I decided at the last minute to jump in & participate in Bonnie Hunter’s annual mystery quilt. The last few years have revealed striking quilts that made me wish I had joined in (or at least downloaded the files), even though it wasn’t practical for me.
I’m not sure it’s practical this year but it seems fun & Fort Worth Fabric Studio had “stash builder kits” which came with a variety of fabrics in Bonnie’s color way that required you to only add a few fabrics from your stash. Bonnie gives out the color way around Halloween and references paint chips from Lowe’s or a quilters color tool for guidance. Lowe’s is not convenient to me & surprisingly enough I don’t own the color tool, so the kit seemed like an easy way for me to realistically participate. I did need to buy some more fabrics. This year calls for quite a bit of orange that I don’t have in my stash, so I rounded out the kit after a visit to Fabric Place Basement (one of my new favorite local fabric stores).
Clue #1 was revealed on Black Friday & consisted of making a boatload of 4-patches in red & neutral fabrics. Neutrals are always difficult for me to choose & I end up choosing all white on white or all cream or all gray- it’s difficult for me to mix them, even though I know the mixing adds more texture and interest in a quilt. This made me grateful for the kit as they chose several neutrals I never would have & thus helped me stretch. The 4-patches went quickly, despite there being so many. I followed Bonnie’s directions to the letter & learned the new technique of cutting the 4-patches together, definitely a technique I will carry over to other projects.
Linking up with Quiltville for Mystery Quilt Step 1
Looks like you have made a good start to the mystery! I watched a few before I jumped in and did one. It is a lot of fun.