Quilt Reveal: Bona Lisa

I started the Bona Lisa quilt in October as a part of the Something Wicked blog hop challenge.

 

I used a pattern by Joan who is one of the hostesses of the blog hop challenge.  It is a part of a bigger quilt, but I just used the pattern of the center. 

I combined applique and quilting as I usually do.

I then added some simple stitching in the background which you can't really see on the front, but you will see it on the back.

In December, I finished quilting it.  

I enjoyed making it so much that I took the time to make a label for it.  I was planning on hand stitching the rest of the label down in December, but I set it aside to make the daily videos in December. 

I finished sewing the label yesterday, so this quilt is ready for its big reveal! It fits perfectly as a door banner.

Here's the back so you can see the stitching. 

 This is the 13th quilt I finished this year, which is an appropriate number for a Halloween quilt, and the 161th quilt that I have ever finished.

Here is the video where I made the quilt.

Here is the 15 Minutes to Quilt video where I made the label.

Here is the 15 Minutes to Quilt video where I added the binding and label.

My Wicked Quilt: Bona Lisa

I am participating in the Something Wicked blog hop and now it's time for my blog hop day.  

I've been seeing a lot of beautiful Halloween patterns lately, and since Joan and Carol have been so accommodating and kind in hosting this blog hop, I decided to use one of their patterns. They both have provided so many Halloween patterns that it is difficult to choose, but a lot of them are on another hard drive, so it was pretty easy to choose.

I chose the center panel of the block of the month, Bona Lisa. The pattern is by Joan Kawano and the pattern is called Bona Lisa's Sweater Emporium 2024 BOM.  This is the pattern for the center of the quilt, and the remaining blocks are supposed to surround the center panel, but I decided to keep it simple and make this one block. 

I had thought about adding a house in the background, to go with my last Halloween quilt, but my fabric wasn't wide enough.  

I put together the headstone first, securing the fusible applique with some stitches. I chose a different fabric for the yarn at first, but I kept seeing this scrap of fabric from the Tropical Fish quilt and it looks more like yarn to me, so I switched it out.

The green is the backing fabric and will be trimmed away before I bind it.

Then I put together the skeleton and decided to combine the stitching to secure the applique with the quilting. I didn't use the layout in the pattern and didn't overlap the bones nearly as much as the pattern does.  I used the rejected yarn fabric for the mouth, though I realize my Lisa is going to have peach lipstick all over her teeth!  

I thought about adding more blocks around this panel, but I decided to stop here.  I have so many quilts that I need to finish that I wanted to get this one finished, which means the panel is enough by itself.  

The size of it is perfect for a door banner, and if I put it on the coat closet which is right by the front door, I think it makes a nice welcome for the season.

I need to do some more quilting on it, to secure the background with dark thread, to add the teeth, but since it gets dark early, I decided I could finish it tomorrow instead of rushing to get it done. I like to enjoy the process, and I am really enjoying making this quilt.

I also thought about adding extras like a bat or pumpkins or spider, but for some reason, this quilt is really satisfying the way it is, and I don't feel the need to add anything else.  See, I can stop when I want. I'm not addicted to quilting.

I'll show you the finished quilt soon.  

Be sure to check out the other participants in the blog hop this week. I gave you the list in my last post.

2021: Week 47 of 15 Minutes to Stitch

 

2021:  Week 47 of 15 Minutes to Stitch

It's been busy at work while we gear up to meet with the customers. I am hosting the Thanksgiving gathering this year, so I have been spending time getting ready for them. This means that there hasn't been a lot of sewing, but I did have all those loose pieces I needed to press for the October house mini quilt. I decided that it would be better for me to go ahead and lay them out and press them down instead of leaving all these little fused pieces all loose. 

It took two sessions to put it together, and now I will put it away until after the gathering.

15 minute days this week --2 out of 7

15 minute days this year -- 272 out of 325 days

Success rate  = 84%

 

 

Linked with:

15 Minutes to Stitch

 

 

 

I took the photos when it was dark outside, but I wanted to keep a record of my progress.

Finished!

When I let myself get tempted by the pattern Kim presented at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure, and gave myself permission to do Kim's Happy Jacks quilt, I gave myself severe mandates. "You must get it done, and you must get it done quickly. Kim's done three of these in a week, certainly you can get it done quickly as well." Well I'm nowhere near as quick as Kim, but I did keep my focus on this quilt, even to the point that other things on the to-do list were skipped, and now it is finished! Definitely one of my quickest finishes. The fabric choices were easy - the first fabric I find that works, is it. No agonizing over choices. The cutting was fine. The sewing was fine as well. Anything that wasn't, was trimmed off! The hardest part about the quilt was stopping. I wanted to make more pumpkins, and I wanted to make more faces. See, here is a photo of some scraps of fabric that fell onto the floor.