Mai Tai Sunrise Ready for Borders

 Jo is having a UFO finishing party for everyone working on Bonnie Hunter quilts.  The goal is to finish off an current Bonnie Hunter project before starting the new mystery in November.  So thanks to her motivation I got my Mai Tai Sunrise blocks together this weekend.  Now what should I do about borders?  I could do random strips of rainbow colors, but I'd like to kind of echo the sunrise layout.  Maybe a calming white border first?  Or maybe it should be more blendy?  What do you think?

 Here are the two individual blocks that make up the quilt.  The nine patches are just 2 inch squares sewn leader and ender style over the last couple of years.  They get framed out with rectangles of background fabric and more 2 inch squares.  The stars were a bit tricky to figure out.  Bonnie published the pattern in Quiltmaker magazine in September/October of 2012.  She did traditional cutting directions though, and I really love my rulers.  So after a bit of trial and error, I figured out that the little parts of the star points could come from 2 inch strips with the companion angle, while the big part could come from 3.5 inch strips with the easy angle ruler.  Thanks to a few Bonnie Hunter quilts over the years, I'm feeling pretty good about my ruler math.

Here is a shot from the back, mostly because I love the way quilts look with the sun shining through.  So be sure to head over to Jo's Country Junction to check our more UFO progress and then to Quiltville to look at color suggestions for the new mystery.  

Happy Halloween

 We are off to "trunk or treat" at church with our neighbors.  Ryan is a minion, Anna is Raggedy Anne, and Sydney is an angel.  They all made their own costumes this year.  Didn't they do a great job?

First though, I finished putting the blocks together for Mai Tai Sunrise.  I'd love to sit and admire it for a while, or maybe even iron it, but we are off to celebrate fall.  

Home with a Sunrise

As much fun as it is to go away, even for work, coming home again always feels SO good!  We finished up with our work around lunch time today while I was getting a text from Kurt with pictures of the kids at Universal.  It was a day off school for teacher inservice and they took advantage.  Knowing they would be busy for a while, I ate a leisurely lunch before starting my drive home.  It was a nice uneventful trip and I arrived at about the same time as the rest of the gang.  Anna and Sydney were both busy with craft projects of their own, so I though I'd put out the star blocks I made this week with the framed nine patches from earlier.  I do need just a few more star blocks to round out the collection, but it is almost ready to be sewn together.
This block, called Mai Tai Surprise, is a Bonnie Hunter pattern.  It was posted on her Addicted to Scraps column in October of 2012.  I also think she used it as the quilt pattern for one of the quilting cruises she hosted at about the same time.  I did change out the color placement just a bit, and made monochromatic blocks instead of the scrappy ones she showed, but I really do love the effect.  The stars have partial seams, which do take a bit of concentration, but the effect is totally worth in my opinion.  Anyway, mine is called Mai Tai Sunrise and I really love how it is coming together.  
So now I'd better do the normal home after a trip things, like unpacking and laundry.  After that though, I'll whip up just a few more stars and get this guy all ready to sew together.  Such a nice way to jump start the weekend!

Mai Tai Sunrise Holiday Progress

Ah, the joy of three day weekend!  So much time to play with fabric.  There were PLENTY of nine patches ready to work into Mai Tai, but as I was power lifting yesterday, I was pondering different layouts.  I am thinking of turning it into Mai Tai Sunrise with a horizontal color pattern rather than the diagonal stripes   I've been working on sashing out the nine patches, but haven't gotten too many of the star blocks done quite yet.  I kind of like the open white space the sashing on the nine patches create around the stars, though it will dilute the colors.  The sunrise is over water of course, fading into some green grass along the bottom.  Yellow will rim the horizon, fading into yellow, pink and finally red along the top.  Honestly, it is more of a sunset than a sunrise, but then the irony of Mai Tai and Tequila Sunrise both being tropical drinks is lost.  I've got a bit of school work to do first, but maybe after that I can add a few more blocks to the collection.  

Rainbow Mai Tai

I started this Mai Tai quilt many moons ago as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I has seen it originally as part of a post about a Bonnie Hunter cruise .  I didn't have enough information yet to put it all together, until I saw this post in Quiltmaker magazine.  Since then I've been making nine patches as leaders and enders to go along with the color of the month.  Just a few each month, but they have added up over the last couple of years.  There are even a few pink star blocks to give you the idea of how it will look when it starts to come together.  It is a school holiday today!  That means I have extra sewing time to enjoy.  First I think I'll get some more of the nine patches sashed, and then I might even work on some stars.  I think I'll do a general diagonal color rainbow, but offset the stars and  nine patches by one color to give it a more blendy effect.  I'm going to join in at Patchwork Times this week for design wall Monday in celebration of labor day.  

Mid Year Celebration!

Today marks the middle point of 2014.  We are marking the occasion with a parade of rainbow scrap projects so far.  It is too much to pull out all the rainbow blocks each month to enjoy the growing color collection.  It is nice however, to have an occasional gathering of the group to get a feel for where things are going.

So here are my Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler blocks so far.  I've worked ahead a bit, so don't worry if you see a few blocks that haven't been posted quite yet.  Looking at the photo, I'm thinking that I might have cheated pink and purple a little bit.  Those were busy school months and I'm not sure the balance is right quite yet.  There is an upper corner where the red will go, and then a bit of space for darks.  Still a couple more months to do though, and I have plans for those too.

 Mai Tai has been in the works for a bit now.  I've got quite a few nine patches done, but they need frames and then I'll start on the alternate star pinwheel blocks.

 These are the baby nine patches with a few alternate blocks in the works.  I'll keep working on these for quite a while I think.

Don't forget Dear Jane!   She needs just two more blocks which are sure to be finished today.  Tropical storm Arthur is churning off the coast, meaning a damp gusty day for us.  Sounds like a perfect day to get some serious sewing done.  We are back from morning lifting, and I really do need to get some groceries, but other than that, sewing is the plan.

How are your projects progressing so far?  Use misterlinky to share your collection so far and let us know what colors you are hoping for in the second half of the year.

Sewing Today

I had a bit of time today after piano lessons and before the dentist to sew a bit.  Taking the nine patches that have been leaders and enders this month, I added a neutral border and some blue cornerstones.  These will be part of a Mai Tai quilt -- eventually.  The alternate star blocks are started, but will have to wait for another day.
It was nice to have a holiday today, but I am already starting to regret all the school work I didn't get done.  Every weekend I make a list of things I should get done, and every time I end up putting it off in favor of other things.  But with an extra day, my teeth are shiny clean and the laundry is all caught up.  So with a deep breath, the cycle will start again.