Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt Progress

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It's funny how our journey unfolds.   I too hear people complain about the time of year it comes.  But then, while watching Bonnie on QuiltCam one night, I felt peace with her response.   "It's not for the folks that are inundated with events, plans and family stuff...it's for the ones that aren't".   It's for the quilters that have lost their spouses, or their children have moved away.  It's for the women\or men that feel a little empty inside around this time of year because of loss.   This is the second Quiltville Mystery Quilt I've participated in.   The first was Easy Street.   It appeared in my life right when I needed it.  It appeared when I needed color, creation, meditation....healing.   And here I am again, 2 years later, ever so grateful, for the color, creation, meditation...healing.   Thank you Bonnie, for continuing to do this.   Thank you for not letting the critical, ungrateful people, bring you down.

We are at Week 2 of the clues - If you have no idea what I'm talking about - click here to read all about it.   Here is my progress!  

Once again, I changed the colors from what Bonnie originally suggested.  "Easy Street" I drastically changed her color scheme - you can see that finished top here. 

But this year - I didn't choose a pretty flower as a palette.   I chose the friendships in my life. Past & Present. A little over a year ago - I lost my sweet, quirky, loving "Sue-Babe".  She passed away in the middle of our guilds Fall Retreat in 2013.  I still thank God when I think about it for making it so we were all together to support each other during this time.  And that Sue-Babe was able to spend the day with all of us before hand and then to be taken home to be with her family during her passing.   It happened out of nowhere - just like that...life changed for so many people.

It took some time for the family to heal from the sudden loss and make decisions about her quilting things.   I ended up with some of her fabrics and among them were these Half-Square Triangles.  I have no idea why, or what they were supposed to go to.  But Sue-Babe had her own style of quilting. She loved "mindless piecing".   Just throwing things together.   Squares, bricks, half-square triangles. 

I remember one time she went through a "Flying Geese" phase.   I think it was a new ruler or something that got her going.    She made so many geese, it was hilarious.   Then she started throwing them together into wall-hangings, place mats, whatever she could think of.   And then gave them all away.   :-)   That was Sue.

When Bonnie's first clue came out with the graphic of the Half-Square Triangle - my internal debate about my colors was over.  I wanted to base the quilt on Sue-Babe's little lost blocks and ensure that they go into the quilt.  Clue 2 - the Double Diamond Chevron's - provided the first opportunity to sneak them in, without removing a single seam.   I trimmed them to 2 1/2", seemed them together, and added them in.   The seam won't be visible once it's quilted.   But I will know they are in there.  :-)  And that's all that matters.

Sue-Babe wasn't\isn't my only quilting friend.   I have many.   And they are all equally important in their own ways.    Over the years, there have been fabric swaps, shopping each other's stashes, and even random phone calls, like Miss Mary!   "Come take all my scraps!"   LOL  Every fabric going into this years mystery quilt is sourced from all these loving friends that have so deeply touched my life.   I am grateful for every single one of them.

Give thanks for another day - for it is a BLESSING.