A Dilemma

di·lem·ma

diˈlemə,dīˈlemə/

noun

1. a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives, especially equally undesirable ones.

   "the people often face the dilemma of feeding themselves or their cattle"

   synonyms:

   quandary, predicament, Catch-22, vicious circle, plight, mess, muddle;More

   • a difficult situation or problem.

     "the insoluble dilemma of adolescence"

     synonyms:

     quandary, predicament, Catch-22, vicious circle, plight, mess, muddle;More

   • LOGIC

     an argument forcing an opponent to choose either of two unfavorable alternatives.
   • 
     

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To do or not to do, that is the question.  What could I be speaking about?  Why Bonnie Hunter's Winter Mystery quilt Grand Illusions of course!  I always start a project with good intentions, however i wonder if I should be realistic this year?  Last year's Celtic Solstice (above) is still in pieces and the year before's mystery, Easy Street (below) is still a lonely quilt top, a mere flimsy.  Would it be right for me to start yet another project?  Are you planning to join in this year on the mystery?

*\o/* Cheers

Shanna

Round 5: Old Thing Be Best Forgotten

I am a day late on this post, but I fell asleep early last night without finishing the ironing portion of my Blocks.  I also did not complete the BOM block that I needed to redo yet.   You will see a few posts form me today as this is my end of year clean-up report time as well., but I thought it would be too wordy if I put it all in one post.  These blocks I think are rather hard until I found Inklingo's directions. I still have so much work to do, so I am kind of hoping that Bonnie does not do the big reveal tomorrow.

So on to the blocks!

Clue #5

Clues #1-#4

I just LOVE how Lorna describes her new linky party: "Let's Bee Social! is a Sew-Weet new weekly linky party for quilting bloggers.  A new post each Wednesday will allow you to add your own link to the Let's Bee Social linky party post."  The majority of the friends that I have made while blogging have been through linky parties and blog hops.  To be frank, I could not have gotten through the last few months without my blogging buddies.  They have been my encouragement and a good deal of support for me. And now another opportunity to make more friends and enjoy each other's work and lives!

May you all have a wonderful new year!!!!

I am linking up to:
Celtic Solstice Link-up #5 with Bonnie Hunter@ Quiltville
Design Wall Monday with Judy@ Patchwork Times
BOM's Away with Lyn @ What a Hoot Quilts

*\o/* Cheers
Shanna

In Pieces!

Short, quick post here!  Bonnie released Clue #5 Friday and it suddenly got quiet on facebook as we were rushing to see what we could do! I love the Bonnie Mystery group on there, its the most fun I have ever had on a project!  I got my pieces cut out for Clue #1, the white squares for Clue #2 (Just need to print the green pieces and I am ready to start) and the extra pieces for Clue #5.  I don't know if I have alluded to the fact that this the second of two small Celtic Solstice quilts I plan to make, that is why I had to go back and cut fabrics for Clue #1 again.

The first quilt will be a scrappy one for myself!  I just couldn't continue on it until I figure out what colors I want to sub for the greens and yellows.  Plus I am not quite done with ironing and trimming my fabrics so everything is not yet organized for me.  The picture below is Clue #1 on the first quilt that will be scrappy.

I am hoping to post a finished set of blocks tomorrow!  In the meantime, I'd better get some sleep!

*\0/* Cheers
Shanna

Round 4: Merry Christmas Eve, Eve

Celtic Solstice
I did it!!!!!!!  I completed both Clues #3 & #4 for Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery QAL!  I have to admit that I am still behind on Clue #2, but tonight I am not dwelling on that!  You will notice that all the fabrics are pretty much the same instead of the super-scrappiness that I showed in Clue #1 previously.  Well, that is because I decided to make a second small sized quilt.  I am making the scrappy one for myself and this one I plan to make for charity.  By using the yardage I am able to not only clear out more space in my fabric cubbies, but it's great practice for me in using the Inklingo system.  I cannot begin to tell you how much easier these steps are with Inklingo, but I still need some more practice as I have had a couple jams when I was being impatient.

BOM's AWAY

Do you remember the practice blocks I made a several weeks ago HERE?  Well I finally turned the practice blocks into a baby quilt top!  It will only be a 40" X40", but it helps me jump start a goal I have for 2014 to start using up the random BOM's that I have laying around as well as my orphan blocks which might be left over from other projects or tester blocks.  Right now I am signed up only for one BOM at my LQS for this next year because I want to make a farmer Wife Sampler Quilt over the next 2 years!

This block to the right is a practice block for Mid-November's BOM from my LQS.  Unfortunately I was in a rush so I majorly messed up the actual block when I attempted it before practicing, so I decided to turn back to the practice blocks before I gave it another go.  I made 9 of these blocks now which I will also turn into a baby quilt once I figure out the sashing (should I go with the white or another color?).  I am sure I will share more on that project next year, haha!  I have been just waiting to say that!  These have been projects I have completed working on the mystery quilt which I affectionately called my "pause projects" instead of "Leaders/Enders."

A Little black Rain Cloud

Now I am going to reward myself with a large cup of Hot Chocolate with whip cream on top and some more episodes of The Deadliest Catch!  Thank you all for stopping by today!
*\o/* Cheers
Shanna
I am linking up to:
Celtic Solstice Link-up #4 with Bonnie Hunter@ Quiltville
Design Wall Monday with Judy@ Patchwork Times
BOM's Away with Lyn @ What a Hoot Quilts
.

Round 3: The Slowest Horse

Round 2 of Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery is still in the works, so I decided to skill ahead to Round or Clue #3!  I bought the Inklingo Shapes kit for this mystery to see if it might not work well for me so that i could perhaps bring some of my work out into the livingroom instead of just staying in my crafting area in our bedroom. I have to tell you that Inklingo is really interesting actually.  I just wish we had a better printer so I could make the most of it, but I did not do so bad in my printing efforts.  One sheet will make 6 of the pinwheels and the sewing of them was amazingly quick!  I made these six pinwheels and sewed up the rest of the sheets while watching an episode of The Deadliest Catch so for me that was pretty quick as I get distracted!

 I will be trying to get these finished up tonight once Miss Z goes down to sleep.  Every single one of my points are perfect for the first 6 squares which is not always the case for me, so I am very pleased so far!  I also am working on getting Clue #2 completed before Friday, if I can, as well as finishing up some Christmas Gifts as there are only a couple more weeks left!!  Although, if any family is reading this that hasn't already gotten your presents, then yours will be a little late this year...but I am not telling what they are!!

This is my first Clue round again:

Thank you all for stopping by today!

*\o/* Cheers
Shanna

I am linking up to:
Celtic Solstice Link-up #3 with Bonnie Hunter@ Quiltville
Design Wall Monday with Judy@ Patchwork Times
BOM's Away with Lyn @ What a Hoot Quilts

Leaders, Enders, and a Little Progress

I have been a little quiet this past week..part of it has been some health issues, but most it has been Bonnie Hunter's fault!  I say that part in jest as she has been truly wonderful to us all in sharing her free patterns and developing a mystery quilt, also for free for her followers.  I have finally completed Clue #1 and it only makes my excited for the next clue.  I have to admit, last year I struggled a lot with jealousy over how quickly everyone seem to be handling the steps for the Easy Street Mystery; their fabric and their points were perfect.  It was silly to feel insecure about my own work, but I didn't really know anyone (but Mary) who was making the quilt.

This is a close-up of the border fabric that I bought for the mystery, which is inspiring my color choices

This year I am approaching the mystery quilt differently.  I joined up with 3 different groups, the facebook group has been by far the most encouraging group of people I have ever been grouped with.  For once I was finding that instead of feeling like a failure or being jealous, I was rejoicing that a nice guy and his mom got their blocks done first (It was really sweet, he went over to his mom's to help her cut out her block parts).  I was enjoying the sharing of pictures, colors, questions, and conversation about random stuff.  One of the really sweet people who I have met through other places on the Interweb, organized a spot for people who were in need to provide their addresses so those who have more fabric than they know what to do with, could share and they could then take part in the mystery as well.  Through this process thus far, I met a new fiend who not only lives in my area, but she frequents my LQS, and we are making plans to get together for lunch one day soon.  There is something about quilting in a community that changes the whole dynamics of everything!

There are about 115 block of each; I miscounted but I thought ti would be good to have extras!

Leaders & Enders

It has been asked what we are working on in between our clues for this mystery.  I am working on a baby quilt from the Modern Patchwork, Spring 2013 issue.  It has mini-skinny-pluses in alternating background and print blocks.  This is actually a very fun project, although I have to admit that I changed the size of the pieces I am working with from the ones requested to be cut.  There happen to be perfectly square blocks already cut out for The Dancing Stars quilt (Amy Ellis) that were extra, so my blocks will be quite smaller.  I think this works out better because I can showcase many different fabrics that might fit in the colorway I have selected.  The fabrics come from 2 different Kate Spain lines, and some prints from Connecting Threads as well.  My thoughts at this point is to make one pair of blocks per fabrics, but not assemble the quite until next year, this will allow me to add more fabrics as I add to my stash or have left-overs from other projects!

Adapted from Happy Baby Quilt, from Modern Patchwork Spring 2013 Issue

Thank you all for stopping by today!

I am linking up to:
Celtic Solstice Link-up #1 with Bonnie Hunter@ Quiltville
Design Wall Monday with Judy@ Patchwork Times
BOM's Away with Lyn @ What a Hoot Quilts
Fabric Tuesday With Heather & Megan @Quilt Story

*\o/* Cheers
Shanna

Another Yummy Mystery!

It has been quite a week, the rush to send off Christmas presents, and the big push to organize my crafting area so I was ready to start Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery the moment it was posted on Friday!  I ended up getting a bit sick so it has been slow-going over here.  I think I spent more time reading posts on the Not-so-secret- facebook group for the mystery and chatting with my new friends than sewing!  So I thought I would show you what my pile looks like now that I have finally gotten all the pieces cut up for Clue #1!

The Purplish brown fabric at the top of the picture is the fabric I plan to use for the border when the quilt is completed.  It is from Soho Chic by Sandy Gervais with Moda.  I wish I had seen this lien sooner as it holds many of my favorite colors, but teh fabrics seem to have gone so fast on the Fat Quarter Shop.  I am using the colors from the yardage for inspiration.  Well, I really aught to get to sewing while my husband is watching a Christmas movie with Miss Z!  It's not too late for you to jump in and join the mystery this year!

*\0/* Cheers

Shanna