Mystery Quilts, They’re a Complete Mystery!

I told Sunni this morning that I was doing a Mystery Quilt and that I had completed part one and was very excited. To my surprise, instead of congratulating me, she asked me what a Mystery Quilt was.  That is when I thought…maybe other quilters and sewists do not know what a Mystery Quilt is either.

Image Courtesy of: quiltbug.com

This picture is of two completed mystery quilts, these women followed the exact same directions and came up with two  completely DIFFERENT quilts!
A Mystery Quilt is a quilt project where you get only a small amount of information about the project at one time.

For example: I have decided to do the Mystery Quilt that is featured in the May/June ’11 Quiltmaker Magazine.  I learned about Mystery Quilts from family friends, a husband and wife who quilt together. One of the projects they worked on last year was the same Mystery Quilt but in two different color stories, similar to the women in the photo above.

The magazine is releasing three issues, each with various steps. Issue one focuses on fabric selection and the creating of 3 different blocks.  I have no idea what part two will be and will not find out until the next edition of the magazine is released…thus the MYSTERY!

The reason I decided to make this quilt was two-fold, one I wanted to stretch my sewing skills (and my imagination) and I also wanted to use up my stash.  I didn’t need to buy ANY fabric (not even a backing!) to make this quilt and the finished size is 56″x68″ so that is saying something!

If you are interested in joining me on the quilt along, head to your local bookstore or magazine shop and purchase the current issue of Quiltmaker or you can buy one from their website.  There is also a great article from the designer of the quilt, Debbie Caffrey, on rotary cutting techniques. I started using them while cutting this quilt and I’m already noticing a difference!

Here are the fabrics I have selected to use, the last two may change depending on my mood when part 2 comes out in the July/August ’11 issue.

Here are the blocks I whipped together for step one.  All of the cutting and sewing took me about 2 hours for part one. The hardest part was the fabric selection, which I am assuming is pretty normal with a Mystery Quilt. It can be hard to pick fabrics when you don’t have the slightest idea what you are doing with them!!!

I am so excited to see what I get to do with these bad boys!  The best part is that some of this fabric I have been holding on to since 1996 and I am finally getting to use it!!!

Do you want to join me on this mystery quilt along?  Go buy the current issue of Quiltmaker and we will sew together! There is also a great community for this project on Quilters Club of America which I joined this weekend.