Orca Bay Mystery Quilt - Finished!

Feeling very pleased to have finished Orca Bay.  For those of you who don't know, this was Bonnie Hunter, of Quiltville's mystery quilt last year.

I machine quilted it on my domestic (only) sewing machine.

I worked a large swirly pattern in the center.

Some stippling in the green stripey narrow border......

...........and finally some little feathers on the outer border.   I used plain black for the binding.

                                                             Close up....

I love how it turned out and now I'm looking forward to having it on my bed this coming winter.  Should be very cosy!!

It's been a while but today I'm linking up with Missy Mac Creations where Erin is hosting this weeks TGIFF linky party and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict, so head on over and check out the finishes!

Be back soon with more quilty stuff.
Enjoy your weekend.
Rhianon.

Orca Bay - Progress Report

Hi there,
I am pleased to say that after a small delay I have finally got my Orca Bay top finished !

After much pondering I decided to go for a scrappy green inner border.  I like the green in this quilt and wanted to add more.  Plus the fact I didn't have enough neutrals so green it was.

                                          Close up of borders

I'll be machnine quilting this but will stick to something simple.  Bonnie's designs are so dazzling it would be a waste to do complicated quilting.
I've put this at the top of my UFO pile becasue I really want it finished, bound and on my bed !

Bonnie, if you are reading this - thanks for a great mystery.  I wonder what you have in store for us this year !!!

See you all next time.
Rhianon.

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt - parts 7 & 8

We are at the end of the mystery quilt - Bonnie revealed the big finale on New Years Day!

                                                  
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/orca-bay-mystery.html     You will find everything you need to know about Bonnie's mystery at the above link. - just in case you would like to make one!

Well my progress has been steady but I still have a lot of work to do.

This is part 7 in progress and I have not even started the border units yet.

I couldn't resist laying it out on the floor........ just to see how it would look.

   I've decided to sew little sub-blocks together rather than sewing it all together in long strips - I find it a bit easier to handle.   I absolutley love how this is turning out - it's a Bonnie masterpiece!

I thought I had solved the mystery but I was so wrong...........

....I really like this lay out so I may just have to make another one.  Any old excuse to play with more strings!!!

Head on over to Bonnie's blog now to check out all the other Orca Bays.  There is some fabulous work going on.
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/01/mystery-monday-link-up-part-7-8.html

Hopefully next time I post, I will have a completed quilt top to show you.
Have a good day everyone.
Rhianon.

Update : Here's how it's looking so far :

Orca Bay Mystery Part 5

Part 5 of the mystery quilt and this week we had to make 700 triangles to attach to each side of the HSTs we made in Part 3 ( in the bowl)

So far I have done 250, so only a little 100 to go !!

Bundles of 10........

Here are the 250 units so far....

I am rapidly coming to the end of blacks from my stash - in fact a lot of my blacks are heavily patterned compared to some other ladies who are doing the quilt but I am just going to go with it.   All part of the fun!

As usual I'm linking this post to Bonnie's blog, so pop  over and have a wee peek at everyone else's progress.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2011/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-5.html

I am loving th link up this year.  Last year I did my very first Bonnie mystery quilt and had no one to talk to or compare notes with.  This year has been great !!

Have a great week everyone.
Rhianon.

Orca Bay Mystery Part 4

I can't believe we are on week 4 of the mystery quilt.  Time is flying by so quickly.
I loved part 4 - more string blocks, this time in reds, I am using rusts so I haven't deviated too far from Bonnie's choice.

I must have taken these photos on a dull day because the colours look very green.  My blocks are much more orangey/rusty looking in the natural light.

This is a better representation of my blocks.

I'm using up some real hideous fabric in this part.  I had a FQ of this - no idea where or why I bought this but I am very happy to have found a home for it and it doesn't look too bad at all worked into the blocks.

In part 2 I had teddy bears in my strings and guess what ?  More teddy bears in my rust strings!

For the first time ever in my quilting life I used starch ( because Bonnie told us to!).
I have to say it is fantastic stuff.  Cheap and easy to use - I can see me using a lot of this in the future.

Stack is getting bigger!!!

This is my working set up - everything close at hand.

So after a very enjoyable weekend I have all but 5 blocks finished.
Roll on Part 5........

As usual on a Monday I am linking this post to Bonnie's blog 
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/
Why not go and have a look at everyones progress.
Have a great week everyone.
Rhianon.

Orca Bay Mystery - Part 3

This busy quilting time continues with Part 3 of the mystery quilt.
Mission this week - to make 350 HSTs finishing at 2" square.

Production line - set up and under way !

First 100 completed, although they still have to be de-dog-eared.
Another 150 ready for pressing and I'm well on my way to completing part 3.

Head over to Bonnie's blog to see everyone elses progress.  There are some interesting colour schemes going on and it is going to be such a blast seeing all the different versions of Bonnie's Orca Bay.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/orca-bay-mystery.html

Hope you all have a productive week.
Rhianon.

Orca Bay Mystery - Part 2

The mission this week was to make 72  31/2" strip squares.
Bonnie is using blues - I am using greens , everything from limes to emeralds !

 These blocks are fast and fun to make.

Funny coincidence no 1 - my scissors match my blocks!

Funny coincidence no 2 :  Teddy bears on my fabric and teddy bears on my foundations!

As of this morning I have 60 blocks done just leaving 12 to do today.  That leaves lots of time until friday to work on Christmas presents.
Happy days!

Orca Bay 2011 Mystery Quilt by Bonnie Hunter. PART 1

It's November and that means it is mystery quilt time with Bonnie Hunter.
This is my second mystery quilt and I cut my teeth last year on Bonnie's Roll, Roll Cotton Boll.

It was such a blast - No matter what - every Friday was MY sewing day.

Part 1 of Orca Bay was out on Friday.
If anybody wants to join in then here is the link :

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/orca-bay-mystery.html
You can also find the link in my side bar - it will be sitting there for the duration.

Here is my progress so far ;

Production line under way!

I'm using the 3 1/4" square method as I don't have a companion angle ruler but it is working a treat !

Getting there !

This is it so far - 167 hourglass blocks completed, 57 to go.  The end is in sight.

I'm a really going to enjoy this mystery because I have made some lovely quilty friends from all over the world and we are all doing it together, so it is going to be excellent to have people to compare notes with and also Bonnie has set up the link for bloggers.  So who knows, I may even make more new friends or even get some new followers.  Now that would be nice !!!
If I'm lucky enough to have Bonnie look at my blog, then just want to say thank you for everything you do Bonnie!!!

Til next time
Happy sewing
Rhianon