Marie's Quilt Top Finished!

I finally added the border to my quilt top and now it is finished.  It isn't quilted yet, but I'm ready to put it aside for a bit and work on another project for a while.  The picture of the quilt isn't the greatest, but I find it hard to get a good picture of a quilt this big.  You can see the border at the bottom of the quilt.  I put the same border on the sides too.

This has been a fun and challenging project for me.

Marie's Optical Illusion Rule #15

Block 15 is finished!!  My top is complete.  Now I have to add the borders and the piecing will be finished.  Rule 15 was that there could be no pink in the block.  That was easy enough, especially with my colors.  The Technique was to choose any technique we wanted.  So, I chose to do some paper piecing, which I love, and since I have never done a log cabin, and I'm going to be make lots of them shortly, I decided to do that and check my 1/4" seam accuracy.  I was off a little.  It didn't matter on this block, but I know I'm going to have to work on that.

The left part of the block is call "Bent Stars" and I got the pattern off one of my favorite quilting sites called "Paper Panache".   (paperpanache.com)  The top right block is call "knight's Knot" and I found it on Piece By Number.

Here is the final row of my quilt, which I added to the top of the quilt.

It's quite an interesting quilt.  I have enjoyed this little mystery quilt journey and have learned a lot in the process.

Marie's Optical Illusion Rule Release #14

Yippee, I finished #14.  I only have one more block and the border to do.

The rule for this block was to make a pinwheel.  My pinwheel is fairly subtle, but it is there.  I'll let you find it.

The technique was to combine a hand stitched applique with embroidery.  The little tumbling blocks are hand embroidered and then appliqued onto the quilt.  I have appliqued quite a lot, but those corners on the blocks were quite a challenge for me.  I guess I'm out of practice.  Anyway, I'm not totally thrilled with the little tumbling blocks, but I quite like the rest of the block and can't wait to add it to the quilt.

Marie's Optical Illusion Quilt, Rule Release 13

I am happy to have finished Rule Release 13.    The rule for this block is that it must have 3 tones or values of the same color.  Well, that a great rule for an optical illusion quilt.  There was no technique given.

I found the pattern for this block at 3dquilt.me.uk.  It is called a Small Stellated Dodecahedron.  The pattern is well-done--it fit together perfectly and I think it's a great addition to my quilt.

Here is the column made from blocks 11, 12 and 13 (however, not in that order.)

This is what the quilt looks like now.  It's getting harder to get a good picture of it.  It certainly is a unique quilt, as are all the other quilts in this mystery quilt challenge.  Just one more row and then it will be ready for the borders.

Marie's Optical Illusion Quilt

I am only 2 years behind schedule, but I've had to put sewing on hold for two years since other events had a higher priority, but now I'm back having fun in my sewing room and my main goal right now is to finish my Dorinda Mystery Quilt.  Today I am posting a picture of my Rule #12 Block.

The Rule was to put words in it somewhere.  I accomplished that with a little machine embroidery quilt label.  The Technique called for a Buggy Barn block.  You can see my attempt at the Buggy Barn technique in the 2 wonky red and black heart blocks at the bottom of the block.  That was a fun technique and I kept it really simple.

I've never done a Buggy Barn quilt before, but it was fun and I'd like to try it some time.  I had a hard time coming up with some way to incorporate a Buggy Barn block in an Optical Illusion theme, so I just added them to the quilt label at the bottom and made a larger optical illusion.  I like the way the optical illusion turned out.  Hopefully I'll be back in the next few days with Block #13.

Marie's Optical Illusion Rule #11

Yippee, I finally finished Rule 11, and have hopes of catching up soon.  This rule required at least one yo-yo. This was another new technique for me--I've never made a yo-yo before. I was only going to make one and put it in the center block, but it was so much fun I decided that each block needed a yo-yo. I think I finally got the right color combination for the shadows this time, but I'm not going to change the star blocks.

Marie's Optical Illusion Rule #10

I'm so happy to finish another rule.  Now I'm only 2 months behind!  Rule #10 is 4 disappearing 9 patches.  The technique was to use a folded insert.  I've never made d9p before, and they were really fun.   I combined the folded insert with the d9p's. 

I really had fun making this (faux) cathedral windows block.

 I don't know what to call this block.  It's rather different, but it is a d9p and it has fabric folds.

I used folded pinwheels in my last rule, and decided to put some in this one too.

Here are my 4 d9p pieced together.  The hearts aren't folded, but they fit my optical illusion theme.

I added the 3-d continuous triangles because I thought I needed  more optical illusions.

Here is the whole quilt, just waiting for me to finish the next rules.

Marie's Optical Illusion Rule #9

I finally have finished Rule 9.  I'm still way behind, but at least I'm making some progress.  This rule called for different sized blocks that fit together.  I used this rule to make my star.  The technique was something 3D that actually sticks up on the quilt.  My pinwheels in the center of the stars are 3D.  To make the rule fit my theme of optical illusions, I added a shadow to the star.  I wish I would have made the shadow a little darker, but I'm not going to do it over!

Here is the quilt with the Rule 9 blocks added.

I hope to get Rule 10 completed before Rule 13 comes out in a week, and then hopefully I'll get the rest caught up before the end of the year. 

.....AND ANOTHER MISSINGIN ACTION

I too am MIA.  After living in the same house for 33 years my husband and I decided it was time to downsize a little and move to a new house.  Wow, what a job!  We are in our new home now, and I have a sewing room, but everything in it is still in boxes.  Somehow it seemed more important to get the kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms organized first, ;o), but hopefully I'll be able to get my sewing room organized soon and get caught up.  There is no way I'll be ready to post anything by the 8th, but hopefully I'll be able to catch up on the next rule.  Happy sewing everyone!

Marie's Optical Illusion Rule 8

This block is quite different from my others.  The 3-d doesn't show up as much as I had hoped--I think because I didn't have enough contrast between my two yellows.  The whole block turned out much different than I thought it would.  I didn't like it when I was finishing it, but when I stood back and looked at it I liked it a lot better.  I found the pattern at piecebynumber.com and it is called "arabesque".  

When I put 4 blocks together and made the center, it was really cool, but since it couldn't be a square block I had to add more to the top and bottom of the block.  (The picture ended up sideways when I posted it.)  It didn't work to put another set of four blocks because it made the block a little too tall and there was no focal point to the block so I had to get creative to finish it to the size it needs to be.  It's a little strange, but it surely would be a beautiful quilt if it was in multiples of 4 blocks.  Maybe I'll try it some time.

I love paper piecing because it is so accurate and neat.  I thought it was a fun rule. 

I was surprised to see how much larger my quilt is when I put it all together.  We're really making progress, and I'm having great fun with this!

Marie's Block 8 Teaser

Here is another teaser.  Doesn't look like much does it.  Hopefully it will look good when it is all finished.

Marie's Optical Illusion Rule 8 Teaser

Here is my teaser for Rule 8.  My life is really busy right now so I hope that I can finish it by the deadline.  If not, I'll catch up later.

Marie's Optical Illusion Rule 7

I'm happy to get this block finished.  I got the pattern from "Big Book Of building Block Quilts" by Sara Nephew.  She calls the pattern "Honeycomb Waffle 2"  It's fun to make.  I think you can figure out how I made it from looking at my teasers.  I made it much smaller than the pattern in the book.  I've got to stop making my blocks with such small pieces because it makes it so much harder. 

For some reason the color faded out in the picture, but you still get the idea of what it looks like--it's just a little brighter in real life.

Marie's Optical Illusion Rule 7 Teaser 2

Here is another teaser for my block.  I have my block nearly complete, but it turned out a little too narrow so I have to make and add one more row.  Can you see the pattern in it?

Marie's Optical Illusion Teaser for Rule 7

  Here is my teaser.  It doesn't look like much yet, does it. 

Marie's Optical Illusion Rule 6

I'm pleased that I got this finished before the new rule came out.  This was a fun block to do.  I've never tried free motion curved lines before and it was fun to do.  It just doesn't make sense to me that they would fit together, but they do fit perfectly. 

I made a couple of mistakes.  The worst was that I didn't allow enough fabric for seam allowances so I ended up having to do curved lines on my black border to compensate, but when I finished I was glad that I made this mistake because I like the way it turned out.  I learned a few things and if I were to do it again I would change it a little.   I think I should have added a couple of trees, but I'm not going to take it apart.

I was afraid that all those curves would not blend in with all the straight lines in the rest of the quilt, but I think it will work out as I add more to the quilt.

Marie's Optical Illusion Rule 5

I'm finally finished with my block #5.  This was definitely a learning experience for me.  I had never machine pieced a circle before so it was fun to try and it and succeed.  The last time I needed a circle in a quilt I ended up appliqueing it because I couldn't get it to look right.  I won't be intimidated by circles any more.

I also haven't tried free motion embroidery before and it is fun, but I can see that I could use a whole lot of practice to get very good at it. 

I made two different blocks and put a circle and free motion embroidery in both of them.  In the bottom block the embroidery is the lines on the ball.  By the way, that's my version of the New Years Eve ball at Times Square.  The embroidery in the top block is the shadow of the ball.  I'm not sure if it looks like a shadow or a real amateur trying to do free motion embroidery.

These blocks took me a lot of time.  I think my creativity nearly exceeded my ability.    My inspiration came from "3 Dimensional Design" by Katie Pasquini.  The quilts pictured in her book are very large quilts and I'm trying to make very small blocks so it is rather difficult, but I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out. 

Here is my quilt so far. 

Now I guess I'd better get busy and see what I can do with Rule # 6.

Marie's Block #5 Teaser

I haven't made much progress on my Block #5 yet, but here a teaser of what I have done so far.  I'm still in the drawing stage.   I'd better get busy--it's going to take me a while to finish this block.

Marie's Optical Illusion Rule 4

I'm happy our reveal date is here and am excited to see what each of you have done with Rule #4--and I can't wait to see what the next rule will be.

My block is machine pieced except for the circles (really ellipses), which are needle turn applique.  Three of them are actually reverse applique and one is regular applique.   I used the basting method of needle turn and find that it is the method that works best for me unless the pieces are really small.

Here is my complete quilt so far.  I'm not sure I'm really excited about how this last block goes with the rest of it, but I hope that as I add more blocks it will look better.

Marie's Block #4 Teaser

I had the same idea as Ann Marie of Granny Annie's Garden.  I took this picture while I was in the process of drawing my block last week.  These are the tools I used to draw it.  I have the block partially complete, but thought this might be a fun teaser. 

Now that I've got my teaser posted I guess I'd better get busy and finish the sewing.