You may or may not know that Bonnie Hunter, the queen of Quiltville, does a mystery quilt every year. She starts with color swatches and yardage amounts on the day after Halloween and gives us our first clue on the day after Thanksgiving. I learned recently that she chooses this time line for quilters who need something to keep them busy over the holidays. This is about my third Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt.
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| This is my first MQ (2020) Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables |
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This is my second MQ (2021) Rhododendron Trail
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As with the previous two years quilts I am only doing a half size quilt. Half size is plenty big enough for one of her intricate quilt designs. (If I saw the pattern before I started the quilt I am sure I would never buy it.) That said I have purchased about 5 of her books.
The suggested colors this year were tangerine, purple, teal and her famous neutrals (lights). They didn't thrill me which made me curious because those are all colors I love. I started pulling fabrics but soon changed my mind. My favorite color is yellow and my favorite pair of fabrics are blue and green and my favorite motif is stars.
What could be better than...
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| First color choice. |
Well this could be better!
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| Final Color choice. |
I found the black starry fabric under a few other bolts in my quilt room and it was 4 yards which was Bonnie's requirement for her "neutrals". So this year my neutrals will be dark instead of light.
The first clues...
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| Clue number 3 |
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| Clue number 2 |
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| Clue number 1 |
These are the first three clues. At this point we have NO IDEA how they will go together! That is when I start sewing my off-cuts from Clue 2 together to make little scrappy blocks. The middles are 1.5" and 1.75" so I surround them in order to make them a little bigger. It passes the time left after I finish each clue.
Clue 4 comes out the day before christmas. It is sashing and some squares which allow me to put part of Clue 1 and Clue 3 together to make this! In order to have enough of the green color I have three different greens in the center squares. Colorway three is a replacement for one of my original greens.
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| Clue 4, colorway one |
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| Clue 4, Colorway Two |
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| Clue 4, Colorway three |
So now we are all wondering what the heck Bonnie plans to do with all those Clue 2 units we made. We are doomed to keep wondering. Clue 5 comes out on January 1, 2023 and we are using part of Clue 1 and making half square triangle units and large squares to surround Clue 4. Unfortunately I am unhappy by the way the yellow squares dominate the block.
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| clue 5 the Bonnie way. |
I make some attempts to soften the yellow... this one seems even stronger.
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| Nope not this one. |
Second attempt...Maybe a different color? This one looses the pattern because the colors are too similar.
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| Nope, not this one either. |
I decide to be patient and wait and see what Clue 6 has to offer. At this point I am still working with Bonnie's positioning of the half square triangles around the yellow squares. It frames the center with an 'on point' square shape. But some quilters are changing their position. It creates a star design.
WAIT!
A STAR DESIGN?
Look at that fabric Nancy!!!
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| A star! Yes! |
But those yellow squares? What if I...
To be continued... ;-)
hugs,
Nancy
Thanks for sharing your journey with this design. Anxiously awaiting your choices to resolve the "clunky square wagon wheel with squares" that stuck out to me in many of the other quilts posted for this pattern.
ReplyDeleteDawnB