Monday, March 31, 2008

Mom's Mystery Quilt

Life can certainly side-track blogging. However, today I'm getting this posted and skipping breakfast (not really, but almost).

This is the result of all those mysterious pieces and strip-sets. The quilt top is 4 x 5 blocks, with sashing. Here it is tacked to my design wall so I can work out my ideas for borders. I think I will go with the arrangement down the left side, Only the wider border on the outside will be in the same fabric as the cornerstones in the sashing. I'll also bind it with that fabric.

This is for a long single bed, no bed skirt. My mother-in-law, who is in her eighties, wanted it wide enough to hang down like a bedspread. That makes in more like a queen size. I plan to have it long-arm quilted. I think she will like this old-fashioned look, made more interesting by being scrappy.


I would not likely have picked this pattern, but making it as a mystery quilt was a lot of fun--and used up a whole lot of pink and teal florals that I had no idea
what to do with or why I bought them.

I did alter the design by making the sashing a bit wider than it called for, mostly because I didn't want to add really wide borders (to get the size needed) and have it look like it was more border than center.

Happy quilting!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Mystery Quilt - Part 2

Last night was the last class for the Mystery Quilt. We sewed steps 6 - 9, but of course didn't complete all of them, only enough to see what our quilt is going to look like.


I'll keep you dangling for awhile. The photo shows the next steps. The 4-patch blocks had a rectangle sewn to one side, then a rectangle and square (from a strip pieced set) sewn to the other side. The hour-glass had two squares sewn to two corners to make the V-shaped block as in the photo.

We each did enough to put together one block. It also require sashing, so when I get the sashing done, I will post the block... unless of course someone wants the directions and do this mystery, and not see the end result until they are done. If so, say so, and I'll post them in order.

I'm happy. My mother-in-law will love this one!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Mystery Quilt

I have to confess that I tried to find the finished version of this mystery quilt using Google. No success! I am mystified, which delights my friend who brought this teaser to our group. We cut out 80 of this and 160 of that and strips and rectangles, all using four values. I decided to use up some florals that may never get sewn into anything otherwise.

So far, this is what I have. She says, with 10" borders (not cut out), this little pile of stuff will make a queen-size quilt. Hmmm! Do I believe her? Only because she is my friend! I put my ruler in the photo so you can see how small these piles are. There are 80 4-patch blocks, 20 of the 9-patch, and 80 of the hourglass. The rest remain to be put into something?

More on Monday. In the meantime, I'm quilting the rest of K-2, and here is a photo of Jen's kaleidoscope quilt ready to be sewn together.

Not bad for someone who has never sewn anything! She says looking at it terrifies her, but everyone loves the Amy Butler fabrics!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

I am quilting, really


I'm getting sick of looking at the same post, but I am quilting. I've cut from four values (12-16 fabrics) the pieces for a mystery quilt. Nothing is the same size or even multiples of the measurements, so it has me bamboozled. I am looking forward to what this will be. It is a class that my friend and co-teacher is offering. She took my Kaleidoscope session, so now I'm taking hers.

Also, I'm nearly finished some elaborate swirls and shapes on Kaleidoscope 2 (K-2 for short). It has started to suggest placement for beads or jewels, so that is motivating me, but tracing the quilting designs takes forever. The lines are also hard to see on so many different fabrics. I'm doing one area at a time so my quilt pencil/chalk combination doesn't get lost! The quilting is subtle but I'm very happy so far.

I really like K-2 and K-3, and want to make more of these, then the thought came to me --- when I get to K-9, will it turn out to be a dog? (I know, that is pure corn, but it did make me laugh out loud.)

Here is a picture of "Joy Always" a small piece I did for a wedding gift. The symbol is Chinese for 'love' and the couple are very dear to us. The quilting is in gold metallic and shows up better in life. If you double click the picture, you can see it.

I picked the design from a Dover clipart book and figured out the piecing without too much trouble. The back didn't look too pretty when it was done so I gave it another backing, like a lining.