It’s a Mystery

I’ve decided to make a mystery quilt.  I’ve admired Bonnie Hunter’s quilts for a long time, but have never made one from her patterns.  This year, she has a mystery quilt called Frolic.  The quilt finishes at 82″ x 82″. I really like the colors that she chose for this quilt.  When she designed the quilt, she used paint chips to decide on the colors.  The colors are light and dark blue, teal, pale green , raspberry and a neutral.  Of course, if you make this quilt, you can use other colors.

There is still time to join in the fun.  The clues are at Quiltville.blogspot.com under the Frolic Mystery tab.  The clues are free at this time. After it is over, there will be a charge.

Along with the clues are tips, tricks, helps and hints for each unit.  It is worth looking at the  program for all the great tips even if you don’t make the quilt.  Bonnie uses small pieces of fabric so this is great for a stash buster.

I pulled all the scraps that I had in those colors.  They are in a bin waiting to be called when Bonnie gives a clue that uses them.  I don’t know if I have enough of all the colors, but will use what I have until they are gone.  Then I can buy fat quarters to fill in the rest.

The first week used the two blues and raspberry.  They made lovely blocks.  Bonnie’s tips on perfect piecing made the blocks come out the perfect size.  I followed her tip on how to sew and found every four patch came out perfect.  I had made extra in case the centers weren’t perfect.  I now have the beginnings of another quilt.

The second week used raspberry and neutral fabrics.  I had a lot of 5″ neutral squares and used some of them in this step.  This will make a very scrappy quilt.

The third clue will show up in my e-mail tomorrow.  This is exciting.  I love a mystery. A member of the Guild is also making this mystery quilt.  When they are finished, we’ll have to take them to Show and Tell together.

There was no sewing today.  I decided to finish putting my Grace Q frame together.  I am almost finished.  The instructions are not clear at all. The pictures are so small that they don’t help.  It seems so easy on the You Tube videos.  I have two more parts to put on the frame. I’ll try to finish it tomorrow.  It may seem hard to put it together, but it will probably be harder learning to use it.  I will have to practice, practice and practice.  It’s a good thing that I have a lot of small UFOs to practice on.

The block for the Maine Guild block drawing is finished.  It is on the way to Maine now.

I’ve gathered fabric for a bed runner.  The pattern has ten blocks.  I receive one block pattern each week. I should be able to find time to make one block a week for this bed runner.  Years ago, I bought a bolt of lavender/blue fabric and intended to use it in the bedroom. It’s been hanging on a hanger waiting for the right inspiration.  Now, when the bed runner is finished, I can use some of the leftover fabric for pillows, valances, etc. and have a coordinated bedroom.  I was fortunate to have enough of the right colored fabric to add to the bolt of fabric.  They’re not the same colors that the designer used, but they work for me.  I’m looking forward to making the bed runner.

Have a great day and happy quilting.