Grand Illusion Mystery Steps 1 - 4

Step 4 complete.

Steps 1 - 4, getting closer to the reveal. 

Iron Tote and Pad

Oh my goodness!  I thought this was going to be a piece of cake, but in it's way, I think it was more difficult than my Bionic Gear Bag.  I tried to do some investigating before I started, and one lady suggested using old towels instead of batting.  I wonder if she ever tried it herself.  I didn't have any 100% cotton batting, and I thought to myself, I have old towels, and that will save a little money, and a trip to the fabric store.  First since it called for 2 layers of batting, I used 2 layers of towel, and I couldn't hardly even get it under the presser foot.  Before I had even gone 4 inches, I broke a needle.  I took it apart, and used 1 layer of towel.  Alas, even that was a major stretch for my Bernina presser foot, and every stitch was a fight.  Breaking of thread was routine.  Never again, if I make another one, I'll make sure that I have the batting. 

Here it is with my little travel iron inside, still in the box.  I feel sure that a full sized iron would fit in here just fine, and I'm thinking, I'll make myself a little hemmed piece of flannel to use on top of it when I iron to keep it looking nice.  That will fit in here just fine, also.  I used 4 inches of elastic, as the pattern called for, but I think that was too much.  I need to investigate what would be good to make sure that the buttons don't pop out and dump my goodies.

Not perfect, but I wasn't kidding when I said every stitch was a challenge. 

All in all, I'm happy with it, and I think that if I hadn't used the towel it would have been as easy as I expected it to be.  It might be that the firmness of the towel is more to my liking than the batting would have been.  I know, pink buttons?  They were all I had, and my Bionic Gear Bag is pink and brown, so they'll fit right in.   Oh, it is a free pattern and I got it here: http://thepaintedquilt.blogspot.com/2013/07/easy-peasy-travel-iron-caddy.html       or                        
http://tricountyquilters.weebly.com/uploads/3/0/2/4/3024945/iron_caddytote.pdf

Grand Illusion Clue 3 and Sea World Skating Show

Oops, good thing I decided to double check after I did one.  It was a lot easier to rip only one.

120 plus done.  Now, I have a couple of small projects to work on while I wait for clue 4 on Friday. 

Sea World's annual ice-skating show, it's like a fairyland this time of year.

Pre-show entertainment, a very good Christmas music show.

A very nimble gymnist. 

And the show begins.

Bionic Bag II

Here it is loaded, and I'm sure I could fit a bit more in, too.

Here is what was in it:  Counter-clockwise   Full sized 45mm rotary cutter, small wallpaper tool for flattening seams, a magnifying glass, pencils, embroidery scissors, pre wound bobbins, more pens and pencil, point turning stick, thread with bobbins, walking foot, seam ripper, 8 inch shears, back scratcher ( I don't know anyone there well enough to ask them to scratch my back), needles, 2 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch ruler (one of my favorite sizes), and a screwdriver (you can see the blue handle).  And, of course, in the tray, a full sized magnetic pin holder, and a box of 50 wonder clips.

Bionic Gear Bag

I worked a few hours on this one yesterday and today.  There are a myriad of things that could be better, but it is good enough to serve the purpose.  Tomorrow, I hope to load it and take another picture.   Even better, I have two days left to clean, maybe do a little Christmas decorating, and straighten up and be ready for clue 3 of Grand Illusion. 

Grand Illusion Step 2 - Finished

Step2, was a challenge, but it is finished.  Anxious to work on my Bionic Bag and hopefully have it done before Friday, when Step 3 will be out.  So far, so good keeping up, but not doing scrappy is a mental challenge.

Grand Illusion Step 1 - Done

Cut out and ready for sewing.

First 6 finished and measured - pretty close.

Step 1 finished.  Step 2 I will work on on Saturday at a local quilt shop, with several other mystery quilt quilters.  It should make it more fun.  This Saturday I went, but didn't bring my machine, so just watched.  Not next time.

Holiday Placemats

I made my daughter a set of 8 reversible placemats.  My house used to be holiday central, but it seems to have shifted to her house.  I hope that they are used and enjoyed. 

Oops!

Oops!  I got a new iphone, and even though it has a case, I decided to protect the screen even further than the screen protector, I needed a soft case.  Yesterday, I made the one on the left, but decided that it needed to be a little less snug, and a pocket on the front would be nice.  Today, with Thanksgiving on my mind, I made another case.  Too big, and I forgot the pocket.  It does fit my 7 inch tablet in it's case though.  I guess I'll be making a third, hopefully the third time will be the charm, as has previously been alleged.  Right not, I'm not in the mood.

Not Much Sewing Going On

Just small projects going on here this past week.  Litter bags from Life with Lou blog, and a do it myself iphone 6 case. The iPhone case needs to be a bit bigger though. 

Sampler Quilt

Last year, I started several projects at the beginning of the year.  One was a combination of the Craftsy BOM from 2012, and Amy Gibson's Sugar Block Club.  It was my intention to make a queen sized sampler quilt.  I finally caught up with some new projects, and so decided to get back to my Sampler quilt.  I had 21 blocks, and decided I needed 30, so these are the other 9.  Some are from the original project, and a few are blocks that I liked and decided to do rather than paper piece, or other things that I haven't enjoyed that much.  I plan to do sashing and cornerstones and borders, so I'm not sure how fare I'll get before Bonnie's 2014 mystery.  My house is needing attention, and I MUST make that a priority.

Aurora Lee's Quilt

Aurora's baby quilt is finally finished.  She will be six months soon, it's about time.

Her mama, Tabitha, was saying that she had a lot of flannel receiving blankets that she wasn't sure what to do with. I asked if she'd like to use them for the back, so that's what we did.  She brought over ten, and I used parts of all of them.

Miscellaneous Catch-Up

I haven't been blogging much, but I have made a few things, and now am working on a great-grandbabies baby quilt.  This was an afghan for her mother.  It started out to be a leftover yarn quilt, but turned into 3 quilts of similar colors, as my daughter requested afghans for a friends children.

This is for her four year old.  It's a lot bigger than she is, so should do her for several years.

This is for the 6 year old.  I didn't get a picture of it finished, but this is a little more than half.

We made a rare trip for us, due to my husband's health situation.  We stayed with family, and so I brought gifts.  This is the front and back of placemats I made, 6 each for 2 SIL's.  The front is my favorite, Fairy Frost, and I used neutrals, as I didn't know their color themes.  I used a tutorial from aquiltinglife blog.   I also made them each a Fairy Frost bag, with lots of pockets, but didn't get pictures.  They can pretty much afford most of what they would like, so I hope they like them enough to use them occasionally.  I didn't have time to make quilts from scratch, so one got my Roll Roll Sunshine River (Roll Roll Cotton Boll), and the other got my Christmas quilt. 

I started this one with leftover yarn also, but then went to Hobby Lobby for more.  It's relaxing to crochet and watch TV.  This one isn't for anyone, just in reserve, I guess.

I decided to do Bonnie's mystery again this year.  Last years Celtic Solstice was less than stellar, due to my poor color choices, so this year, I decided to use Bonnie's colors, but not go scrappy.  I bought these from Thousands of Bolts, and I don't think that I did too badly on the colors, since I was choosing based on price and from the little internet pictures.  Using yardage should make the cutting process easier, too.