Saturday, December 26, 2015

Surprise Step Five

Just as well I put that water-holding mulch on the garden the other day! Look at it this morning:
Actually the mulch did a good job in the heat and wind yesterday. The plants looked much less stressed by the end of the day than they have in recent similar days. But then we had 18mm of rain over night!

I had heard that Bonnie was going to release the next mystery clue a day late because of Christmas, so I wasn't expecting to get any sewing done on it today. But at about 4:30 this afternoon I discovered it was up already! And there was no cutting this week, just stitching together pieces we have already cut or made. So I got the whole lot done today after all.

I'm not a fan of  the "stitch and flip" method, so I used this ruler, which is my metric version of the Easy Angle, to trim off the corners first, then sewed the pieces as if they were half-square triangles:
You may notice in the photo above that the stitching is already there. That's because I didn't think to take a photo of that step until after I had sewn them all. Below, I've pressed the triangle back.
Perfect! And much faster for me than drawing a line, then stitching, then cutting. Actually looking for a pencil sharpener probably would have taken me the  longest time!

Here's a few of the other unit for this clue:
And one way that this week's two units could interact:
This week's clue throws all the playing I did the other day out the window! This is a fun mystery, with Bonnie keeping us all guessing. I wonder how many more clues there will be? Next week could be the big reveal, or just give us more puzzling pieces to play with!

When the link-up is activated on Monday, I will add a link here so that you can easily go and see what everyone else has done. Here it is!

16 comments:

Joy V said...

I actually started the mystery a few days before Christmas. Have just finished Part 2. This one I like better than last year's, but I guess time will tell when we put it together. Haven't posted my bits yet, but will in a day or so.

jacaranda said...

That rain was the best we have had in ages, needed especially in the fire area. I thought of starting the mystery quilt but don't have much stash left are my flying geese quilt top. Looking forward to the block put together.

Jeanette said...

Did you get more rain overnight? It bucketed down here, but my rain gauge had fallen over so I don't know how much. I finally finished my Montmellick top yesterday so starting a very small version of the mystery today. Looks like there will be a number of IRL comparisons to make.

Art by Rhoda Forbes said...

So happy to see you got some rain. We had lovely snow for Christmas, and it is still coming down. Your units are fabulous, for the MQ. Won't be long now and we will be putting it together. Happy New Year.

Cheryl in Friendsville said...

I really like your colors and the way you did the corners is genius! Whenever I can get to this part, I am going to try it your way.

Frances Meredith said...

Bonnie has us guessing all the way!

Feathers in my Nest said...

looking so pretty Vireya.

Eat Sleep Quilt said...

Next time I'll have to try that angle ruler method for the corners, that's genius!

Kate said...

Beautiful colors in your pieces.

gayle said...

I love your colors! Can't wait to see the final quilt!
My only objection to stitch-and-flip corners is the waste - I always try to save the 'bonus HSTs', but sometimes they're really small... 8)

Cherry said...

Loving your colors. That's quite a bit of rain in one night. Hoping to get Clue 5 finished today. This year's mystery really is a mystery!

Frog Quilter said...

Love your colors and the progress you have made.

TheEclecticAbuela said...

Hurray for the rain! Happy New Year.

Karabeta said...

Intriguing cornerstone, if this is not what Bonnie wants us to do it is certainly a design to remember

lourixe said...

Good job in gardening, sewing, and guessing layouts. And how many clues left? Do you believe we'll be done by New Year?

Marly said...

I like your colour scheme, and you're keeping up wonderfully well, with all the climate/gardening challenges as well. I actually started the mystery yesterday, with part 3. The grey I bought is too dark, and the shop has been closed for nearly two weeks! All those grey triangles are going to have to wait!