Clue 5 and "A Beary Merry Christmas" X 2

The Bonnie Hunter 2016 Quiltville En Provence Mystery Quilt is up to Clue 5 now. Bonnie gave us a very easy clue this week so we can finish Christmas projects and enjoy family.

This is how easy clue 5 was!! Half square triangle units.

So on to finishing Christmas projects.....

This is an advent calendar that my kids have been using for...20 years or so. Now that the kids have their own homes I asked them to choose which advent calendars they want. All 3 of my boys wanted the "Beary Merry Christmas". But you can't buy this fabric panel any longer.

Ebay had these choices...$89.00

And these...$100.00, $210.00

And these...$90.00,  $300! OMG.

But last year when searching in an off month like March I got lucky and found some for a REASONABLE price and bought 2.

The panel looks like this with instructions and the pieces for the little bear. The way this advent works is the calendar at the bottom tells where the little bear looks for Christmas each day. So I needed to sew about 27 pieces of velcro to the calendar in specified places and then one piece to the back of the bear.

The first bear I made...I FORGOT to sew the velcro on FIRST! Oops. (Permanent glue to the rescue.) The second bear got his velcro sewn on before sewing and stuffing.

All velcro squares were sewn to the panel.

Sewing, turning, sewing, turning..... And then AGAIN on the other panel....

Finally finished!

The new ones have a lighter green binding but they look pretty darn similar and will work beautifully. And I'm happy to report that my boys were happy and thankful that I went to the trouble so they can enjoy the "Beary Merry Christmas" for years to come.

Happy Holidays!!

Back to Monday Link-Up Part 5 at Quiltville.

Finish it Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

En Provence Clue #4--After New Orleans!

We had a big birthday at our house this week and flew to New Orleans for the weekend to celebrate. This was my fun gift.

I taped a paper flame to each bottle. Instead of snuffing the candles all at once the birthday boy is snuffing them one at a time...this may take some time! ( I wanted something extravagant for this special birthday. )

First stop in New Orleans was the WWII museum.

The soldier that I got to "follow" on the tour was Jimmy Stuart! Fun!

Adolf Hitler had his initials AH and the Nazi symbol engraved on his cutlery.

Lots of huge airplanes were on display.

Then I got to play. I enjoyed all the artists displays at Jackson Square in the French Quarter.

This dog was raking in the tips while his owner fed him small morsels to keep him happy.

(I actually felt sad about this use of the dog. But he seemed happy.)

Home again and time to sew!!! Cream neutrals and browns.

Clue #4 is finished.

And here are some of the pieces for my mini-mini mystery.

Back to the Linky party for Clue 4.

Finish it Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

En Provence Mystery Quilt Clue 3

Bonnie Hunter's 2016 Mystery Quilt called En Provence is well underway. She posts the clues each Friday starting the day after Thanksgiving. I really look forward to Fridays!!

I have changed the colors of the mystery to beach colors. I substituted brown for dark purple and light blue for lavender. This is my bucket of blocks ready to be ironed.

Top row is my mini mini mystery. 

When cutting for the larger size I used the leftover ends for the mini.

All I needed to do for the mini was then trim a bit off each side. 

All these are mini blocks that were leftover bits.

These are all my blocks for clue 3, finished.

Now I can work on other things until Friday.

Back to Bonnie's Linky party Clue 3.

Clue #2 En Provence Mystery Quilt

This the 2nd clue for Bonnie Hunter's En Provence 2016 Mystery Quilt. Remember I'm using beach colors so I changed the bright pink to palm tree green for this clue.

I have 4 different greens and several neutrals.

For this clue I used the Marti Michell Perfect Patchwork Templates.

Here are all my units for clue #2. Done!

And just for fun I made some of my extras from clue #1 into mini blocks.

These are all half size of the original mystery. This is my mini-mini mystery.

See the fun Linky Party for Clue 2.

Mouse in the House Ornament

Inspired by the HOME icon on my iPhone I drafted this cute ornament.

One drafted block, one cute mouse.....

All the pieces are foundation sewn to the other side.

3 1/2" unfinished block.

Layered with Pellon interfacing, and a backing square, and sewn.

Turned right side out.

Sweet ornament took about 20 minutes to make.

There is a Mouse in the House!

(With outdoor cats we no longer get mice indoors.)

En Provence Mystery Quilt 2016

The Bonnie Hunter Quiltville 2016 Mystery Quilt is called En Provence.

These are Bonnie's colors plus neutrals. 

She has DARK PURPLE, LIGHT PURPLE, GREEN, YELLOW, BRIGHT PINK and NEUTRALS.

 I have chosen to change the colors a little this year. I'm going with beach colors.

My neutrals are all creamy without too many contrasting distractions.

This is my white sandy beach.

Instead of YELLOW I am using tan for all the glorious shades of wet sand where waves wash ashore.

Instead of DARK PURPLE I am using brown for all the palm tree trunks and beach huts.

Instead of GREEN I'm using bright turquoise and rich blues for the deep sea.

Instead of LIGHT PURPLE I'm using light turquoise for the shallow waters and sunny skies.

And finally instead of BRIGHT PINK I'm using some palm tree greens. I haven't decided on just one so I might mix all of them in.

This is how they all play together.

First clue in progress.

I love 4-patch blocks and this will add sparkle to the quilt.

Lots more to sew......

Linking to En Provence Mystery Monday Clue #1.

Linking to Finish it Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.