Lighthouse Inn Mystery Reveal

For the second year in a row, my favorite quilting project of the entire summer has been another mystery quilt by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr. of Modern Quilt Studio. Last year it was the Summer Camp Mystery, and today I am sharing my version of their Lighthouse Inn Modern Mystery.

Lighthouse Inn quilt top

57.5" x 82"

It all started with choosing a color palette. We needed two distinct groups of fabrics, twelve lighter and twelve darker. The bundle offered by Modern Quilt Studio included a whole rainbow of colors and an off-white background. I decided to go with a more limited range, sticking to the colors of the sunset with Kona navy as my background. (You might notice that I've shown lots more than 12 fabrics in each group.)

We started making blocks on June 1st, with new clues posted on a weekly basis. Each week we made multiple sets of blocks with our light fabrics and matching sets of blocks (although sometimes mirror-imaged) with the darker fabrics. Here are my groups of blocks, week by week.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

After four weeks, we were done making blocks, and it was time for a "Shift Change." All of the blocks got cut in half diagonally, then each light half got stitched to a dark half to make a new block. After combining all the light halves and dark halves into new blocks, they all got trimmed down to different sizes ranging from 3.5" up to 7.25". The sizes increase evenly in 1/4" increments. . Here are all of my blocks after that part of the process was complete.

At that point, we received the final reveal of the quilt design. The blocks get set on point, graduating in size from smallest at one end of the quilt to largest at the other. Here is the layout I decided to use.

The next step was adding background strips to two sides of each block. Since every set of blocks is a different size, the background strips were also different sizes. Then to get the right look for the layout, the strips had to be sewn to the correct sides. It was a slow, painstaking process, but definitely worth it in the end. Here are all the blocks with background added, but before they got joined together.

I'm very happy with the way my quilt top turned out, and I love the vibrant colors. The navy background really sets it all off beautifully.

Finishing this quilt top was my One Monthly Goal (OMG) for August. It had been awhile since I posted a goal, and it feels great to have succeeded on this one!

If you are interested in seeing other versions of the Lighthouse Inn Mystery Quilt, you can check them out at the Lighthouse Inn Virtual Exhibition page at Modern Quilt Studio. There are also lots of posts with photos and discussions of the process at the Facebook page for Modern Quilt Studio. They had many participants in this mystery, and you will be blown away by the variety of quilts people have made. I can't wait to see what Weeks and Bill come up with for their next mystery!

Linking up with:

Modern Quilt Studio Facebook page

Lighthouse Inn Virtual Exhibition at Modern Quilt Studio

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

One Monthly Goal at Stories from the Sewing Room

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA