet was out of my zone, I adore Turquoise and even the "limey" sort of green now.  I have a very cool fabric with a wave effect to it, and ironing it felt like it was waving -- How cool is that!?  I'll use this wavy Turquoise for something else, maybe there is a larger block coming up where I can get those cool waves in!  

Another extra was to cut into our yummy Green, Two 3" squares, then cut those across to make 4.  So here is the box filled with what the Clues to this Mystery Quilt are so far.





I missed doing the Link up this morning because I have the Quilt For Kids on my Cut Table and that is #1 on my list - hope to be done and ready to ship by Friday when we all get clue #4!

================================================
Here is the link for Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Link up Part 2.

And we are all working on the Mystery Quilt Clue #2.  Now we get to cut into our Purples.   2" strips of various White with Black fabric, and 2" strips of varied Purples to make --- Flying Geese!  

There are certain rulers Bonnie Hunter is using in this mystery, and on her page there is a video how to use them to make the Flying Geese.  I kept coming back from the sewing room to watch it again to get my Geese to fly right hahaha

Also an alternative method was provided.  I tried that tutorial as well, but didn't find it as handy.  There is also a You-Tube for 1-SEAM Flying Geese -- that was very cool!  You use more fabric for the geese section (the purple in this case), but you can still use the same 2" strips Whooo hooo!  

Clue 2 is making 128 flying geese - I made 142!!  They were so much fun I kept going until my cut "pile" was sewn.  It's nice to have a few extra in case some of them don't square up.  And, a few my sewing machine wanted to eat the wings!!!  Yikes, so I'm glad I made extra.

So here is what's in the box waiting for the next clue to this Mystery Quilt! 




192 Four Patch (Lovely Grey with White and Black fabric), 

128 Flying Geese with various Purple Geese and White/Black Wings,and 64 rectangles 2" x 3.5"

The 2" x 3.5" are such a nice size because I was able to KEEP the faces of the Dog and Cat Fabric.

I hope we cut into the Turquoise next -- even though I had plenty, I saw another lovely piece and had to get a few yards - it was that pretty!  

Tomorrow is Clue #3 -- what will it be?  As a new quilter I'm keeping up -- While I can sew like the wind, quilting and sewing have 1 thing in common -- they both use a sewing machine.

In quilting the cutting is so much more fussier than clothing or pillows -- The sewing line is much smaller so it's more exacting.  I'm not worried about my sewing mark, if I can sew my first quilt with 1/8" lines... Everyone knows in quilting that is suppose to be 1/4"??)  Yes!  I measured my machine 3 times and "thought" that was the mark -- So, now I have the quarter inch foot and don't have to sew SO close again.  It did show that I sure can hit my mark  accurately!