My Good Fortune

The only thing I bought this Black Friday was a pre-order of Bonnie Hunter's next book release. String Frenzy.  Hoping to be one of the lucky first 500 to get my book in the first batch she ships.  And I didn't have to leave home, brave the crowds and checkout lines, and evade the crazy traffic of a Long Island Black Friday frenzy.

If you took a peak at the above link, you will see that Bonnie's new mystery quilt gift is based on the rich colors encountered in her recent trip to China.  I didn't really fancy the color scheme, so for the first time, I am branching out on my own.  I took quick inventory, and in my determination to quilt more from the stash, I came up with these final colors.

A quick value check with my black and white filter gives me some confidence that there is good value contrast as well as color diversity.

I have said for several years that I would use my own colors, but I really loved Bonnie's, so I didn't.  This year, it was the particular shade of orange that threw me off and gave me the push I needed. My version will use pale neutrals, but it will have more cool colors than the warm colors. Bonnie's colors have the warm tones dominant. So we are going to have a real experiment here.....hope it works out.

While waiting for the clue to drop I finished the Ghost of Christmas Fabric Past mini. Lightly quilted and bound with the backing turned to the front. I can throw it on a table somewhere in the house to add some holiday cheer. Need to use up the Christmas stash.....

I spent the morning cutting and sewing and pressing and cutting and sewing. Because I liked the aqua and knew I had lots of it from last year's mystery, I was able to jumpstart the effort with some leftover stripsets from On Ringo Lake. What Good Fortune! Actually the real luck was that I was able to locate these leftovers.

My 301 and I were humming right along until I got Clyded.  Up on the cutting table, creating a roadblock. So I moved to the machine, where I was actually able to sew for a while with him on my lap.

I am making a half size effort this year, so I only made half the specified units required for clue 1.

They are pieced, but I need to cut the chains and press them, and as usual, make sure each one is dimensionally correct. On these intricate blocks of Bonnie's one can't be too careful! You see that I threw in some darker blues with a tinge of aqua....I think that this gives a quilt some good clicker factor, it's far less flat and makes the eyes move around the design to take it all in.