Quiltingboard Forums - #14 Mystery Quilt Train Ride

Welcome all new riders and returning passengers to our 14th mystery! This train ride will last another 3 weeks, ending on October 1. New clues will be posted here in the Blocks of the Week and Month section, under this same posting -- #14 Mystery Quilt Train Ride -- and will be posted by 8:00 a.m. Pacific time. Bookmark this page for ease of finding it each Saturday. I think this quilt will appeal to all skill levels, from confident beginners to those experienced quilters. Many new participants to my mystery quilt may wonder why I give detailed photos and instructions. They are for those who may need a little reminder. We are going to be making a table runner that will measure approximately 19” by 48”
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As you know, I usually design my own mysteries. However, a friend showed me an old block. (Fun story about this block that I will share on the last week.) I made the block and turned it into a small wall hanging, and decided it would be perfect for a mystery. (My friend had agreed it could make a good mystery.)

Today you will be choosing fabric. Originally, I had planned to make a wall hanging but wanted to sew from my stash. Nothing in all those bins of fabric was either big enough (I have a LOT of scraps) or didn't appeal to me enough that I wanted to look at it every day, so therefore, we are making a runner. However, I think this pattern is unusual and beautiful. If someone wants to make 3 times the number of blocks this mystery will give directions for, you will have a good-sized and striking wall hanging, or make four times the number of blocks and it could be a lap quilt.

All fabrics are WOF, 42” useable fabric. I have given you a few extra inches to allow for squaring up your pieces. A B C and E are batiks. D is a very light tone on tone. Naturally, you don’t need to use a monotone collection of fabrics.( I am going to make a Christmas runner for my sister, and those fabrics are shown in the last picture)

I suggest small to medium prints. Although the A print of the batik and Christmas looks big, it will work because it is so busy. Meaning – not a lot of white space.

A – I used a dark – this will be the focus fabric in the quilt, and even though it is not the largest piece, it will show up the most. 18 “. Feel free to be dramatic with this print!
B - medium print – ¾ yard
C - medium-light print – 1/3 yard
D – light – ¼ yard
E – dark dark – 7” -
F – binding – 4 strips WOF depends on the width you like for your binding.

Since I didn’t have enough for sashing and binding, I used 2 additional fabrics that went well with the batiks. You may want to wait until the end to decide on whether you want to repeat a fabric or two from the quilt for these things, or if you want to add in some additional fabrics. Your quilt, your choice! I’ve had these brown/black batiks for a while and never wanted to cut into them but this seemed like a good project for them. It will be a gift for me, as I don’t have any more of the fabric, not a give-away when my daughter says, “Oh, I like that soooo much!”