Red Snowflake - Seven Day Mystery Quilt Reveal

As a part of Finish Fest, I have finished the Seven Day Mystery Quilt, which currently has the creative name Red Snowflake.

I enjoyed every part of making this quilt, even parts that might have been frustrating in the past.  The fabric selection was quick and easy - pick a fabric and a background.  Making the blocks was enjoyable.  Maximum of four easy blocks, with easy directions.  Putting them together was easy and fun, solving a mystery made it more interesting.  The straight line quilting with all its turns was still fun, because I was highlighting the snowflake and looking forward to the free  motion afterwards.  The free motion quilting also moved along easily. I used a generic darning foot and it worked wonderfully. I think I will be using more generic feet with this machine.  The brand name ones are crazy expensive.

Thank you Rose of Threadbare Creations, for this great mystery and pattern.

Presenting it is the hardest part. Besides the fact that it is dark and rainy outside, Blogger didn't want to accept my photos.

Future historians aren't going to know how to take this quilt. Of course they will be looking over and analyzing my work. Some of them will say, "no Shasta didn't make this; she tends to add things to simple modern quilts to make them less modern." Others will say, "yes she did make it.  See this lump? This was made before she learned how to make proper bindings."

This quilt is versatile. It fits right at home with my other modern quilts.

It fits with the Christmas quilts. 

And it fits with the red and white quilts.  I remember saying of my last small quilt finish that it was the biggest small quilt I had made. I don't remember which one that was so I can't compare, but I think this one is bigger. It crowds out the other quilts so there is no danger of it having a permanent place on the bulletin board.

I looked it up. It was the Irish chain.  I'm sure it would look good with that too!

It looks good with the Valentine's Day quilt.

Linked to:

 Scraphappy Saturday. Even though it is red and white, it looks pink from a distance, and has a pink backing.

Finish Fest

It's October already, and the goal for this week is to finish things.  Look at the to-do list on the calendar and put a check mark besides as many things as possible.  I must resist the temptation to add new things to the list as I check off old ones.

Wash dishes, check.
Replace burnt out light bulbs, check.

I have to admit I added those two things just so I could check them off!

I am not going to bore you with the household items on the list, but the list does include sandwiching some quilts, quilting some quilts, and binding some quilts.  Yes, each of these steps is listed for each of the quilts, so I can get lots of checkmarks! Just sandwiching quilts will be a big accomplishment in getting them ready for the next phase, and will result in less work for me to do in the future.

The sandwiching of the seven day mystery quilt is done, and quilting has commenced.  I have finished the walking foot portion - outlining all of the points, and will do some free motion work in the background areas. This is similar to what Anne Ida did. It would  have been easier to do everything by free motion, but I still get nervous with starting free motion quilting, so having a small area to do that way makes me feel better. The pink backing fabric was a leftover when I used it as a backing fabric for another quilt, and was just the right size for this quilt.

Waiting in the wings are the present boxes (front) and the Adinkra (back) quilts.  I have made enough blocks for the present boxes to make a quilt, and am deciding whether to make more blocks for a bigger quilt. I'm not sure that more will make it any better. I have leftover starters which might wind up being a separate, possibly simpler, red and white quilt.

Linked to:
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts. I don't have a design wall, but my current quilt doesn't need one, being under the needle.

The Mystery is Revealed

I had a great time following the seven day mystery from Threadbare Creations!

On day one, we got barely a morsel of a clue. Four patches. And I showed them to you with even less detail, to keep the mystery for those who wanted to follow along. I didn't do any of the homework assignments. It isn't safe for me to have cut pieces around and expect me to be able to find them later.

I chose to make mine in red and white even though she recommended blue and white, so I can build up my red and white collection. With my luck it is something that won't work in anything but blue and white, but what could it be? Even faces can be made with purple and other colors.

On day two, we made four of these cute little blocks, and I decided that I had chosen well in following along with this mystery:

I wondered if the quilt would be put on point. On day three, we made four of these blocks, and even though it made me think we might not, I still thought it might be put on point. I liked that there would be directional movement in the quilt. Hmm, four of each. Seems like there might be a block missing. Maybe the center block.

On day four, we made four of these blocks. How adorable are these?!  They definitely will serve well as corner pieces.

On day 5, we made four of these blocks.  This isn't completely sewn, but it looks like a great cross so I wanted to show you.

One day six, we made the center block.  I also tried out some layouts.

In this layout, I put the day two pieces on the inside. Note that the airplane / sword looking pieces are facing out.

The corner pieces are also facing out.

In this layout, I alternated the day two link blocks with the sword. Day six is also the day I forgot how to follow the directions.  It made sense to have the red pieces in the corner to follow the diagonal. That center block isn't supposed to look like an H.  I decided to wait until the reveal to decide whether it was a design choice or a mistake.




On day seven, I decided I liked the plus better than the H, so I made some alterations, one side at a time. When I fixed one side, it looked like a Y.  An H and a Y for Happy!

It looks like a nice plus sign with the second alteration and the whole quilt can be pieced. Those triangle pieces all face inward, not outward. How interesting!

It looks like there are four keys leading to the center.  And four kites or four roads leading to home. Yes, I see that one of my roads is different from the others. But that is perfectly all right, because all snowflakes are different from each other.

It is a snowflake. A red snowflake!  The fabric looks great as a snowflake, because it adds a lacy effect.   I'm not sure it still looks like a snowflake in red, but I really like the design and am really happy with it.

I really liked that Rose had us strip piece so much, and we were preparing for blocks that were coming up. It is irritating when we are made to do things the hard way. When I strip piece, I usually only do one block at a time, and maybe I can think farther ahead in the future. I'm glad I did this mystery because not only did I get a beautiful quilt, I also learned something.

Thank you Rose, for a fun mystery. I will get it sandwiched and quilted before sending a quilt reveal picture.

Linked to:
Moving it Forward
Let's Bee Social

Mystery Sew Along

Ever since I finished the Adinkra top, I have wanted to start a new quilt.  My mind is racing at all the beautiful quilts I want to start. I could finish one of my many WIPs.  I could start a scrap quilt to tame the scrap box. Oh but which scrap quilt. There are so many wonderful choices.

Then I come across a blog, and Rose at Threadbare Creations has just started a short and small mystery quilt-along. A small quilt is just the perfect.  It will let me work on a brand new quilt, but because it is small, I will be able to quickly get to work on a WIP.  If she can make a quilt in 7 days, surely I can finish it within a year, right?

It is a two fabric quilt, which means it could be  a two color quilt. She used and recommends blue and white. I have blue and white quilts on my bulletin board, and while a blue and white color quilt would look great with the others, I am hoping to use a different color.   I went to the Cave of Wonder and received these two fabrics.  They will give me a chance to increase my red and white quilt collection.

The blue fabric is the backing for the Adinkra top.  I will add a strip to make it wide enough and then it will be ready to be sandwiched.

I really like this red fabric.  It might be a Walmart find, but I am not sure.

So far, I really like how it is coming together. I didn't show you the blocks in case you want to follow along too and don't want the mystery solved early.

Linked to:
Let's Bee Social