Clue 3 of the "Grand Illusion" mystery quilt.

Bonnie was easy on us this week in giving us clue #3.   I am enjoying the process so much.  There is a certain amount of anticipation in the "mystery" part of this quilt.   It feels a bit like the anticipation of Christmas that I felt as a child, so making this during the holidays seems right to me.

Sewed lots of two inch strips together this week.

This was the first time using this "June Tailor" short cut ruler.  Pulled it out to subcut my strata strips into 2 inch sections.   It was amazing, and so fast!  I'll be using this ruler again!

Now here is the total units so far for clues 1, 2 and 3.   Can you guess how many pieces?

I had Mark give me a quick guess and he said, "Oh around 500!"  He was WAY off.    How does 3,120 sound?   That figure does include the 800 pieces that make up the 400 bonus half square triangles that I'm hoping to use in the border.

Here's the link to other's making this quilt.

I did get a few more Christmas decorations out.  Always love decorating the two archways in this house,

as well as putting the manger scene on the fireplace mantle.

 I use to do a lot of baking but the only Christmas goodies I make anymore are "Date Nut Balls".   It's one of Marks favorites and they freeze well.

Another sewing project I am experimenting with is the twister pattern for some hunting quilts I want to make for some of my grandsons.     I've sewed the blocks together in a trip around the world design working on a quarter of the quilt at a time.  After recutting the squares at the intersections at an angle and sewing them back together the quilt shrinks down like the one on the right.  This should be a fun project for our sewing retreat next year.

I had to dig into my files to find a picture to close with.  Thanks to Linda H. for this pic.

I'm looking forward to being with all our children and grandchildren next week for Christmas.  Hopefully we will get a decent family picture with us all then, but for now it is just us two patriarchs.

May you each have a very Merry Christmas!