Bonnie Hunter on My Mind

I know I am not alone when I say that Bonnie Hunter is on my mind a lot these days. She has so many wonderful patterns that it's hard to decide which to do first. My bucket list of Bonnie's quilts seems to grow and grow. Will I every find enough time to complete them?

Everyone is already talking about the upcoming Mystery Quilt. We can hardly wait for the colors and name to be announce so everyone can get their paint chips and start searching their stash (or the local fabric store), for that perfect fabric. Secretly I hope that it is an Italy inspired quilt . I have no clue what it will be, but I am going to make a serious effort to make it entirely from my stash.

In the mean time I have worked on a few of Bonnie's patterns. I used her Scrappy Mountain Majesty to make a quilt inspired by the Great Smokey Mountains for my eldest son. I quilted this myself at The Workshop at Quilter's Studio of  Loveland, Ohio.  You can see the quilting detail in a picture below. I love the idea of the leaves floating on the wind over the mountain. Check out the workshop link http://www.quiltersstudioofloveland.com/contact/. 

I've had three or four appointments at the Workshop and am just starting to get comfortable with the long arm machines. The difficulty is remembering all the instructions between visits. Initially I dreaded it, but this last visit, I actually enjoyed myself. Piecing is still where it's at for me....I love to piece..but have discovered the joy of working a project all the way from the first cut of fabric, to the binding.

Quilting detail

The idea for this quilt was to represent a day in the mountain, from the pale blue morning sky through the darkening sky of a late evening in the mountain..The picture does not do it service. Once it was completed I did see a few things I would have changed, like beginning the dark blues earlier in the quilt. Regardless it is very pretty in person.

Evening Comes to the Mountains

This is a versatile pattern. I have seen it made in various colors and layouts and it is always a charming quilt. My granddaughter and I complete a smaller version for her mother  a while back. This was to represent the forest floor in the fall.

Scrappy Mountains Majesty, fall theme.

Tumblers is the leader/ender project Bonnie has going now. I completed a scrappy Christmas tumbler quilt.It put a nice dent in my Christmas stash. I used the process where all the pieces are in a paper bag, and I use what I pull. The only exception was if the pattern needed a certain orientation. In that case I'd just pick another for the interim piece.

Holiday Tumbler

The backing is this holiday fabric, I purchased one year after Christmas.

. I must remember that tops gets smaller when you quilt them. After this was quilted I wished it was a little bigger. It is big enough for my 5'4" frame, but my six foot son.  You can't see the quilting detail in the picture, but it is ribbons done in gold, which is why I used the old for the binding.


What's under my needle now? Do you remember Bonnie's Celtic Solstice? I am making another winter inspire quilt with that pattern.  I plan to make all the star blocks first, using blues and white. I hope that it will look like the night sky. I'll decide about the chevron block once I get this section completed.  This is really my favorite Mystery Quilt, so I am hoping my planned modifications are successful.This will be an easy does it quilt. I'm in no hurry, and not even concerned about getting it done this winter.

Fabric for Winter Solstices

I think these projects will keep me busy until Bonnie announces the next Mystery.  If I do get bored I do have the fabric for Crab Apple waiting on the sideline.  This is too much fun! And I will keep the balance, eat right, get that exercise, be healthier! That will give me lots of energy to work on quilts...