Sunday, December 7, 2014

Grand Illusion Progress Report 1

Have you already been to any holiday parties yet?  We went to one Saturday evening at my home airport. I had promised to bring appetizers, so I spent most of Saturday morning cooking. Thanks to some internet searches, I whipped up a couple trays filled with goodies. And just for fun I made these adorable penguins. They were the hit of the party!


Quilting Update:  As soon as Bonnie Hunter announced her latest mystery Grand Illusion, I checked my stash and found most of the yardage needed. I decided to stick close to the colors but lean more toward coral rather than pink, and dip into deeper hues of green and turquoise/teal. I did some judicious shopping and bought a few fat quarters to fill out the yardage needed. My yellow is a mottled tone-on-tone called Honeysuckle. I like that!  I also decided to use one black polka dot print. Everything else will be scrappy, and that's enough for me.


Given the events mentioned in my last post, I haven't had much time to keep up with Bonnie's first two steps, only cutting some of the pieces. But I did some power sewing recently and am halfway through the first step -- with just one "oops" to fix. Can you feel these bright colors are banishing the 'blahs'?

I will be linking up to Bonnie's column on Monday. If you have started step 2, I'd love to hear your tips for the easiest method for cutting and sewing those half chevrons.


8 comments:

  1. I'm using the method Bonnie suggested with the Easy Angle ruler. It took me a few tries to get this right (first I cut the template wrong, which made my diamonds too skinny) but I persevered and made sure I had accurate seam allowances and it finally came together. Yay!

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    1. Tonight I ended up using the no-waste method by cutting with my Easy Angle ruler, too. I have a limited amount of coral and was worried that the alternative methods would leave me short of the necessary yardage. It worked beautifully! The only issue I had was cutting my neutrals correctly.

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  2. Sandy, here is a great tip I found from Kathleen over at Rose Prarie Quilts roseprairiequilts.blogspot.com/2014/12/clue-2-of-bonniies-grand-illusion.html?m=1

    Notice the double i's are not a typo, that's how it's really spelled on her blogspot. That looks super quick. Love your colors & the penguins too ;)

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  3. Those penguins are too cute!

    I'm using different measurements, so I can't help with tips, but your blocks are looking good so far!

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  4. Ok. Carrots and black olives. What is the belly? Cream cheese? I need to make me some penguines!

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