Flying Geese on the Lake

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, another Bonnie Hunter Quiltville Mystery Quilt is now under my needle, this time On Ringo Lake from 2018.  She had me at the photos -- it reminds me so much of Otsego Lake.


                         Bonnie's Ringo Lake at dawn --->






My photo doesn't show the dock and boat, but we have those, two, in the same configuration.

Otsego Lake, Michigan, at sunset

I had planned to work on this as a leader-and-ender project, with serious sewing happening only at my Thursday morning quilt group.  Lots and lots of small pieces to sew and no big rush to finish.  (Although I do hope to finish it in less than the 5-1/2 years it took to finish Easy Street).  However, I've run up against an unexpected "problem."  The only must-make quilt on my sewing table is a panel, so no need for leaders/enders there.  And every other UFO is something waiting to be quilted.  So I've managed to complete four of the clues and have cut the fabric for a 5th.  There are eight clues altogether, but only seven that are start-from-scratch units; the rest are putting units together.

You already saw the first units, teal/neutral/brown 9-patches - 50 in all.  I was able to  complete these almost entirely from my stash, buying just a few teal fat quarters to add variety.

Next up:  Coral and Neutral Flying Geese

As I've complained mentioned before, flying geese have given me a lot of trouble in the past, mainly because I tend to tug and pull at the pieces.  Over time, I've learned to make them using the no-waste, 4-at-a time method, cutting down immensely both cutting time and bias-edge handling, and no special ruler required.  There are many good tutorials out there.

Those little triangles are from a different unit, but I'll sew them together to make a million teensy-weensy HSTs!

Into each life some rain must fall.  Note to self:  don't leave those little triangles sitting near your sewing machine.  They have a tendency to sneak around and pop up in unusual places!  Oops!

Another wonderful addition to my quilting toolbox is this scant-quarter-inch foot for my Featherweight!  I was tired of having to put painter's tape and bits of old hotel keys and library cards on my machines to mark out 1/4".  Plus, they do no good when you have to sew a quarter-inch from a line, rather than from an edge.  The Featherweight Shop posted a video comparing four kinds of quarter-inch feet -- very useful!  I bought the one that sews a scant 1/4".  It has a narrow blade that you use to follow your marked line.  It really helped with both precision and accuracy.

Done!  200 flying geese!

I did have to buy almost all the coral fabric that I'd need (two other clues use it, too), as it's not a color I use much and so had very little in my stash.  This can be expensive!  For this quilt I needed 3-1/4 yds. of the coral, 15-1/2 yds. of fabric altogether.  About 25% of all this fabric ends up in the many, many seams.  Add in the batting, the backing, the thread, and weeks of your time.  Yow!