I was excited to join a mystery quilt group and this one started in January. I didn’t follow her schedule very well with cutting the first weeks of January as I was trying to get things done before our trip to Ohio.
It is called a Mystery Quilt because the end result is a mystery. We didn’t see any of the finished quilt or a photo of a pattern. We had cutting instructions for 2 weeks and then a piecing clue each week. When a new clue was posted, the old one was removed so we had a week to get our instructions for each clue.
After I had a week home to catch-up and rest, I did my cutting the next weekend. Just for the neutrals it was 48 pcs this size, 80 pcs another size, and 392 pieces another size! Plus soloist fabrics. Whew!
I chose to use all neutrals because that plastic bin is grossly (& embarrassingly) overflowing yet there is nothing in there that ever works with what I need it to do. As well, I’ve liked seeing the low-volume quilts that came around a year or so ago.
I gathered a big basket of fabrics (closet organizer basket) that were all smaller prints and not many added colors in the fabric. We also needed a 1 yd piece of a soloist and I chose turquoise and found a piece a bit over 1 yard.
I did all the cutting and did not make a dent in the basket I had cut from and neither from the overflowing bin!
(Since then I have sorted and pulled some not neutrals that had wandered into the wrong bin and have straightened what is in the bin a bit so it fits better. There is still plenty!)
Since I started late, I saw some of the quilts posted in progress. After 3 or 4 clues had been posted I quit looking at the page so that I wouldn’t waver from my original plan of randomly placing my neutrals and have lights & darks all scattered.
I like my scattered look but also have loved seeing the color and value arrangements others have done. Such fun to piece the same pattern in a group and see the myriad of options!
I had cleaned up and added new parts to my Featherweight this winter so had it upstairs for the short days and long evenings. I pieced all of this top on my FW. It sews a perfect seam. It is a slower speed than I’m used to and no bells & whistles. I had to relearn the habit of bring up the needle at the end of my stitching. 🙂
The machine was ready but my arranging of my sewing corner was not but it actually worked well with the machine on the library table.
The piecing goes better with the Little Foot I got before they made 1/4″ feet! Yes, there was a time…. LOL! It is a bit wider than the FW foot and feeds easier.
Here is clue 1 —
Maybe this will help explain my scrappy neutrals and the turquoise soloist. The clues are just 1 page a week (or less) and we are only told where to place the soloist fabric.
(I realized I have a lot of photos so I’ll make this several posts. Don’t hold your breath …. I’m consistently inconsistent in my blogging… as you may have noticed!)
and sew on... 