SusieQOH

Queenbarbie- those look great! So pretty.
Iceblossom- sorry about your husband and hope he recovers quickly. ugh!

Iceblossom

Hubby is doing well, in a "normal" year he would have worked through it. This variant is spreading around here super fast around people who have been very good so far at avoiding it. I still have no symptoms.

We've been keeping as separated as we can and I've been making great progress with my sewing. Last night I ended with 1/3 of the blocks done and the remainders pinned with the last seam and waiting for me. Needed to have something to do today. Overall, I'm happy with my blocks and fabrics.

Next clue isn't until Friday, Jan 7 -- Hooray for being in 2022!!

Think I'll do some work in the sewing room. We've been doing some organizing/getting rid of stuff in the rest of the house and maybe I can take out some of the remaining non-sewing stuff that is in the sewing room and stick it somewhere else or make the determination that it's time to go.

platyhiker

I'd love to hear from folks already sewing about what type of white/lights/creams/neutrals you are liking best so far.

I originally planned to join in with sewing (on a small scale) as the clues came out, but life went bonkers and sewing got shifted to the back burner. I've got a nice selection of pink, yellows and garnets that I picked up at a Quilt Guild's November "Yard Sale" - all fabric priced at $4/yard with sizes ranging from fat 1/8 yards up to 5 yard pieces. (Gotta love a bargain like that.) But, I don't have a white/cream/neutral for this project (or an aqua), so I'd love to hear about which white/cream/neutral fabrics are making your heart sing. Cheers!

Iceblossom

I would have preferred a mix of pale printed calicos and white to cream tone on tones for more texture but I'm low on those, I used most of my white-on-whites in the Grassy Creek project. There are positives to working with solids only one of which is no right side, but that can also be confusing in some projects. But white was what I had on hand, and when I ordered even more I was committed to that as a choice. Again, sometimes there are advantages in a consistent back ground fabric but I was expecting about half background and knew the white would be strong and stark. Winter is coming! (It's a Stark thing...)

I am still drooling over Pink Flowers collection of fabrics. Based on Bonnie's requirement that seems like the perfect mix. (post 156 on page 10)
Bonnie Hunter Winter Mystery 2021/2022 - Rhododendron Trail

I tried to pick fabrics I hoped would hold up well. I wish a couple of my yellows were stronger -- but I had just used up some of those in my previous project. Whatever you choose, your pinks need to be significantly different from the background as well as the yellow. But then, I'm big on contrast, if you want to wait for the reveal you might decide to go lower contrast in everything.

I remain totally uncommitted to my choice of aqua -- even if it will be aqua at all. Pretty sure I have an idea of what's to come but I've been wrong more than once before!

Iceblossom

Had to kick the hubby out of bed to get the dogs up for breakfast. Buddy, the dog who most recently passed was a little 4-legged alarm clock and would not let meals be late even 5 minutes without tap dancing.

Anyway, here's shots of some of my blocks. I'll keep to myself which ones I feel are successful or homely -- I'm pretty happy over all.

SusieQOH

Those blocks look great!
I did the Merry Mayhem yesterday and just finished the blocks so I'm going to do my BH today.
We're finally getting some snow. I'm tired of the rain! It shouldn't rain this time of year

I buy a lot of fat quarter bundles and have some really pretty neutrals I've been working with. Make that past tense: I'm
on a mission to use my stash!

platyhiker

Wow, those blocks are looking great Iceblossom! They remind me of Judy Martin's book Scrap Quilts, in that they really *work* together. Yes, the color combinations of a few blocks are not quite to my tastes *on their own*, but when you put them together the similarities and differences between the blocks make them all look better. Good choices! (And compliments to Bonnie Hunter for providing some guidance on selecting a color palette.)

woodland creature

I have a tendency to use white on cream or cream on cream for quilt backs, so I have a ton of those kinds of scraps. So far, I've been happy with how they look. But then again, I have a tendency to go for tone on tone fabrics of any color, so all of the yellows, oranges and garnets are also tone on tone. I have tried stepping outside of that box and purchasing some multi-colored fabrics, or even colors on cream or white, and in the end, they sit unused in my stash as I can't figure out what to do with them.

My son and his girlfriend are still here until tomorrow. And I have one more day off before I go back to work after my holiday vacation. So not sure I'm going to get anything done on this clue this week - although I hope to be able to finish the one block that I started. As both my kids live far away, it's seldom that we get a chance to spend time together, so I'm just enjoying the time with them. Once I retire.....

joe'smom

Iceblossom, what a great assortment of blocks!

platyhiker, I have also waited to start this year, and have been collecting photos from Bonnie's Facebook page to help me decide on which way to go with neutrals. I think I have settled on busy light gray prints on white background and white prints on light gray background for clues 2 and 3. I like the way the slightly shaded neutrals set off the bright pink and yellow.

I have also liked when a busy, colorful neutral is used for the neutral triangle on clue 5, so I'm thinking about doing that when I get there.

My pinks and yellows are basically the same value, and the aqua as well. I'm thinking I will pair my lighter yellows with my darker pinks, and vice versa for clue 2.

SuzSLO

Platyhiker: My neutrals are white and light with some design on them. I’m pretty happy with how that looks so far. Here is a photo of many of my neutrals from an earlier clue.

I will note that there is an opportunity to match one way designs on the neutrals (and yellows) in the connecting pieces. If it will bother you if you do not match stripes and other one way designs in the same fabric placed in close proximity, then you may want to avoid them in your fabrics. You can also fussy cut them by cutting squares instead of strips and sub-cutting the connector units.