Sunday, December 18, 2011

By the Skin of My Teeth

Last week was a busy one for me: we had guests 3 of 4 nights and gave a party for 35 people. I was so afraid my Bonnie Hunter Mystery clue #4 was not going to get finished before clue #5 was posted! I'd been so good at completing clues 1-3 by Tuesday of their respective weeks and I was bound and determined not to fall behind. (Besides, I'm absolutely LOVING this process!

Happy to say, I completed all 64 of the 5 1/2" strip squares by Thursday night. Just to be different, I took my photo on our kitchen scale and as you can see, clue #2 (pink) and #4 (green) weigh 13.6 ounces together. Of course, the clue #4 blocks still have the paper on them but it's only tissue-thin yellow pages paper which I plan to pull off by the time this posts on Judy Laquadara's Design Wall Monday.

I'm timing how long it takes me to complete each clue and #4 took me 6 hours and 15 minutes (including taking the paper off the back) bringing the total for all 4 clues to 35 3/4 hours.

As for Clue #5: Since I'm going to be out of town Tuesday through late Thursday, I knew I had to finish this clue by today! And. . . I did it! 5 hours and all 350 are done! I'm also keeping track of the number of pieces are in this quilt. To date, I count 3,392 pieces in mine! Can't wait 'til Friday!

16 comments:

Sharyn Mallow Woerz said...

Hey, I'm glad to see your timing post, I was just thinking last night I will do that next year. With the completion of #5 I will have 4066 pieces in my top so far, figuring an average of 7 for the larger string blocks and 5 for the smaller string one.

I noted that these wing blocks fit on the edges of a reassembled large string block making a diamond in a square. :) Happy stitching and Yule, Sharyn

YankeeQuilter said...

It looks great...really like your color choice! I've just been plugging along afraid to count how many pieces we've used....

Unknown said...

Oh, I'm not sure I can be that intense with myself. The number of pieces so far is really incredible. I have at least 12-14 strips in each of my red blocks so I would probably freak out about how many pieces I have sewn to date. Your colour choices will make your quilt truly unique. Can't wait to see it! Fantastic!

carolyn berroeta said...

Lovely colors

Candace said...

Wow, all that figuring, you're amazing, as are your beautiful colors. Congrats on keeping up, I did until this week, but I may fall behind now. Maybe not, who knows.

Judy D in WA said...

I love that you are keeping track of time and pieces! :) Good job staying caught up. Love your colors and can't wait to see them all together.

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

Love your colors and that is so neat that you are keeping track of the time!

Kim said...

So now I know where to come for the stats....honestly I am one of those quilters that wanders into the sewing room works for a few hours then moves onto something else.......

I have a bit of each clue done but will catch up in the end....even if it takes me all year like my two RRCB did :0).

and of course since I have a ton of blue scraps pulled I'm thinking I might have to do one of Bonnie's fantastic blue and cream quilts from her books :0)

Happy Sewing, good on ya for keeping up :0)!

Katie Ringo said...

Love that you are keeping track of how much time! That is really intriguing.

I really like your color choices. I can't wait to see how they all turn out together!

Dying to put an actual block together with our parts.

Michelle said...

Wow! I'm sooooo far behind it's ridiculous considering that I'm trying to get at least a little of each clue done before the next one posts.

Love that you're timing the clues -- will you let us know your grand total once the quilt is done?

MaryLu said...

I love that you weighed your pieces! That's an interesting way to put it all in perspective. I think Bonnie's quilts always weigh more than others, because there are so many little pieces.
It's also nice to see a time frame on your progress. I wish I had done that last time.
Are your blacks actually purple? That will be lovely! I can't wait to see everyone else's interpretation of the quilt. Nice job!

Jennifer Woo said...

Nice job!! I am enjoying this Mystery Quilt through you although I am keeping a copy of all the clues! I may be able to find time over the summer!! I love the colors and it looks great. I am keeping up with my projects as much as possible with all the Holiday stuff but I am just impressed with how much you get done!

Mary said...

I can't believe you are keeping up and still managing to entertain. Way to go!

scraphappy said...

Wow, what an amazing job of keeping caught up. Those little stacks of fabric represent a HUGE investment in time and effort. Great colors, they are almost the same as mine though your green is a teal for me.

Julie Kaye from KS said...

Your are so fast. Insert a smidge of friendly envy here. Way to keep up. I might end up behind this week. But I'll catch up soon no doubt.

Kate said...

Congrats on staying on schedule on the mystery quilt. Love the colors you are using.