Friday Finish - The Trixie Book

I’ve been holding onto these blocks for about 20 years. I didn’t know what to do with them. There were only 14, they were not squared even blocks, and many of them are made from weird materials. I’m happy to finish them into this book. I got the idea from Lin, who blogs at St. Victor Quilts. Please check out her blog and her beautiful stitching, quilting, and knitting! 

The intro on this project is on my Wednesday post. I decided to cut all blocks to 8 inches square.

Here are the front and back of my Trixie book. I made a strap with a snap on each side to keep the book closed.

The first page is my block and represents New York City from book 12 - The Mystery of the Blinking Eye. 

The next page, made by Lori Draeger, represents the Statue of Liberty’s crown, also from The Mystery of the Blinking Eye.

 

Page 3 was made by Lisa Miller, and is one of the horses the club members rode. Page 4, made by Tonja Burk, is a Bob-White. 

Annette Adams made the next page, representing Mystery on Cobbette’s Island.  The facing page was created by Ronda, in honor of Mystery of the Uninvited Guest. The tulips represent the colors used for the sashes of the dresses worn by Trixie, Honey, Diana, and Hallie. 

The inspiration for the next page was the book Trixie Belden and the Mysterious Code, and was made by Diana Burgess. The facing page of Reddy the dog’s house and a baby, was made by Tracy Swahlon. It represents the book The Mystery of the Castaway Children.

Flipping the book - - - Diana Blyton made the Missouri Star block with Trixie’s photo in the center, representing Mystery on the Mississippi. The facing page is a Bobwhites of the Glen jacket designed by Mary Newton. 

Turning the page, Brenda Pannell made the barn block. The lake is the next page. I don’t know who made this block.

The lake is followed by a picture of the dogs, Reddy and Patch. The maker’s initials appear to be DC. The last page is Queenie the hen from the Secret of the Mansion book, and made by Lori Montgomery.

This is what the closed snapped book looks like from the top.

This is the book stretched out, front and back.

I am glad to have these blocks finished into a book.  Thank you Lin!

Work in Progress Wednesday

The Trixie blocks. This project needs a little background. When I was young, Trixie Belden was my favorite book character. I think she still is. She and her friends were members of The Bobwhites of the Glen. I read and reread the 39 mystery books in the series. You can see a list of the books here on Wikipedia.

In the summers of 2003 and 2004, I joined other Trixie fans, all adults, to attend “Trixie Camp”. The camps were held somewhere the books were set and were planned by group members, going to places and doing things the Bobwhites did in the books. I only attended twice, but it was held other years too. 

Someone had the idea to make quilts. Each participant was to make multiples of the same block which had some connection to Trixie, and send them to a coordinator of the project, who would divide them up and send them out, so each participant would have one of each block. I received 14 blocks, plus two extra of mine. I think two people must have dropped out before making their blocks. The blocks were supposed to be 8.5 inches square, so they would finish at 8 inches. None of them, including mine, are the proper size. Mine is the blue and gray block in the lower left of the picture. It represents The Mystery of the Blinking Eye, which took place in New York City.

I haven’t known what to do with them, so I did nothing. Now I think I will even them all at 8 inches square. I hate to cut off the points of the two star blocks, but I think it can’t be helped. I briefly thought about adding a little border around each one, but decided that would be a nightmare. Many are made with odd materials, two have some kind of iron-on plastic stuff, one has little pompoms, one has beads, one has velour and suede. You get the idea. Maybe I will have something more to show soon…

WIP/UFO Update

 I last posted about my WIP/UFO's here. This is my latest update. I've taken out the finished projects and added the new ones. Bold titles show the ones I have worked on in 2022. 

Bead Wrist Band

Bead Nutcracker

Year 3 of the Temperature Quilt 

Year 4 of the Temperature Quilt 

Year 5 of the Temperature Quilt

The House Quilt

The Trixie Blocks

Mini Nine Patch Blocks

Mt. Fuji Applique Pouch

Ribbon Album Wall Quilt

Braid Border 

Mary Queen of Scots  

Bess of Hardwick 

Paisley Purse

RSN Knot Garden 

RSN Rice Fields

Miniature Chair Cushion 

Silk Gauze Cat 

EGA Drawn Thread GCC (the oldest UFO, I think)

Blue Hardanger 

White Hardanger - Linda Driscoll

Dogwood Afghan 

Home Again Afghan

Snowman Ornaments

House Cross Stitch

Sneek Sampler

Cross Stitch Border

Fob starts

Sashiko 

Sashiko Table Runner

Temari

Fashionable Ladies 

Scarf

Little Dragonfly Stumpwork Project

Sardinian Filet

I think visiting this list from time to time is helpful.  It reminds me what I have that is still unfinished (and also how many things are still unfinished). Maybe I can challenge myself to put at least a few stitching in each project and try to finish more than I start.