Mystery Quilt

I'm going to start my blog with the last quilt I finished recently. This was made for one of the challenges for the Welsh heritage quilters 2012 exhibition to be held later this year at the Minerva Centre, Llanidloes Powys. This was a mystery quilt, and if you are a control freak, as I am, can provide you with unimaginable stress. I promised myself before starting that I would stop as soon as I messed up. 

Instructions


1. Make a centre block 12.5 inch square. I interpreted this as requiring 1 square of a lovely material. So I used the last precious square of Japanese material. This decision was not easy. 

2. Half triangle squares - no problem.


3. Squares and rectangles
To add interest I placed the previous blocks on point. So far, so good.

4. A border with applique 
This is not my favourate technique, Imagine my horror  at this point. I tried to devise a way of minimising the amount of applique needed and used very few applique shapes. I collected a few branches from the Oak tree across the road with some dead leaves attached and I was on my way (no need to make templates - dry various sized leaves flat and use them to draw on the material - if you loose your templates go and get some more).

5. Pieced blocks
I had a quick way of sewing this block so there was no problem. 


6. Now - a round of STARS (to quote the instruction) 
STARS?? 
How are stars going to blend into this quilt and make sense? This will be my Waterloo. After measuring the quilt border I realised that any block would have to be 12 inches square to fit around the quilt. Quilters reading this will realise that this would increase the final size by 24 inches! I chose Ohio star as the block because I could manipulate the colours into a secondary pattern.


The border required 5 different blocks, so it was necessary to draw this on graph paper and to try to follow it accurately. Obviously mistakes can only be seen and appreciated when the quilt has been tacked together!

So it was crunch time. I took a long hard look at the finished quilt top and found something deeply unsatisfying about the quilt. I did what any good quilter worth her salt would at this stage and put it to one side to forget it, and move on.


Two months later, after a cursory glance, I realised that it could be improved and unpicked a part on each side of the borders, twisted it, and sewed it back together.


Transformation. I could live with this. The backing was purchased from nearby Calico Kate  while I was on a high and sandwiched using polyester batting.


Quilting started immediately - in the ditch as well as echo quilting in straight lines. Simple quilting was required so that there would be no distractions on viewing the final quilt.


Binding in a dark contrasting fabric.


Finished. Never again!