Looking for Pattern Testers and Mystery Lovers

Your response has been great; the Mystery is on!

If you are new to this blog here is the latest.  I am releasing a new pattern in September 2017; while I am putting it together I will be running the pattern as a mystery.  The quilt is based on the blocks in my 1937 Malaga friendship quilt, with additional blocks from quilting books published in the 1930s.  You do not need to sign up for the mystery, the weekly instructions will be on this blog with a link to the Facebook page.  I would appreciate your feedback on the blocks and you have permission to point out any mistakes.

The first blocks will be on the blog next Friday Australian time, which will be late Thursday North America time.

• The blocks are all traditional pieced blocks. If you have been making sew along blocks over the past few months they can be included.  There are no applique blocks or difficult blocks.
• The quilt is small.  The finished size is 36 x 42 inches - if you add a six inch border then the finished size is 48 x 54 inches (a good size for bunk beds).
• 1930s prints are just right, fat quarters are good, layer cakes are fine.  You will need about 1.25 yards/metres or background material and about 1.5 yards/metres of prints and solids.  The pattern will suit a scrappy collection of fabrics. You will also need fabric for any borders and the backing.
• The mystery should run for about 10 weeks. 

These are the new fabrics that I am going to use, I am adding them to my current collection of 1930s feedsack prints.

For my background I am going to use those five solids in the photo.  The feedsack prints do not have a wide range of tonal quality ie. light to dark, so I am providing contrast with print and solid as well as colour. Another option is to use white as a background for every block.

White as background; solids as background

Please share the mystery on your social media, the more the merrier.  If you have any questions put them in the comments.  See you next week!

A Quilt Show and a Mystery

Our patchwork group has just finished our bi-annual quilt show. The new gigantic cover photo shows my Chester Criswell and Malaga 1937 which had their first public outing.

We changed venue this year. The space was new to us so the set-up time was longer, but we had twice as many visitors as our previous show.  Our group has 25 members and we only show quilts that have been finished in the last two years.  We hung a total of 173 quilts!

This is my chimney sweep swap, with reproduction blocks made by friends at Quilts in the Barn / Wonga Park.

Ryan turns three next month, this is his big bed quilt.


Now that the quilt show is done and dusted .....

Are you ready for a mystery?

The blog posts over the last few months have shown blocks inspired by the Malaga 1937 friendship quilt.  Some people have been sewing along, some have been reading the stories.  I have been trying out layouts and ideas and have finally decided what the finished quilt is going to be.

I plan to release the pattern (and stories) in September 2017. I thought it might be fun to run the blocks as a mystery from May to August.  Weekly deadlines keep me on track, and you can all be pattern testers as well as getting the instruction for free. 

If you are interested please leave a comment below.  This isn't a binding commitment, you can always make as few or as many blocks as you like.  If there is no interest I won't run the mystery ... but it might be fun.

House on the Hill

I've made a House on the Hill block now.  It's a six inch block.

It's easy compared to the Honeymoon Cottage. I also found that Ruby McKim's book 101 Patchwork Patterns is accessible on the 101 Patchwork Patterns website. You can download House on a Hill as a pdf of the original page and use the pattern to make a 12 inch block.  All the pages are available free for personal use.

Still not a good photo of my Honeymoon Cottage; the background fabric is white.  Honeymoon Cottage is also in 101 Patchwork Patterns.  Unfortunately the pattern isn't printed, you had to send away and buy the pattern for 20 cents. Material for the whole quilt was $2.95.

Honeymoon Cottage

I've been pretty happy in 1937 with feedsacks and house blocks.  But if you look in the sidebar to your left you will see a ready to be quilted Chester Criswell Quilt.  Three cheers for turkey red and green and 1852!

Carole at Wheels on the Warrandyte Bus had been always ready to post her progress on the CCCQ, and she was also a guest blogger back in 2013. Carole didn't use all of my patterns, some of the blocks pictured are her own designs. Can't wait to see it quilted!

Schoolhouse or Honeymoon Cottage?

I have written about these schoolhouse blocks in a previous post. The Malaga quilt has four in all, each one a little different.  The 19th century schoolhouse block doesn't seem to fit in a 1930s quilt, so I wondered what might be more appropriate in a feedsack quilt.

Ruby McKim has two options.  The first one is called House on the Hill.

House on the Hill is a simple house block, quite reminiscent of Schoolhouse. I haven't made this one yet. I'd like to try it as a six inch block but it might be better as a nine inch.

My preferred 1930s option is also in Ruby McKim's book, it is Honeymoon Cottage.  I first saw Honeymoon Cottage in a quilt for sale online.

The quilt was enchanting, even though the path lead to the chimney and not to the front door.  I couldn't afford to buy the quilt so I made a block of my own.

Shortly after I finished my own block I found another Honeymoon cottage online.  I could afford this one and that's it on the right.


I constructed another cottage for this current project.

(The colours aren't quite right but it's too late in the evening to fix it. The roof is blue.) The pattern is in 874 in BlockBase.  I printed it in EQ7 as 9 x 11 inches rather than 12 inches square.  I printed the pattern onto two applique wash away sheets.  I cut the pieces apart and ironed onto the back of my fabric.  Then I hand pieced the block as if it was English paper pieced.  It was a nice project to take on a long weekend away, and the end result is very neat (for me - I'm not a perfectionist).