Lemons, Lemonade and En Provence-Step 2-

It's been a week of good and not so good, lemons and lemonade. First the doctor says my immune system, blood, platelets are too low to attempt a stem cell collection. If things work out and my numbers recover they may try to collect them around Christmas. The good news is I will be home for the holidays, with family and able to complete the current mystery. At the very least I will be able to get all the steps/lessons printed so I can continue to work on it until I can complete it. So much better than last year when I spent nearly three weeks in the hospital, including Christmas and New Years. No Mystery Quilt for 2015.

Fortunately to date the En Provence steps have been fairly easy to complete. As of this writing I only have 10 units to do on step II. There should be no problems getting them done, and I will have plenty of time during the week to work on Allietare.

I have never been a fan of the Tri-Rec ruler. That's because it's been a challenge to get it right. I've made progress with this tool since I first used it on Celtic Solstice.  This is the fourth project using it. I still have not achieved perfection. Who gets it right 100%? Not me.

What I do love is the magenta constant used in this unit.  I think adds a spark to this quilt and I am very curious to see how this unit will be used in the quilt. My magenta?  My selection is not exactly magenta, but it does work well with the fabrics in my stash. It's a Moda Grunge.  I have to admit that I absolutely love Moda Grunge.   You can't tell from the picture below, but some of the darker areas are actually purple. It should play well with the  purples in the quilt.

Moda grunge -my constant

I used some different neutrals in Step II, and left some of those from Step I out. I decided I wanted fabrics with a nature feel to them, so made the switch as shown below.

Step II

Once I finish this step I plan to spend the rest of the week working on Allietare.  I have made  kits for the Allietare stars.  These are the fabric selections.

So far I have only completed two blocks. I am hoping to do a block per day. Or at least one every other day. This first block is fairly simple. I think I need 30. They should go together without too much trouble.   However the next block is more involved and may take more time. For now it is keeping me busy between steps. If the En Provence steps become more difficult Allietare will take the back seat. After all the fabric sat in a bin for a year, another month or so won't matter. These are the two I have complete. I'm really loving the one with the floral center.

Did you every see something you didn't NEED, but just really HAD to have? That happened to me last week. I've been collecting Department 56 New England Village houses for decades. I have about a dozen, and most were purchased for sentimental reasons. For example, my maiden name is Bowman. They happened to have a Bowman's Fiddle Shop, and my granddad played a fiddle. My mom's name is Dorothy, so I purchased Dorothy's Skate House. My husband loves to work with wood, so I have Otter Creek Sawmill. He likes to fish, so we have the fish cannery. You get the idea.   This year part of the collection is on our living room mantel. This isn't a very good picture, but it gives you an idea. These are the city houses. I have another set up, country/seaside, on my mantel in our family room.

So when I was browsing Amazon and came across this quilt shop I HAD to purchase it. Isn't it adorable? Don't you just love those quilts hanging over the railings? It's installed in it's place (3rd from the right side on the mantel).

 Can't wait to see everyone's progress on Bonnie's link-up tonight. Happy piecing everyone. http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2016/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html

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