It's time for the Bonnie Hunter Winter Mystery project for this year! This year's mystery is called "Rhododendron Trail" and the color/yardage has been released so we can start our planning. The actual cutting and sewing begins on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving, this year is Nov 26). Clues/directions are released mostly weekly with a queen sized finished top being the goal sometime around January-February.
Here's the first clue:
https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2021...e-mystery.html
You don't need to join anything to do the mystery, but you will need to go look/download/print the clues. As the clues are released they will be updated in this thread, but I do recommend a link to the site as well, as well as printing hard copies.
https://quiltville.com/index.html
Bonnie asks that those of us who post do not spoil the mystery for others. That includes posting actual numbers and counts of things, including measurements, as well as spoilers in terms of final layout. It's fine to say "I got half my blocks done today" but not "16 out of 34". While we can share other construction techniques (be careful of cutting mats and rulers and such in photos), she takes great care in her own directions and tutorials -- they are indeed very good and deserve to be recognized as hers. While there can be confusion from time to time, the answers we seek are there, and besides, the way the internet works traffic to her site is good. It can be frustrating to come here and need a simple answer like "3.5" instead of a link to the clue and description of where the information can be found but we are guests to Bonnie's mystery party and we are going to try and play by the rules.
Mystery projects are not for everyone. If you choose to do it in "real time" there is quite a bit of sewing each week. Twenty-some years ago there is no way I had the time as a single working mother during the holiday season... Now it gives me something nice to do at home during a slow time of the year instead of scurrying about during the bleakest part of winter! I like to sew a bit every day, usually Bonnie's mystery keeps me going during the duration. Writing up this post made me realize that I enjoy the sew-along aspects more than the mystery. I'm always fascinated by what everyone is doing with their projects and how they are the same yet so different.
The projects are large and do require quite a bit of fabric, I would feel differently about it if I had to go out and buy all the yardage. She does give recommendations on making half the number of units to make a smaller project. Bonnie's normal style is quite scrappy, this is a great time to use up little bits and pieces and fat quarters and such.
Likewise. it is hard to commit when you don't know whether or not whether you are going to like it. Bonnie's style is not my style, nor are her construction techniques but she has style and people love her projects. I have all the rest of the year to work in my style, and I'm actually finding it rather freeing to give over the design decisions to someone else, and that the few times I really am not so happy with my fabric decisions or whatever -- hey, it's a mystery and some things are going to happen for good and for bad. Plus any scrappy project, things happen but when you step back they are usually just fine.
Some people prefer to watch the mystery as it happens and then decide whether or not to make the project. Non-participants and lurkers are welcome posters too. Personally, I enjoy the push of doing it real time as well as having some surprises in the design. Honestly, 2020 was a hard year for me in many ways. I had a bit of a breakdown at the end of the year and I didn't finish in real time but I was able to complete it on a slower time line, not everyone is first to be done
While we are being truthful, there are a lot of Bonnie Hunter UFOs out there, mystery or otherwise. It happens for all sorts of reasons. We are here in quilting fellowship for encouragement and support and hopes of completed quilts. So welcome! Whether it is back (this will be my third in a row) or for your first mystery/first Bonnie Hunter, or just for the quilt party. Bonnie Hunter (on her site) as well as our participants here always have awesome stuff to share.
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