What to tell you about this design....hmmmmmm...well, nothing really. It's very basic units...nothing you can't do...only one real "head's up"...you absolutely must watch your 1/4" seams!!!!
For those who haven't done one of my mysteries before, what follows is the basic information that I give for all my mysteries. I will be spelling out everything from what size to cut your fabric to when to sew each section to which way to press your seams. If you do not follow the instructions carefully, you will not end up with the same outcome that I did. My instructions may seem picky at times, but I assure you that they do work.
The first place to start is with your fabric...this quilt will need 4 fabrics: a neutral, and a group of 3 fabrics in the same color family for your light, medium and dark to create the shadow effect clearly. These fabrics do not have to a Light or a Medium or a Dark...just a run of fabrics that shade from Light to Dark. You want to keep these 3 fabrics to the Dark end of the spectrum...anything too light will spoil the effect of the design.
Neutral Fabric: you will want this to be a real neutral...a white, WOW, cream or...you could use a "barely" colored fabric in you color family, but this needs to be very much lighter than your light. All graphics will show the Neutral Fabric as "white".
Light Fabric: your light fabric should not be "busy". If it has too much of a design you will lose the pattern of the blocks when they are joined. I recommend a plain ro tone-on-tone, or a print with mostly background and a small amount of print. All graphics will show the Light Fabric as "light blue".
Medium Fabric: this fabric is going to the most used fabric in your quilt...so be very sure you like it! I recommend using a tone-on-tone or something with a bit of texture, but no "busy" fabric. All graphics will show the Medium Fabric as "blue".
Dark Fabric: your dark fabric should be dark...again, I recommend a texture, but not "busy". All graphics will show the Dark Fabric as "royal/navy blue".
Let's get to the information you really need...the basic information about the quilt, how much fabric you need and the cutting instructions. The units marked as "HST" are for making Half-Square Triangles. My method is to cut a square...stitch both sides of the diagonal...and cut apart to make 2 HSTs...and then square up to correct size. If you would prefer to use a different method, wait until you receive the section that creates those units to cut your fabric. I use the same method for QSTs...Quarter-Square Triangles.
OK...now you have 6 days to search your stash or go shopping. I am also going to give you another option for the weekend...I have set up a maillist so that you all can talk to each other...regardless of what other maillists that you are on. Click on the link below to join for the weekend...I do not delete the list until the next mystery, but it seems to only generate a large amount of email over the weekend and the few days following...then it tapers off to just a few a day for a couple of weeks as folks finish their quilts...please join us!!!
For those that were on the maillist from the last mystery...everyone has been deleted. I need you to start over in order to get an accurate count of how many are participating. If anyone needs help getting signed up...just email me .
So...you should have all the information that you need...I'll see you all at 10am EST on March 3!!!
