Old 01-10-2015, 07:19 AM
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paintmejudy
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Default #8 mystery quilt train ride - it's scrap-alicious!

When I was designing Mystery #7, I came up with this idea and pretty much decided l wanted to do it for #8. I also did another scrappy and it will probably be #10 unless you all vote to do #9 as another scrappy when this one is done. Am I looking for scrappy converts? You betcha!! Fabric is too expensive these days, and we need to put some of those scraps to good use. And yes, I know they seem to multiply in the dark, so we will continue to do our best to keep the population under control!

So, welcome aboard for our 8th Mystery Quilt Train Ride. All returning passengers and new riders, please, climb aboard, and come to the club car for our meet-and-greet and some light refreshments.

This mystery will last four weeks, the final clues being given on Feb. 7th. Each Saturday morning, I would suggest you write down someplace (I write it on my desk’s blotter-sized paper calendar) what the clue number is for the next 3 clues, this way you will be able to find it much easier if you need to go back and refer to pictures or instructions.

The instructions you receive will make a top about 44” x 58”. Border fabric has not been added in. You can get to this final week and decide if you want to go bigger and double or quadruple (or more) than what you have already made. Then, after deciding how big you want to go, and it is assembled, I would suggest a small sashing, maybe cut 1-1/2” wide, to finish off at 1”, surrounded by a wider border. Your quilt, your choice. I have a few suggestions for scrappy borders that I will show you on Feb. 7th.

Normally, when doing a mystery quilt, I give specific yardage and samples of the colors I have chosen. But that would be impossible with a scrappy. All I can do is give number of blocks you will use and general color guide, such as light or bright or dark. I would suggest small prints as large prints will get completely lost, especially in the first two steps.

This is a scrappy quilt using dark, medium-dark, medium, bright, light and neutrals. (I didn’t use any bright white but do have neutrals in there) So gather your scraps. As you are going through the scraps, and see any 2-1/2’’ wide pieces, not necessarily WOF, set them asides, you may want them later.

For this first step cut 48 squares that measure 3-1/2’’ square. I was able to find all different fabrics. For this step you should use small prints. If you don’t have 24 dark and 24 medium, you can double up your fabrics, 12 squares of each. The more different fabrics you have, the scrappier it will look and the happier you will be. Using ACCURATE 1/4" seams, make 12 four-patch blocks that must measure 6-1/2’’ square.

For the second part, to be worked on next week, you will chose 24 different light fabrics and 24 medium-light prints. These mediums should be on these lighter side than used in this first week. As you can see in the second picture, I have a pile of 24 very light fabrics, and 24 light to medium-light in another pile. I will not tell you what sizes you will be cutting. NOTE: These are NOT 3-1/2’’ squares. I forgot to take a picture of my pile of scraps before I started to cut, so this will be part of the mystery, won’t it? But I wanted you to see what I am putting together. You will use these fabrics next week, and this gives you a chance to gather things together. When I was gathering fabric, I really didn’t have as many very lights as I wanted, and want to share with you what I do when necessary. See the third picture? I have used the wrong side of both of these fabrics and put them in the lightest pile. You still see a faint pattern, but it is not bold and in the quilt it ‘’reads’’ as very light.

Later on, you will also need some more medium and medium-dark fabric, small and medium scale prints would look best. I am just letting you know you will need bigger pieces than you are using this week and next. You may want to choose these fabrics when you get to this step.

Along the way, close to the end, you will need some dark and medium fabrics. Or if you wish to have a unifying element, you will need some yardage of fabrics. These are NOT borders but will be incorporated into the pattern.

So, is this enough to keep you busy for a week? Hee hee, hope so, don’t want you to get bored. This is going to be a fun train ride.
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