Thursday, January 12, 2017

Journey to Provence

Have you ever done this?

Mountains en Provence?

You have to be very organized to screw up in this particular way! Yesterday morning I slowly and carefully started to put together my new hourglasses for Bonnie Hunter's 2016 mystery quilt, En Provence:


I slowly and carefully picked up two pieces with my left hand and one piece with my right, pinned them, butted the seams, and sewed almost all the way across before I realized! Not a good start, but after that things went smoothly. And I think everyone will agree that the black is a lot better in these units than the light aqua I tried first, here.

But, to back it up, I have been sewing like a maniac for over a week now. When Bonnie revealed the mystery on January 1, which you can see here for a few more weeks, I was way behind. I had finished Clue #2, the Tri-Recs units in our constant fabric, and Clue #3, the green four patches. After the reveal I decided to go back to Clue #1 and make over 100 white four patches, about a zillion more Tri-Recs units (that's certainly how it felt) for Clue #4, and the big HSTs for Clue #5:

This is NOT all of them

For the low-volume, all white units, I pulled some fairly high volume fabrics from my stash:


I am actually sick to death of all my low volume text fabrics, and fortunately they are nearly gone anyway. I will not be buying more! But I do like how these new fabrics worked. And they've already given me a new idea for another quilt!


Don't worry, I will finish this one first! To avoid distractions, I forced myself to get all the units done before I made a block. And, I also sewed as much of the block background as possible before I put in the pinks. The selection of pinks is a little different now than last time:


And tonight, finally, one block is done:


It is pretty sparky, I think, with the high volume blacks and whites, as well as the contrast between my very dark and very light greens. But I like it, and the sashing will tame it a little. The white fabric in the corners will be a constant in the sashing, so that will tie it all together more. I have a fancy border planned for the flamingo fabric, and I have high hopes for how that will turn out.

One block done, eight to go, plus pieced sashing and pieced border. My One Monthly Goal is to finish the flimsy by the end of January, and I think I am on track. In the meantime, check out all the other En Provence quilts in the link up here, including a few finished quilts. The key to finishing fast is to stick to the pattern, but I am happy with my progress too. :D

18 comments:

  1. Wow, Monica, it looks fantastic! I love your colour selections. Your quilt will be stunning.

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  2. such a pain isn`t it when you accidentally pick up an extra piece of fabric it happened to me the other day too!! Your block looks so good and can`t wait to see the quilt finished, plan to do it sometime. Have seen a few completed and it has certainly made me want to have a go so saved all the instructions for another day

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  3. I love your colourful low volumes!! Love them!!

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  4. That's a beautiful block, who wants tame anyway?
    The neutral/boring police are a dull crowd in my book.

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  5. Love it so far--very happy and cheerful!

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  6. So fantastic. I love your colours on this one.

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  7. S parky is the right word. The contrasting greens are really working, as is the black and there seems to be a depth thing happening with the pink and greens. You are astoundingly productive. I dips me lid.

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    1. Thanks, Jillian! I have been sewing like a maniac, but now I am hopefully in good shape to meet my goal. And it is nice to be focused, for a change!

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  8. Yes, I've done the same thing! But I'm glad it's going well now. It's going to be pretty bright and colorful!

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  9. Ooh, I like this a lot! Your fabric choices have all really clicked, the black works perfectly and your high volume whites too (I can live without text print too). This is going to be properly gorgeous.

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  10. Your color choices look great. It's going to be one Dynamic quilt. Unfortunately here I have had to put the mystery quilt aside for now. Our big quilt show is coming up in March and I am entering 6 quilts. They are all done, but every single one needs a hanging sleeve. I have a method that I use to put them on completely by machine, but it still takes time. Plus I am the operations manager for the show which means I am in charge for putting it up and taking it down. I have never done this before, stepping in when the person that was in charge of that particular task had to step down due to health reasons. I am trying not to panic. We are in the middle of a three-day ice storm here and you would think I could get a lot of sewing done. Somehow it has engendered my lazy gene. Maybe today I will get some sewing done.

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  11. Ooo! Fabulous new choices and the block is exciting. Keep up the pace!

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  12. Ooooolala!! Wonderful! The black was just the ticket and your high volume print additions are terrific. You must just smile as you work with those fun pieces. This quilt is so happy. I think that I'll be visiting this page again when I'm low on the sunshine department and fill up with that bright block!

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    1. Yes, the black makes it brighter, doesn't it? Thanks, Terry! Now to get the rest of them done. :D

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  13. Love your color choices for En Provence. There are a lot of pieces aren't there?

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  14. I like your new colour choise. The black fabric works perfect. It really made the block.

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    1. Thanks, Bente! I've been taking a rest, but I really have to get going on this again. I am excited to see how it looks with the sashing. :D

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  15. I love the fabrics you chose for this mystery, very cheerful :)

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I'm told Blogger has been bouncing some comments, so if it happens to you I'm sorry! But the settings look right so I can't explain it. In any case, thanks for reading!

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