Mystery Quilt Tips

I usually wind up getting myself into trouble by procrastinating, but occasionally it pays off. Some of you shared with me where you had trouble in the directions for the mystery quilt; and because I procrastinated starting it, I had the benefit of knowing where I might want to deviate from the pattern and use my own construction methods. My methods often differ from the patterns I'm using, and they may also be more time consuming. But they achieve the accuracy I want in my piecing, so I thought I'd share a couple things that worked for me for the mystery quilt. If you've already made yours, perhaps you'll find an idea here that will help with another project.

In Barb's introduction to her quilt, she said her mission was "to get us to stretch ourselves while enjoying the journey". I am of the same mindset, meaning that if we are to become better quilters, I think we occasionally need to extend ourselves a bit and try something new or more challenging. If you like the mystery quilt, consider trying at least one block. It may not be as difficult as you think; and even if the block turns out terribly or you don't like the result, you surely will have learned something new, and that makes you a better quilter.

One side note: there are a lot of different skill levels in our group, so I assumed nothing. Each step is spelled out as clearly as I know how. Please let me know if there's a question.

Tip #1 - Make one block before cutting up all your fabric.

This isn't usually an option with a mystery quilt, but if you're just getting started like me, you might consider cutting out enough pieces for just one block. Then you can see if the pattern goes together correctly, and you can evaluate color choices and sewing methods. Using a different method of construction frequently necessitates altering my cutting instructions as well, so I need to know that before I get too far into it. This is actually a good tip for most any project. Only took me 15 years to learn that.

Tip #2 - the quarter triangle units in Part 1.

The first place where people seemed to run into trouble was in the last step of Part 1, the construction of the 16 quarter triangle units. The problem was that after all three triangles were sewn together, folks found they had no seam allowance left at the tip of the light colored triangle. I didn't have the slightest idea how to line up the triangles for sewing either, so I made myself a couple of templates. Here's what I did.

Cut a square out of freezer paper, 3" x 3". The freezer paper is important here.

Cut the square on the diagonal once. You now have two freezer paper templates.

Draw the sewing lines on both templates, 1/4" away from the cut edge. Now iron one template to the wrong side of one of your dark colored triangles and the other template to the wrong side of your light colored triangle.

Flip the light colored triangle onto the dark triangle, right sides together. Place a pin through the corners of the templates, making sure the pin goes straight down. Flip it over and look at the back and make sure it goes through the corresponding corner on the other side. Pin in place.

At this point, you can do one of two things. You can either stitch right through the paper on the seam line, or you can simply use it as a visual aid to see how to pin and sew the rest of your units. I sewed through the freezer paper on the first set only. I left the freezer paper on that first set, then used it as a visual for the placement of the rest of my units.

If you elect to sew through the paper, you can peel the foundation papers off afterwards and iron them to a new set of triangles. The beauty of freezer paper is that you can reuse it multiple times. You'll lose the seam allowance of your paper, but you shouldn't have any trouble lining it up on the next set of triangles.

Once you've sewn the seams for all 16 sets, press to the dark side.

Next I took my visual aid and peeled the freezer paper off only the dark triangle and ironed it to the back of my second dark triangle. Your visual aid should still have freezer paper on the back of the light colored triangle. Flip the second dark triangle over, right sides together, and align the corners with a straight pin as before.

Sew the seam. Again, press to the dark side. Finish the remaining units the same way.

When both seams are sewn, you should have that all important quarter inch seam allowance at the tip of the light colored triangle.

Tomorrow, tip #3.