paintmejudy

Welcome to our 18th Mystery Quilt train ride. (18? Goodness, how time flies when you’re having fun.) This time, our train ride will be making stops at 4 weekly destinations, a new clue each Saturday morning with the final clue given Feb. 24. You will begin cutting and sewing on February 3rd. This train ride is for everyone who loves a good mystery, not just our returning passengers. Confident beginners as well as those experienced quilters should be pleased with this pattern. We all had a great time on the last mystery train ride, and hopefully this one will entertain you as well. So climb on board the train, make your way to the club car for coffee, tea and a snack and get acquainted with your fellow riders. Your returning traveling companions are a hoot, and are all willing to offer suggestions if you are unsure of how to proceed. The quilt should be fun for all, from the confident beginner to the experienced quilter.

I am making a lap quilt that measures 44” x 56” – you can add borders or more blocks to make it bigger. I haven’t decided, as of today, how to finish it with the borders, so will leave you with these dimensions. You can decide when we reach the end how you want to finish it.

You will need scraps – lots of them, the more variety, the more you will be pleased with your quilt. I have stuck to small and medium scale prints, but you can also mix in solids and stripes. I was cleaning the sewing room a week or so ago, and realized that the boxes of scraps are out of control. And neutrals that you will consider as background colors – minimum of 2.5” wide. The more neutrals, the better. However, for the main blocks I stayed away from pastel and light because your scraps will, in many places, be next to a neutral. I also used a constant for one of the pieces, to give it some cohesion. We will talk about that in a couple weeks. I think I used less than a half of a yard.

So … happy scrap diving! Will check in to see your comments, in a couple hours.