It’s a dreary day here as I write this. We are waiting for rain which seems poised to pour down any minute, but hasn’t gotten around to it yet. This means that my workroom is a little dark and grey. It makes me really happy that the life-sucking beige is gone.
Fixed Lupine block
I ripped them out while I watched TV one night and then re-sewed at them at a Sew Day I had with SueS, Lee Ann and SueG. I spent a bit of time over a couple of days doing random quilt tasks and this was one of them.
Now I am ready to continue chunking the center of the quilt.
I slowly worked on chunking the Lupine top together. I had to do it before putting on the border, because Bonnie has us put on spacer border, which prevents me from chunking the border. C’est la vie.
Lupine Alternate: wrong!
As I was working away I saw one block where I put the corners on wrong. The purple needs to be on the outside.
🙁
I looked at the blocks on the design wall for awhile to decide if I could stand the mistake and decided it had to come out. I ripped out the corners, flipped them and re-sewed them.
Yay! No problem. Stuff happens. I was done and could move on.
Lupine blocks: wrong!
Then I noticed another one. And another. 🙁 I have indicated the wrong blocks with arrows, but you’ll have to make the image (right) larger to see the arrows.
Now I have all the blocks that are wrong unsewn from the chunks. Next step: rip out the corners and re-sew them.
Without putting the blocks on the wall, I added sashing to my white strips blocks. I don’t have any design wall space and just had to go for it. I have a few donation quilts I need to make and this one will help me free up some design wall space.
As you can see, not having the design hampers my process. Somehow I missed adding top sashing to 6 blocks.
Yes, I used red. Dangerous, I know, but all my fabric is washed.
Finishing the Pandora Charisma was great! It freed me up to work on other projects. I made my BAM BOM units, worked on the last Four Patch Fun blocks, made a donation block, got back to my normal leaders and enders system and FINISHED the last of Lupine blocks. YAY!
The quilt isn’t done by any stretch, but this is a huge achievement IMO. I am really pleased about it. Now I get to sew all of these blocks together and then start work on the border.
I made my Flying Geese the other day. I am not ahead of the crowd this time, but in time for the meeting next week.
I made 4 using the blue and yellow fabrics. I wanted the blue to be on the outside, so decided I needed to make a few more. Once I made the second set with my wonderful flowered fabric I realized I could make chevrons! Voila!
In between trying to finish the Pandora Charisma and working on other bits and bobs, I am sewing blocks together as well. I have about 5 more of each of the blocks to make before I can start on the border.
This is a really dramatic color scheme and I LOVE it.
I spent most of the day on Sunday making blocks for the Lupine quilt instead of working on the Pandora Charisma. The white strips blocks have been on my mind and I wanted to sew some sashing on to them, so I worked on the Lupine blocks and made the white strip blocks my leaders and enders.
I am quite ready to sew this quilt together. Though I am nearing the end of block making I still have some to sew.
I used piecing the Lupine blocks veg a bit. Now that I know what the two blocks look like I am able to piece them pretty quickly. I mindlessly pieced about nine of them one day when I needed a rest, but also needed to sew.
Lupine blocks- end of Jan 2026
I know I keep bouncing between the Pandora Charisma project and this project. These are the two that are front and center at the moment.
I have a few bits and bobs still to cut, but I decided I had enough pieces to put a few blocks together.
“Lupine Alternate block” is kind of a sad name for this great block. The pieces from Clue 7 are so cleverly incorporated into this block. While the pieces were a little fiddly to make, they make the corners so much easier than other methods of construction. Also, using the Simply Folded Corners ruler** makes the cutting and sewing easy peasy.
Two Lupine alternate blocks
I thought I would just make one to see where I was doing, but like the Potato Chip blocks, I couldn’t make just one.
Lupine Star block
Once I saw two of the alternate blocks together, I had to make some of the Lupine Star blocks. I had cut the center strips with the last of the Melody Miller Carousel blue, so I made a couple of blocks from what I had.
I had decided that I wanted to use more of that fabric, so I went looking for some and found a couple of yards at the Bloomerie. The fabric was in the washer as I was making some of the alternate blocks.
Lupine block combination
The pink I used in this one is darker than the pink I used in the alternate block above. I was a little concerned about that, but once I had a few of both blocks sewed together, I thought the variation was fine.
I used only a few fabrics and am trying to vary which are sewed to which others. It won’t be 100% possible since this isn’t as scrappy as Old Town, for example. However, I think the block combination is looking good so far.
N.B. Bonnie will remove the posts to which I have linked from her blog sometime in February 2026. Download or save the clues now if you want to make this quilt.
**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this website.
I finally dug out the white strips blocks I made last year and put them on the design wall. With the Patchwork Palooza no longer taking up valuable design wall real estate, I am able to work on this project.
I haven’t started on sashing yet, but did decide to just make my normal strip quilt rather than another Sidewalk quilt. However, since I haven’t started the sashing yet, that could change.
I am thinking about red sashing as I have at least two bins of red fabric. I could use more by making a Sidewalk version. We’ll see. I know I don’t want to make another white on white strips quilt.
I haven’t really decided to make 12 quilts for the guild this year. I am giving enough time to the guild. That doesn’t mean I won’t make donation quilts. It just means I don’t (yet?) have a goal.
I finished the Patchwork Palooza top, back and binding last weekend and took it to Colleen yesterday. That is one project off of my overcrowded plate.
I started this project in September. I was late to the scene, but caught up. September-January isn’t too bad for piecing a quilt.
What I found annoying was that I had to receive a lot of marketing emails along with the patterns for the blocks. I don’t mind exchanging my eyes for a few marketing emails, but there were many, or what seemed like many, per week and it got old. I unsubscribed after not receiving the finishing instructions promptly and went my own way. I am pleased with the edge, which is comprised of ‘finishing’ off the Irish Chain bits of the design.
Patchwork Palooza back
I made the binding right after I finished the top, which was a good move on my part. The back took me longer than I expected and I am sure I wouldn’t have had everything ready when Colleen contacted me if I hadn’t done that.
One thing I need to do is collect ideas for quilting as I go along or before I go to Colleen.
I finished Clue 6, the odd looking blocks with HRTs and HSTs. For about 12 hours I was completely caught up. That is definitely a first with a Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt!
I am really curious to see how these blocks fit into the quilt. Remember we have Flying Geese to fit in as well.
The thing about making blocks for one of Bonnie’s mystery quilts is that once you make the units, the blocks are pretty easy to make.
Now I am on to Clue 7, some rectangles with flippy corners. I think I’ll use the Simply Folded ruler**. It is a really good ruler. It works really well. I’ll have to look for the mini version. I can’t remember if I have one.
N.B. Bonnie will remove the posts to which I have linked from her blog sometime in February 2026. Download or save the clues now if you want to make this quilt.
**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this website.
In this case, 2d time around is the charm, but sheesh! It took me long enough to make some simple HSTs.
I am happy for a number of reasons. Done is done, which is good.
Lupine & Laughter Clue 6 block example
Now I can move on to Clue 6. I am really looking forward to making those blocks. I have made a few already just to try them out and to give myself a break from the endless trimming of HSTs.
Like last year, the HSTs, HRTs and these blocks are all in sets of four, so another million to make.
Now I am almost caught up. I am hoping to get the blocks done in the next few days so I can be ready for the next clue. I am super curious about what comes next.
Finally, thanks to Jeff, as mentioned, I am reacquainted with my Accuquilt. Definitely for future Bonnie Hunter quilts, but in general, I plan to use it more. It is less of a trial to get it out and find the right dies than I had built up in my mind. And, no surprise, the cutting is easier.
N.B. Bonnie will remove the posts to which I have linked from her blog sometime in February 2026. Download or save the clues now if you want to make this quilt.
It’s been a good few days of sewing. I think I re-learned how to count and measure. 🙂
Except for one set of a million* HSTs. I have finished all the clues up to Clue 6. I have to finish those HSTs before I can work on Clue 6.
Lupine HRTs
The biggest achievement was finishing the HRTs. As I mentioned the other day, using the Accuquilt to cut them out was a real life saver. I was able to plow through some of the rote sewing in double quick time.
I was running out of the dots on black fabrics I chose as a background. I always intended to use a variety of colored dots on black, so I wasn’t worried. However, I found fewer multi-colored dots than I expected and panicked a little. I set about hunting out some more. I looked in a couple of other places and found more suitable background fabrics hidden in a weird place. I’ll be able to work on that last set of HSTs now.
I have all of the Patchwork Palooza blocks as much as I can. I also have the half blocks made for the border. I am waiting for a little more of the Dovetail fabric to arrive, so I can finish it.
I am pretty pleased with how it looks. I may put some pink and plum squares in the corners when I put the border pieces on. I’ll check to see how that looks.
