Her message, entitled Devil, Thy Name is Quilt-Cam had me worried that I had really offended her somehow, or had her mad at me about something. But as I began to read, I began to giggle and the further I giggled, the less I could contain myself!
I emailed her back, and asked if I could share her story. she said….Sure, they NEED to be forewarned!
She writes:
Dear Bonnie,
Way back in the day, when you very first started Quilt Cam, I decided I needed a new quilt for my bed and it would be fitting to make it while “sewing with you”. So, I picked the Blue Ridge Beauty pattern and starting with the purples / neutrals on hand. I cut and sewed 4 patches. Of course, I didn't have enough variety so I picked up some purples here and some neutrals there. Then I “tuned in”.
I was daunted by the thought of needing 400 little 4 patches so I decided not to count them until I *thought* I had enough. I cut a little, “we” sewed a little, I cut some more, “we” sewed some more. Finally, I figured I had enough of those cute little units. Started assembly and ended up with the attached lovely Purple Ridge Beauty.
Sharon's Blue Ridge Beauty in Purple from Adventures with Leaders & Enders.
Huh. Looks like there are still quite a few leftover 4 patches. Wonder how many. I counted and I had one thousand (1,000) EXTRA cute little 4 patches. OH MY GOSH!! What the heck am I going to do with them??
Ok, don’t panic. Bonnie must have another 4 patch based pattern … oh, how pretty, the Happily Scrappily Irish Chain … just need to get some white tone on tone for the centers and viola … A Happily Scrappily Purple Irish Chain.
Sharon's Happily Scrappily Irish from Adventures with Leaders & Enders.
Well, that used up 700 of the extra 4 patches. BUT …there are still three hundred more to go. Never fear, peruse the “free patterns” section of Quiltville and see the beautiful Cathedral Stars. MMM… wonder if I can come up with a way to change the color scheme a little … yep.
And here is the last of those little 4 patches … I call this one “Third Time’s a Charm” because it took three “Bonnie Sized” quilts to use of those dang 4 patches!! I finished “Third Time” the morning before our Quilt Guild Show which is where the pics were taken. Phew. Talk about cutting it close!
I've learned my lesson – pin your units together in groups of 10 for easy counting!!
Thanks for the patterns and inspiration!Are you laughing??! Chuckling? At least smiling to yourself because you KNOW you are in the same boat?
Sharon
It’s a good thing that Sharon really likes purple! And Gold. And has a sense of humor to go with it…..and is now the owner of 3 beautiful quilts she should be very proud of!
Thanks for sharing your story, Sharon…yes, I’m still smiling!
Bonnie,
ReplyDeleteThat is great and we all needed that chuckle. Her quilts are beautiful. I really enjoyed getting to spend some "Bonnie" time with you on Thursday. We all had a great time with our Oklahoma Backroads. Thanks for all the wonderful inspiration you give us.
Shelia
Lmao as a person who's new to leaders and enders i probably needed that lesson :-)
ReplyDeleteToo funny, I am making the bow tie quilt, and have been bundling them in batches of 50 until I get to the 700+ that I need, but this is too funny!!
ReplyDeleteSharon could be the first member of Quiltcam, anonymous, 12 steps to be conscious while piecing, lol. I have heard of other people making too many squares, but never 1000 more than needed, lmao. Priceless!!
Lmao as a person who's new to leaders and enders i probably needed that lesson :-)
ReplyDeleteLmao as a person who's new to leaders and enders i probably needed that lesson :-)
ReplyDeletewow that is impressive, they are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, beautiful inspiration!
ReplyDeleteOh way too much fun! And purple is my favorite color so these are just gorgeous! I certainly enjoyed the chuckle!
ReplyDeleteOMG. She drank a gallon of the purple KOOLAID! Can't say I blame her, but I like to count as I go.... Mary in Boston :-))
ReplyDeletethis reminds me of a class that I took a few years ago when I "added a few fabrics" and just kept making blocks, I ended up with enough blocks for a king size instead of a throw. I made a twin out of the initial pattern, then used a few more for a reversible quilt and this weekend on a retreat finally used the rest in making a lap quilt. all different but still the same.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sharon (and Bonnie) for sharing you cute little 4 patch story with all of us! I love it! They are all three so beautiful!
ReplyDelete3 gorgeous quilts! I think knitted a scarf once that could have made it around our house when I was in junior high because I didn't know how to stop it and our teacher went on a sabbatical! But this was a beautiful "mistake" with awesome results. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI went though my stash tonight and found I don't have near enough for the mystery quilt, so I'm opting out of that but I did find lots of light Blues and Beige, so I'm going to do your blue ridge scrap quilt. I hope I don't end up making three like Sharon. lol
ReplyDeleteThis is so funny, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis is so funny, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWay too funny! Three beautiful quilts!
ReplyDeleteI was given a bag of scraps once. Pretty big bag. I made 9 patches for months. Yes I had 4 bed sized quilts after I put in sashing. So I can relate.
ReplyDeleteI loved Sharon's quilts -- all 3 of them. Of course purple is my middle name and with them being "Bonnie" quilts, how could she go wrong!! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYes those little 4 - Patches multiply and multiply... Beautiful quilts Sharon, thank-you for sharing them Sharon and Bonnie, I hope you get rested up so you can enjoy your time at quilt villa... I am having a couple of my friends over for a quilting day tomorrow, and I am so excited, can't wait to get quilting with my friends again It's been over 6 months since we quilted together, so it's going to be awesome!!
ReplyDeleteGreat story and great quilts.
DeleteCharnetta in Israel
Way to go Sharon :)
ReplyDeletehahaha, I've been known to overproduce blocks, but never by this many, however if this turns out to be the result I shure would like to overproduce by a thousand!!!
ReplyDeleteI did exactly the same thing with my green blue ridge beauty-hundreds of leftover four patches. I have used +some+ of them to make a red and green bricks and stepping stones one of my sons will get both of these when they are quilted.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great tale! And Sharon, your quilts are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAll three of her quilts are beautiful. Inspiring me to make some 4 patches, but I promise to keep them in sets of 10. Thanks for sharing Sharon's story.
ReplyDeleteOK. That did it. Being inexperienced I like to keep pictures of quilts for inspiration. I had so many from ideas from your blog on my Quilt board in my Pinterest account that today I decided to simply start one headed Bonnie Hunter quilts in my account. This is so much easier and faster. Today seeing the variations of finished quilts from the same colors and basic building design helped me continue to develop the "eye" needed. Your blog has become my favorite thing to read each day. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAbout 10 years ago I decided to do a Faux Log Cabin quilt. Didn't know how many blocks I needed, so cut and sewed many sections together. Ended up with enough to make THREE large lap quilts. How can I give these away? One went to my brother, another to my niece on the other side of the family, and finally to my son's best friend. Never will the three quilts meets, I am sure!
ReplyDeleteOH MY WORD - friend you are a persistent lady!!!! What pretty lemonades you whipped up from those extras...while not true lemons (FAR too pretty) just made me think of squeezing far too many lemons once --- we had ALOT of lemonade!
ReplyDeleteTHUMBS UP
JulieinTN
OMGoodness! That is terrific. And thank goodness for Quilt Cam- it is so nice to be able to sew "with" friends. beautiful quilts
ReplyDeleteall three quilts are awesome! You can't go wrong with purple!
ReplyDeleteGreat story, Sharon, along with 3 beautiful quilts. Thanks for sharing this story Bonnie.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this blog, a day later I had to go back to it again and reread it just for the enjoyment. I was literally stunned that she could create so many 4-patches without counting them. Usually I am so excited to put the quilt together that I am constantly counting to be sure I have enough; I don't think I have ever had too many. It seems I am always one short. Well, this was enjoyable! Bonnie, why didn't I think to keep making 4-patches and then end up with so many different quilts?! I am so glad Sharon sent pics too. All three are spectacular and no one would know that you made the quilts from the same 4-patches. This idea will stay in the back of my mind the next time I am making 4-patches (or 9-patches)!
ReplyDelete