Tuesday 6 January 2015

Mystery Progress

I finished one of my New Year's mysteries today.  I really like how this top came together. Scrappy reds & whites, with one common black. The pattern is lovely - and I'm glad I didn't bail on the project when I read the cutting directions.  All those little tiny 1" squares were separately cut - but I held off and managed to strip piece the 9-patch and 4-patch blocks, which greatly simplified the process, and reduced the cutting immensely.

I haven't decided if it needs a narrow white border to finish it off. The design ends here, but I'm worried that the small squares on the outside round will be partially eaten up by the binding (I usually attach binding with about 3/8 seam rather than 1/4).  I do have enough of a couple of the whites to do a solid 3" border in a single fabric.

And that finish meant that my design wall was finally free to play with Bonnie's Grand Illusion reveal.  I put up a few of the pieces I made, just to take a look at it.  I'm pretty happy with how my colours are all playing together. And the non-scrappy white, black, and yellow I think help the design show through.  I was a bit worried about my aqua, because I ran out of scrappiness after making the original pieces.  But cutting all the cornerstones out of a single aqua really works I think.  (yes, two of the pieces are turned wrong. I've fixed that)

I tried a couple of other options, that a few other quilters have decided to use. But neither of them has the same impact as the original design in my eyes.  Of course - Bonnie knows what she's doing :)
option 1
I made about 1/2 the blocks, so after adding a few additional broken dishes units I have enough for 12 squares.  I haven't checked check the green sashing or the border blocks yet, but I think I like this size, so I'll just make whatever extras I need when I get to those sections.

Drop by Quiltville to see more Grand Illusions.

option 2

5 comments:

  1. Yup, 1st one needs border(s) - you will loose the black squares without it, And it looks good by the way!! Bordering it will just make it rock!!! Excellent job!!!

    And I also agree with you on the Grand quilt of Bonnie's making that you have created! It looks good by the way, proud of you for staying caught up, That was my plan but it did not work out that way so,......... And yes, the 1st pic of it my favorite lay out of the pieces too.

    now I am thinking I should get back into my sewing room to get more done on mine!!!!

    Thanks for the inspiration!!!

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  2. I agree..... the 1st one needs a narrow whit border. I think I'd bind it in white, too, so the black squares float

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  3. Nice job on both mysteries!

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  4. I'm doing the 4x3 layout too, and my calculations show that the inner border needs to be slightly larger and I'm going to have to fudge the pieced border slightly. I think I'm going to go with it anyway but option 2 would be to just have a solid border and use the units I already made for something else. I'm not as far with the piecing though.

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  5. Two beautiful mysteries! Another vote for an extra white border on the first one.

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