Thursday, October 23, 2014

Tracking the Mysteries

Bonnie Hunter is gifting her loyal fans a new mystery quilt! I love Bonnie's patterns with thousands of little pieces, and I love sewing mystery quilts, so I really look forward to her annual mysteries.
I decided for my own entertainment to go back through my blog posts and review the Bonnie Hunter mysteries I have made.




Carolina Crossroads 
2008 - 2010

This was my first Bonnie mystery quilt. Her version was red, white, and blue so you can see I went totally out of the box on my first one! I love it and it's still one of my favorite quilts and is a cuddle quilt for TV watching.







Orange Crush
2008 -2009


This is another of my favorite Bonnie mystery quilts! I stuck pretty much to Bonnie's colours for this one although at first I was nervous about so much orange!
I did change the border on my version and used up leftover blocks.
This quilt lives on my son's bed.




Carolina Christmas 2009 - ??

I didn't like the huge size of this quilt, so I divided the blocks - 
half were made into this quilt in 2011 and given to the comfort quilt collection at the guild. The other half of the blocks feel sad to be still sitting in a UFO box!






2009 (yep - started and finished in the same year!)

I started with a border print that I liked and picked colours for the mystery from that print. It was a fun way to organize a mystery quilt.
I changed the border and really like my version. 
This is a large quilt which I machine quilted myself and was very happy with how it turned out. This quilt lives on my daughter's bed.



Roll Roll Cotton Boll 
2010 - ??

This quilt is still just a top.
I didn't have enough neutral scraps to make the alternate string pieced blocks for this quilt, so I changed the layout completely. It has been stalled for a long time because I am working through my fear of fitting seminole pieced borders onto a large quilt!!


Orca Bay 
2011 - 2013

I went totally rogue on this one and used only one fabric line called "3 Sisters Grace", and that is what I call this quilt.
It is completely different from Bonnie's quilt, and you can see her quilt here. I made my version smaller and put the border on backwards creatively.


2012 - ??

I kept to Bonnie's recommended colours for this one since I had a lot in my stash. I wish my version had a bit more contrast, but it's okay. 
It is really big and I don't even have a photo of all of it, but here is the right half! This quilt is still a flimsy because I keep debating about whether or not I want to quilt it myself. It will likely be on next year's UFO list to finish.





Celtic Solstice 2013

I changed up the colours on this one (you can see lots of variations on this post) and used a lot of angel themed fabrics. It was quilted for me by Cathy with an angel design. This is one of my all time favorite quilts and it lives on my bed.

And what will the 2014 mystery be? Bonnie is calling it "Grand Illusion" and the fabric requirements have been posted here.  After years of making Bonnie Hunter mysteries, I do know that the new mystery will be: 
1) a challenge and I will learn new things, 
2) a lot of fun to sew, 
3) a well written quilt pattern with great instructions, and
4) a well-kept mystery right up until the end! 
I better get digging through the stash and see what colours I will use this year. Can't wait to get started on November 28th!

26 comments:

Jo said...

They are all such lovely quilts.
I wanted to do her last quilt. I printed the instructions but never got around to it. I really hope I can do this one...

Lesley said...

You have made some fantastic quilts! Great show and tell!

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

this was a fun show ! :)

Susan said...

They are beautiful! I have made one of Bonnie's mystery quilts. I remember that it was a lot of work to keep up during the holidays!! Are you going with her recommended colors or changing to something different?

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

That was fun! Your Bonnie quilts are all fabulous!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

all are very pretty - I do not know why I haven't made any of her patterns - I always intend to and never get to it.

Deb A said...

So fun! Love how your CS came out - makes me want to run to the sewing room and finish making my blocks.

karen said...

I'm planning to do my first mystery quilt with Bonnie (The grand illusion). I really enjoyed seeing all your quilts.

Scrappy quilter said...

Wow beautiful quilts. I think I just might do her new one. Now to find the time.

Quiltdivajulie said...

What a great trunk show you shared here . . . I do hope you'll pull out that box of blocks and let them become a lap quilt --- they're too pretty to stay tucked up somewhere all alone!

Have fun pulling your colors for the 2014 mystery . . .

Teresa Rawson said...

I love them ALL...you are one determined, disciplined lady!! Awesome quilt show...

Bonnie said...

Wonderful eye candy today. Thanks for sharing. You have done an amazing job to do so many of her mysteries. Did you do all of them?

Vroomans' Quilts said...

This was a lovely tribute to Bonnie's mysteries. I did many of them, too - not fond of big quilts and made smaller versions or passed the blocks on to someone else.

Janet O. said...

What a fun tour of your versions of Bonnie's mystery quilts!
Hard to choose a favorite! I like that you aren't afraid to mix it up and do things your own way.
I have only done two of the mystery quilts. One is a flimsy and one has blocks about half made. I have scaled down last year's mystery to make a mini, but I haven't even started it! And I never start until after the reveal, so I can't really say I do mysteries. : )

Mary said...

I love a Mystery and Bonnie does the Best! Thanks for sharing your pretties!

Raewyn said...

A great show and tell! I've not done one of Bonnie's mysteries, yet! There's always a first time!

Nell's Quilts said...

Wow! What a show! I was just noting the fabric requirements for the new mystery and thinking it would be a fun one to try. I may change out her colours but then again I might just go with her scheme. Waiting for November 28th and the first clue.

beaquilter said...

they all look great! I've ONLY done the last 3 of hers.... fun to see the older ones, I knew about the cotton roll but but don't recognize the others.... my green/blue one I did black and white on the four patches and LOVE the contrast, it's on our bed now

Chantal said...

What a nice collection you have! I love Orca Bay in every colour ways I have seen so far and yours is no exception. Lovely colours you had chosen. Same thing for Celtic Solstice. A true gem. I love that one so much I might do it one day (have to buy the ruler first). Thank you for sharing all these beauties with us.

berylthepearl said...

Love how you showed your Bonnie quilts, so I did the same thing! Aren't they great!

margaret said...

what a great array of Bonnie quilts, I think the one you made into one smaller quilt and have the other half unfinnished is my favourite

Monica said...

I agree, Celtic Solstice was a really great pattern! Yours is beautiful. Have fun this year!

Kate said...

Very fun mini quilt show. It's so easy to love Bonnie's patterns. I'm looking forward to this year's mystery.

Deb@asimplelifequilts said...

I am so impressed that you have done all of these! Even though I don't participate I really enjoy the mystery quilts vicariously and see all the different versions around blog land. Yours are stunning!

Andee said...

LOVE your Quiltville Parade! Each one looks fabulous!

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

I just ordered the pattern of the quilt in your header. Great quilt.