A Frolicking Grand Kick-Off!

Oh my goodness!  Our Folic logo is on a CAKE!

Each year a special group of Quiltvillians hosts a Quiltville Mystery Kick-Off Party in the beautiful town of Chandler, Arizona.  So close to where my dad lives!

One of these years I AM going to crash this party by surprise, just wait and see!

My fabulous Quiltville’s Open Studio moderator Andee and her cohort in Quilt Crime Kathy pull together a wonderful event where the group not only dives into the current newly released clue ONE together (This happens Black Friday weekend just as clue 1 is going live – ) and they not only share the excitement of starting in on the first clue together, but enjoy the laughter and chatter and comradery that comes with sewing with a group.  Oh the mounting expectation of what is to come!

The highlight of the day? (Besides the cake!) is sharing the completed mystery finishes from the previous year.

Andee was kind enough to share with me her story in her own words, so – take it away, Andee!

The 7th Annual Quiltville Mystery Kickoff Party happened on Saturday in Chandler, Arizona! Our group has grown from the original five who met on Black Friday eight years ago and brainstormed the idea of having an official party each year to inviting close to 50 people!  This year 24 were able to come and some were new so more quilty friends were made and plans to get together and find each other on facebook took place.  SEW much fun!  As always, there was cake (and this year things are spelled right!) and plenty of food too.

Kathy has mad selfie skills!

Kathy is taking the selfie this year so we can get everyone in the picture--24 all together this year, one had to come super late and missed the picture. 

You may notice one man in our picture this year--this is Limbania's husband Mark.  We invited him to come on down around noon for pictures and a special something.  His wife Limbania was part of our group from the very first party and lost her battle with breast cancer a few months ago.  She was a sweet spirit and loved all things Bonnie!  She had several unfinished mysteries and several ladies are now finishing them. 

I was the lucky one who wound up with Good Fortune (by accident it was mislabeled "On Ringo Lake") and decided to finish it up in time for the party!  My friend Andi Williams saw I was finishing it on Facebook and graciously volunteered to quilt it for me before the party!  We then gifted this quilt back to Mark for his oldest daughter who is fourteen.  Limbania had hand dyed the fabric in this and it was precious to her so I knew it was meant to be for her daughter to have a one day wedding quilt just as my daughter got one this year.  Good Fortune is the perfect name for a wedding quilt!

Andee (me), Mark and Andi with Limbania Quiltz' Good Fortune

Bonnie always says she does this mystery quilt during the busy holiday season to help keep those who may be alone or sad due to loss or whatever.  The clues give us something else to look forward to and new friends to share our love of quilting with.  I love how our quilting community came to Mark's aid to organize and sell Limbania's things, finish them off etc.  I know she is looking down on us all.  She has forever touched us and made us better for it.

As always, the party favors were labels for the back of the quilt.  I try to get my signed by Bonnie each year to make it even more special. Victoria brought door prizes this year three lucky winners (the oldest, the one who came from the farthest away, and the one with the closest birthday) won!  Turns out it was Victoria's actual birthday and she brought the gifts!  It was nice celebrating it with her!

Marguerite, Laura, Andee (me), Deone, Kathy, Sheila, Mark in for Limbania, Kathy, Jill, Celeste, Betsy and Tina

Becky arrived after pictures but hers is a flimsy too!

That makes thirteen Good Fortune tops/quilts to show off this year!  Beats our previous record of twelve.  We had everything from traditional Bonnie colors to Halloween!    Sew much fun to see all the variations of this one.  If somehow you missed doing the mystery with us you can still purchase the pattern here!  Of course people brought other Bonnie quilts and we shared them too!

Andee’s Part 1 COMPLETE!

Pretty sure this is the first time I have completed the clue while at the party!  I normally cannot get it done and host at the same time.  Since this was an easy clue and I pulled the right size strips from my scrap savers system (thanks SEW much Bonnie for sharing yours--it works so well) that I was half way there before I started! 

The card in the middle was a thank you from everyone to Kathy and I for hosting every year (we got chocolate too) and I was astonished to see that BJ found a card that has my color choices on it!  Love it!

Me with my Good Fortune--my daughter is already asking if she can have her wedding gift back yet!

Hannah and Jeremy with their wedding quilt last summer!

If you want to see the entire parade of mystery quilts click here! and you can see them all!  I have made every  one and several of them more than once. I love Bonnie's mystery quilts and have become a much better quilter from all her tips and tricks and clear directions with lots of pictures!  Thank you Bonnie for sharing your life and love of quilting with us!

~ Andee.

First off – just WOW!  Angela, you put on a phenomenal event.  I am so sorry about Limbania.  She will be so missed by all of us who knew her. I will remember the times I spent with her so fondly.  What a lovely lady.  Thank you for including her hubby Mark in your doings.  I am sure he felt her spirit there with you as well.

I LOVE seeing all of the Good Fortune finishes in such a terrific photo.  THANK YOU for sending the photos each year.

And one of these days – ONE OF THESE DAYS – I am going to be there!

All of my love to the Chandler ladies and friends this holiday season.  Thank you!

You can still share photos of your Good Fortune quilt finishes and other Quiltville Mysteries by using the hashtag #quiltvillemystery and #goodfortunequilt  on instagram! 

Or click the above highlighted hashtags to be taken to the gallery pages for these tags, including our current #frolicquilt and see what others are doing!  

Remember NOT to put a year on your posts, because they aren’t connected to future posts that way.  NO YEARS on your tags – let’s keep this going!  Please remember when sharing - no unit sizes, no piece counts, and please keep pieces away from obvious ruler and cutting mat measurements.

I have been shipping out my Quiltville Quilter's Date Keepers as fast as I can - left, right and sideways! Empty yet another case, put the box on the floor, turn around and it's housing a cat! So typical but still cracks me up! Dresden is king of the box!

If you don't have a Quiltville Quilter’s Date Keeper yet, they are on sale in the Quiltville Store through December while supplies last for $9.99, regularly priced at $16.95. They feature more than 70 of my quilts, and the pages are peppered with my favorite quotes, tips, tricks, hints and helps. Cat not included! Lol!

Other December Things to Remember:

Our Hunter’s String Star PDF pattern is 1/2 price through the month of December at only $4.00!  No coupon code needed.

My newly released Bavaria/Austria project, Warm Hands, Warm Heart is available for download, in the digital pattern section of the Quiltville Store where you will also find the Hemming Chenille needles, size 24.  We are out of the Sulky Stick ‘n Stitch, but more is on the way!

I also have all of the rulers on hand that we are using in our Frolic Mystery, as well as many different styles of Karen Kay Buckley Scissors in the Rulers, Notions & Tools category if you are wanting to treat yourself (Or someone else!) to something special.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

And amidst the hustle and bustle of the coming week, don't forget to appreciate each one around you.

All the other stuff doesn't matter.

But family, people and relationships do!

Happy Monday-Before-Christmas, everyone!

(And happy Hanukah too!)