Allietare Week #2

Wow - Blogger does not like the word "Allietare"!  I had to change it back from the auto-corrected "Alliterate" three times before it gave up trying to help me!

I got off to a very slow start with week one of the mystery. I had such big plans - we held our first kick-off party and I had lots of great company - but unfortunately a sinus infection got the best of me and I was feeling too lousy to really enjoy the fun!  We had twelve Bonniacs hard at work on clue #1, some following Bonnie's color scheme and others getting creative with purples, blues and other gorgeous colors.

Most of the group are newly-addicted. Only four of us have done the mysteries in years past.  We had a couple versions of Grand Illusion and one Celtic Solstice for show & tell. We are planning another get-together in January and I am hoping to be feeling much better for that one.

Almost everyone finished (or nearly finished) clue #1 by dinner time that day.  Not me...I plodded along in a sinus headache fog and only finished about half of the clue.  I have since finished all of the sewing but still have around 60 squares to trim up.

I got a decent start on clue #2 over the weekend, completing a couple of sets of "Santa hats", about half of the headless geese and the cutting for the rest.

I decided that I had better pick up a little extra blue-gray so I can expand my quilt to queen-sized. I'm not sure how these blocks will go together but the gray seems to be everywhere so far, so I am guessing I will need more to finish. 

Prior to starting the mystery quilt I tried to progress my Dresdens from my class with Edyta back in April.  I want to make the quilt larger - the pattern is a kind of awkward very large wall hanging or slightly small lap size - but haven't decided how many I want to make yet.  Here's where the pile stood before being cleared from the sewing table for Allietare:

I absolutely love these blocks!  I might not love them so much when it comes time to applique them, but they are so fun to make and look very cool!  I think I may try to make 25 of them.  I currently have about 12.

I am also making progress on my new rug from my Sally Kallin workshop. I planned to go back to my runner once the pineapple was finished, but am concerned that I need to try to remember what Sally and I came up with before packing everything away.  In the meantime, I cut wool for the background (it't going to be a blend of about 20 different pieces so cutting was loads of fun!) and stated filling in around the ship. I am really liking the variety of colors in the background and am very happy with the way the water turned out,

This pattern is a little different from my usual florals so I am finding it very fun to work on. It might be hard to put it away and go back to the giant runner!

Only two more days to clue #3! Check out the Link-Up (yes, from Monday - I am behind as usual!) on Bonnie's blog to see how others are coming along with their first two steps.