Quiltingboard Forums - #12 Mystery Quilt Train Ride

Hello, all! So glad to be able to get this train ride on track for another mystery. Sorry for the delays, but it took longer for my broken arm to mend and get rehabbed that I thought. So, welcome aboard, all new and returning passengers. I think this quilt will appeal to all skill levels, from confident beginners to those experienced quilters. We are going to be making a table runner but if you have double the material, or quadruple, or more, you will be able to make a large quilt. The table runner I am doing will be about 16” x 52, which includes borders. This can also be made into a table topper, small wall hanging, or a baby quilt using the amount of fabric I will have you gather together. I was asked about making this a lap quilt – yes, make four times the number of blocks for about a 52” square.

This train ride will last another 3 weeks, ending on March 19. New clues will be posted here in the Blocks of the Week and Month section, under this same posting -- #12 Mystery Quilt Train Ride -- and will be posted by 8:00 a.m. Pacific standard time. Bookmark this page for ease of finding it each Saturday.

I know there are those of you out there who are nervous about scrappy. I am making a very controlled scrappy which I am sure will convert some of you to scrappy quilts. And the only reason I am calling this a scrappy at all is because it used small amounts of 13 different fabrics. DON’T PANIC!!! It will go together easily, I promise. And you WILL NOT have any trouble deciding on your colors.
Let’s make this simple -- You will need the following: ¼ yard of EACH of the 13 fabrics, designed as A through M. A fat quarter will work if you don’t want to use WOF yardage. Plus border and binding to be determined when runner is finished.

I would be best to keep your selections in tiny prints, small prints, mottles, tone on tone and solids. Use a solid for E.

I have color in the A B C D, white for E, and neutrals for the rest.
I do suggest all lights for the F-I fabrics. I chose 4 light fabrics ranging from light to medium-light.
I kept in a family of colors for the J through M colors. For example, I have used browns, but you can use blue, green, black, etc. You don’t need to have the same family but have them go from medium to dark.
For E fabric, make sure you have good contrast between the E and D.

For the border I used another fabric entirely, and it is a solid but you do whatever looks best when you assemble the runner. You will need 4 WOF of the width you need for your border. I cut my strips at 2-1/2” so needed 10” but you can make yours smaller or larger. For the binding, I made mine matching but you can use whatever you wish to use. I am not saying what I used, as I decided at the last minute on a color. This will take another 4 WOFs.

So, go rooting in your stash, take a trip to your favorite fabric store, or do a combination of both! As always, I will be on the thread a few times a day if you have any questions. Have a great week and see you next Saturday morning with the first of the cutting.