Two Top Finishes!

There were two top finishes on the mountain yesterday!

After finishing all of the cruise kits (Yes, they are all done except for the printed instructions that still have to be written!) I was finally able to sit down with Spanish Rose and figure out what I want to do.

The biggest worry from folks was that the project would be LAME because it was a hand stitching project, and that it wouldn’t be a QUILTVILLE scrappy project.

And it’s so funny because I am ALWAYS asked (okay 9 times out of 10) when lecturing if I EVER make quilts that are not scrappy, that come from just a few coordinated pieces of yardage.  And I laugh and I laugh and my response is always WHY?  WHY would I do that to myself when that is not where my heart is? It would be torture!

Same thing here.

If you were looking at just one block, it’s hard to make THAT extra scrappy, but when you put 4 blocks together and start pulling in sashings of various fabrics and contemplate borders, it all comes together.

I have always said that kits are like a cake mix.  You have to add your own eggs, oil, water, nuts, coconut, chocolate chips, whatever your heart desires- to turn that simple mix into your own creation.

I am supplying block fabrics and the center cornerstone. (center-stone? LOL!) Cruisers will supply their own sashings and borders and binding to reflect their own vision.  It's a Quilt-Mix!

In the photo above you can see I am chain piecing oodles of half square triangles on Black Beauty.

I also pieced half a gazillion small string blocks!

And while I was sewing the string blocks, if you look under the presser foot, you can see that I was STILL using my Tumbler as Leaders & Enders!   It only had a few rows to go before DONE, and I was teaming each string pieced seam with a pair of tumbler pieces to knock this HUGE project out of the ball park!

Coming along!  Only a few more string blocks to go!

Tada!!

Is it a Quiltville Quilt yet?

And the last seam went on the tumbler quilt top as well!

It’s a room sized rug!

3,425 tumblers!

A video posted by Bonnie K Hunter (@quiltville_bonnie) on Aug 5, 2016 at 6:25am PDT

I love love love it!

My video camera has been wigging out at the beginning of my videos ---I think I need to wait until the wig out is over before I start talking so I can crop it out.  It did this in the clock video from yesterday, and also the rain from the porch.  New phone, new camera, new problem!

I need to plan a date to quilt this one!

But there won’t be time until after I get back from the Mediterranean…..or later.  It’s a jam packed schedule and though I am knocking off these projects I feel like there is so very little margin of time to catch my breath in between deadlines and workshop dates!

I have booked my airfare and room for Quilt Market and am very excited to be doing book signings, some schoolhouses and video recording a demo with the new Essential Triangle Tools.  I wish I could hang around for Festival as well, but my schedule only gives me a few days to do Houston.

I also booked my airfare for Rhode Island in September!  I'm going back to visit the Ninigret Quilters.  I have such fond memories of my last visit.  Friendships made while there inspired my quilt Narragansett Blues from More Adventures with Leaders & Enders.  A portion of the quilt can be seen on the cover.

My blog post for the C&T blog is due to post Monday and I haven’t written it yet.  That’s on the agenda for this morning.  Something simple, but hopefully something that will help you in your every day quilting life.

And because i am such a domestic goddess at the cabin, and it isn’t all quilting:

It works for honey dew, too!

I tried my sister’s “remove rind first from half a melon placed face down, slice melon second!” trick with a honey dew and it was so easy!  And now I’m hearing “We’ve always done it that way, what other way is there to do it?” from people who’ve been in the know all along and I wish I had learned this sooner!

Here it was always “cut into slices and use a paring knife to remove the rind from each slice, and then cut each slice into chunks.”  TEDIOUS!  This way is so fun and easy. So if you’ve never tried it, if someone forgot to give YOU the memo early on in your kitchen training years, you can try it too.

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage quilt from my own collection, found in North Carolina.

The inner child inside of us all needs some encouragement from time to time! We are still becoming who we dreamed we'd be!

(And we are still learning the proper way to cut melons and pineapples! Ha!)

Remember, Quilt-Cam Sunday afternoon at 2pm Eastern!

Happy Friday everyone!

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