I enjoy participating in Bonnie Hunter's winter mystery every year. If those words are foreign to you, you can find out more about this mystery quilt along on her blog: quiltville.blogspot.com
I've learned a lot over the past several years when doing these mysteries. Time management, family management (kitchen is CLOSED when I'm working on a clue), color theory, accuracy in my piecing, and many other tips and tricks as the project moves along. I even have a quilting bee that meets every week when the clues are coming out so we can share ideas, tips, and maybe a few frustrations.
I still haven't finished Grassy Creek from last year. All the pieces are done, but it needs layout and finishing. I'm going to try and do a little bit on that one each time I do a clue for this one. At least that way progress will be made on both. Who knows? Maybe both will end up being done at the same time!
This is my 4th mystery with Bonnie and I wasn't confident enough to change anything until now! This year I'm going to make mine 1/2 the size, so it will be a wall hanging or large table topper. I'm also mixing up the colors a bit (I know, I'm a rebel).
These are my colors choices for this year:
Another quilter I love is Gudrun Erla from GE Designs. On her recent Tipsy Tuesday (11/2/2021) she did a fabric pull of the colors Bonnie recommends and then she pulled alternative colors. I loved some colors from both options, so I decided to combine them. My favorite fabrics here are the crimson and the yellow pebbles. Also, isn't that background fun? It's white with very light gray leaves all over. I love a good theme, and since the theme this year is flowers, I thought the leaves would stick with the theme.
All my BH mystery quilts have had some typography fabric in them, and that is missing this year. Never fear, though, I have a plan to include it! I'm going to use a typography print for the backing. That will satisfy my need to stick to my "rules".
We never know what a mystery quilt will look like until it's done, but I'm going to try to alternate my colors as they come up. So, when Bonnie says to use pink (lavender for me) I will make some pieces from 1 fabric and some from the other. In the end my hope is I will have alternating blocks to put in the finished quilt. We'll see. I will certainly have just a little variety in my pieces and extra fabric leftover so I can match colors at the end.
I'm looking forward to the first clue coming out on Black Friday! Since I'm only doing half the pieces this year, maybe my family will be better fed.
Will you be joining me as we take a mysterious walk down this Rhododendron Trail?