Week 3 - Final Clue
I could have stretched this mystery out to go another week, but I think I will finish it up today, because doing the next step won’t take long at all. And I never had told you how many weeks this mystery would run! Another part of the mystery answered.
So on to the big finish: From each 4-1/2” wide strip of color B, cut four 4-1/2” squares, You will have four of these blocks for each 12-1/2” block, its finished size before sewing together. (four 12-1/2” blocks for runner, 9 blocks for wall hanging, 24 blocks for large quilt.) Looking at the picture, place two of the 2-1/2” background squares (that were cut last week) on opposite corners of the color B block. Sew just a thread width inside the line. Your sewing line will be closer to the corner where the two blocks overlap, giving you a bit of space so the point of the 2-1/2” block will nestle correctly. Pull corner of small block to match corner, having 3 layers at these corners, press, and trim the bottom two layers off.
Take the long 2-fabric strip set of Color C and background color that you sewed together last week. Cut onto 4-1/2” pieces ,making four 4-1/2” square blocks. Yes, the picture posted by Sunlite early in the week showing this block along with her strip set was right even though she didn’t mean to post the block, and it kind of confused some of you because I hadn’t said to do this in the instructions. I knew if I gave this step when you made your strip sets you would know pretty much where this pattern was going. So, I didn’t lie, all I said in response to questions about cutting this, was that I hadn’t told you to do so. Am I forgiven?
Assemble: Lay out your pieces as shown. NOTE: If you are unhappy when you lay out your pieces, this is the time to perhaps change the center 4-1/2” block. Nothing carved in stone at this point.
Sew together to make the 12-1/2” unfinished size blocks. Sew together 4 blocks for the table runner. Sew together 3 blocks wide by 3 blocks long for the wall hanging. Sew together 4 blocks wide by 6 blocks long for the large lap. Or some of you are making even bigger than the 24 blocks. Add an inner border of background fabric from 2-1/2” WOF strips, and add outer scrappy border of your choice to make your project to the size you wish. I had given you a lot of ideas and places to find scrappy borders at the end of the #8 Mystery , and you all have come up with lots of other great ideas.
The completed quilt shown here is one I did for charity. The original quilt that was my sample, and the one I drafted the pattern from, was larger than the charity one, -- no picture was taken as I was in a hurry to mail it, it was given as a birthday present to a friend and I just realized last night that I didn’t have a picture. I called her and asked her to email me a photo of what I gave her. Her camera is broken. So … for my friend’s quilt, I put the 2-1/2” border of background fabric like I did for the charity quilt, and then added had a 3” scrappy border all around, but the charity only had top and bottom borders. I know some made the large top, which isn’t shown, but I know you know exactly what to do.
The table runner now sits on my dining room table, but am overly fond of the way it turned out. I have posted a pix of what I started with, and what I ended up with. The colors are more true in the original block, but the runner’s colors are all off. After assembling the first of the original blocks, I didn’t like the green in the center and didn’t have a batik that looked fabulous so used the brown. I refused to go buy anything (I have a self-imposed moratorium against buying fabric this year unless it is absolutely necessary.). I think it was the green/rust used for the C color that threw me off– my bad, I cut my pieces wrong, and what ended up as color C was to have been color B. So I used what I had of a small piece of brown to replace the center. I had every intention of using the background fabric for the border and the binding but measured wrong when I was grabbing fabric, and didn’t have enough for the binding. Oh well. I also didn’t take into consideration that one of the pretty things about this quilt is the way the diagonal bars of the B color radiate out from the center and 4 different colors come together. Somehow didn’t look right with the blocks being the same colors, but it would have worked just fine with a scrappy look.
Can’t wait to see all your Mysteries.
I think I have a target date of mid-June for Mystery #11. This one will not be scrappy, and will be posted in the Blocks of the Week and Month, as always.