Have you ever pieced a mystery quilt? Its a lot of fun. I’ll be spending a day working on a new on Sat at the Jewish Community Center with members of the Great Lakes Heritage Quilt Guild. I’ve never been to this facility but I hear a lot of good things about it. It a full day of piecing with friends.

If you’ve never done a mystery quilt its well worth doing. At sign up I received the fabric requirements and some instruction on cutting to have ready when I arrive on Sat. I will be given instructions one step at a time & then the next after I complete the one before. I’ve several of these in the past and its really hard to know what the final blocks will look like until you are doing the last step in the block construction. Its a lot of fun to see all the different fabric choices people use.

The Jewish community center is a nice sized facility and we should have a lot of space to spread out and work. The fee for the day covers our breakfast and lunch, the room and the pattern. They will set up pressing stations and has tables available so we don’t have so much to bring.

Here is a photo of my fabrics before and after preparing them. I think there will be some kind of star but there is no way to know? We could be cross cutting these pieces again. I’ll post photos of the blocks when the mystery is over and hopefully I’ll get some quilt photos of some other quilt tops to share too.

Have a great day!

This is one of my least favorite things to do but it’s really one of the key things to keep my quilt flat and accurately pieced. The Disappearing 9 patch I’m working on does not have points to worry about so its fairly easy to square up the blocks.

Today I saw a video that was a quick refresher on how to square up a block both with and without points.  I want to share that link with you.  OnPoint Videos  They also have some other good videos you might enjoy seeing.

I do love refreshing on techniques and quite often there are new notions that help make the process easier.

Now I better get back to work. Next post will have a photo!

Judy made this large mans quilt full of fun prints of favorite things. The quilting design is Aqua Flame by Hermione Agee.  The thread it a dark grey. She chose Hobbs Poly-down batting to keep the quilt light weight but warm and to show quilting definition. What a fun bright quilt for a guy!

This is a cute simple nautical wallhanging by Kathy. The design is Carla Barretts Basic Swirl Flourish.

Molly’s Trip Around the World quilt, quilted with Gypsy Feathers allover (for designer info check my digital designs category). Molly chose a dark green thread and Hobbs Poly-down batting. This vintage piece included many different types of fabric from flannel, silky, homespun, heavy broadcloth and has been waiting a long time to be finished.

This is a Mystery quilt I pieced back in 2009. It was a Mystery quilt by Debbie Caffrey called Sweet Memories. This is part of my out of the closet effort to get some of my quilt tops quilted. The background fabric is a mint green, it photo’d a little off color. The quilting design is Feather Flower Allover by Darlene Epp. Darlene Epp taught some of the first designs I was exposed to as a quilter. She sold a small notebook of freehand designs for quilting ideas before computerized machines were developed. I still love her designs.  I quilted on Warm & Natural batting and used a pale blue thread. The backing is blue vines, a wide backing by Wilmington.

This is a great pattern for fabrics you want to see a larger piece of.  It also makes up really fast!  The following The first two quilts are MaryAnn’s and the third quilt is one I made from the same pattern.  The design on the first quilt is Espalier by Lorien with Hobbs Wool batting.

The next quilt has Lovely Leaves allover design by Crystal Smythe & Hobbs wool batting.

The last quilting design is Zepher by Lorien Quilting & Hobbs 80/20 batting.

Same pattern & three very different looks.

This is one of my quilts. The pattern is called Old Glory (probably because the designer used red, white & blue fabrics). The name seems off since I changed fabrics & colors. The quilting design is Window Pane by Kristin Hoftyzer. I used a taupe/grey thread & Hobbs Polydown batting. The backing is a very soft flannel. This is going on my sofa.

Happy New Year!

Thank you to my customers in 2015! I’ve enjoyed quilting all of your quilts. It’s a pleasure to see the beautiful tops that come through my studio. There are so many I would love to make but I cannot get to. Instead, I get to live through all of those brought in for quilting. I love to see the different patterns and fabric combinations. I also love to see the growth in many of those that I quilt for. I thank you for letting me quilt for you.

I will will be taking time off and will start taking appointments again January 4th, 2016 .

I hope you had a great holiday and have a Happy New Year!

This is Connie’s Fairy Tale Lane Quilt. Aren’t the coneflower fabrics adorable?  The quilting design is Purple Meadow by Patricia Ritter and Karen Thompson. The thread is a yellow gold & batting is Quilters Dream Select. The backing is a flannel chevron print. This is going to be a great gift.