A New Modern Mystery

Spoiler alert! For anyone considering doing the Modern Quilt Studio's Lighthouse Inn Mystery: if you want it to be a surprise, don't read this post. It is filled with photos of my blocks from that mystery. For everyone else, welcome to my latest project.

Last summer was my first time participating in any mystery designed by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr of Modern Quilt Studio. That was the Summer Camp Mystery, and I had a great time following along and making a quilt that I love. This is my Summer Camp quilt top, inspired by the colors of the Southwest U.S. It was completed last August and is still waiting to be quilted.

There was another MQS mystery offered in January, but I had too many other things happening at that time to take part. When the new summer mystery, the Lighthouse Inn Modern Mystery Quiltalong, was announced, I decided to jump in again. The first step was choosing fabrics. The design calls for two groups of fabrics, a lighter group and a darker group. I decided to use the colors of a sunrise combined with a navy background.

The clues for the mystery started on June 1st. Each week we've been making a set of blocks with our light fabrics and a matching set 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 of making blocks, it was time for a "Shift Change." All of the blocks get cut in half diagonally, following very specific diagrams for which direction to cut. Then each light half gets combined with a dark half to make a new block. I've barely made a start on this step. I started with some of the easiest blocks, the four-patches from Week 3.

After combining all the light halves and dark halves into new blocks, they all get trimmed down, again following very specific diagrams. This part of the mystery definitely requires a clear head and good focus. I sure don't want to cut something the wrong way and need to remake blocks. 

It's not too late to join the fun (although it might not be much of a  mystery for you.) For lots more great photos and inspiration, check out the Modern Quilt Studio Patterns and Fabrics Facebook group (you don't have to be a member.) You can find out how to join the Lighthouse Inn mystery at their website HERE.

Linking up with:

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Summer Camp Mystery Quilt Reveal

My very favorite quilting project of the entire summer has been the  Summer Camp Mystery by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr. of Modern Quilt Studio. Today is the official end of the mystery and reveal/link-up of participant's quilts. I can't wait to see them all! Here is my finished quilt top which I am calling "Sedona."

The mystery started on June 1st with the first group of block patterns, and continued with clues until July 14th. Each week we got to choose which blocks we wanted to make, averaging about 20 blocks in 4-5 different block designs per week. The blocks are small, only 5" finished size, and cutting all the pieces probably took longer than stitching the blocks. It was a challenge to keep up each week, but I loved every minute of it! Here are some of my blocks up close.

My color palette was inspired by the U.S. desert southwest, especially the red rocks around Sedona. The pattern for the mystery included three choices of quilt size to make, and at the end, we discovered that there were three different layouts to choose from too. My quilt top features the "Campfire" layout in the napping (medium) size, approximately 55" x 78". I haven't figured out a plan yet for how I want to quilt it, but it will be very simple quilting to let all the block piecing be the focus.

Indoor photo

If you are interested in seeing other versions of the Summer Camp Mystery Quilt, you can check them out at the Facebook page for Modern Quilt Studio. They had over 1000 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

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 8/6/2023

There's good news and bad news from my sewing room this week. The good news is that I have been busy joining together all those many blocks for the Modern Quilt Studio 2023 Summer Camp Mystery, and I now have a finished quilt top! The bad news is that the designers of the mystery quilt (Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr of Modern Quilt Studio) have asked us to refrain from posting photos of our quilts/tops until the official reveal date of September 1st. I'm going to give a little sneak peek in the meantime. It doesn't really look much different than earlier posts sharing some of the blocks on the background fabric.

Because this quilt top is finished, I'm finally going to include it in my stash report. I used a total of 7 yards in this top, and there was no new fabric added this week. I'm back in the black!

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                          7.0 yards

Used year to date:                   67.50 yards

Added last week:                         0.0 yards

Added year to date:                62.375 yards

Net added in 2023                5.125 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I spent the early part of the week assembling the mystery quilt, then switched over to some projects for the guild's Christmas fair.

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

7/30 - 8/5             7 of 7 days

2023 Total      207 of 217 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 7/24/2023

It has been a couple of weeks since I shared the progress on my block making for the Modern Quilt Studio 2023 Summer Camp Mystery, my primary quilting project since early June. After making about 100 blocks over five weeks of clues, I felt the need to remake some of my blocks from the earliest weeks of the mystery. My goal was to reduce the amount of teal and turquoise solids in the blocks and emphasize the rust and gold tones that fit with my color palette inspiration of the desert and Sedona, AZ. The first photo shows the blocks that are going to be remade.

The next photo shows the blocks after they were redone. These are still plenty of the blue-green fabrics included, but they are used as accents rather than the stars of the blocks, and some of the lighter turquoises were eliminated completely. It's not a huge change, but I'm much happier with the balance of colors. For some of these blocks, I was able to take apart and reuse portions of the blocks shown above, and for others I started over completely.

The final clues for the mystery were shared about ten days ago. I was expecting the reveal to show us how to put all of our blocks together, which it did, but it also included even more blocks to make. Below is my final set of blocks. 

Making these brought my total number of blocks to about 140. That included some extras of my favorite block designs, plus there are some of those reject blocks from the first photo still around. It's time for me to start getting them up on the design wall and playing with the quilt layout. I can't wait to see how it all comes together!

Check out what other quilters are working on this week at Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and at Monday Musings at Songbird Designs. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Tuesday To-Do List 7/11/2023

Welcome to another To-Do Tuesday! It's time once again to share how I did on last Tuesday's to-do list, then figure out what I'd like to get done in the week ahead. The To-Do Tuesday link-up is hosted by Carol at Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric.

The July 4th holiday got in the way of posting last week. Even with an extra week to work through my list, I ended up with fewer items checked off than I'd hoped. Maybe the next week will be better.

To-Do List for 6/27 - 7/3/2023

1. Moda Blockheads quilt top--add borders   not done

I'd planned to add the borders to this quilt top, but decided that I don't like the fabric I had previously chosen and need to buy something else.

2. A Maze Zing--make sample with Christmas fabrics   not done

3. ABC Table Scraps Challenge--finish light blue project     ✔done 

I made one placemat using leftovers from another project, plus two more placemats from orphan blocks.

4. Modern Quilt Studio Mystery--make third set of blocks   ✔done

This mystery has been consuming most of my quilting time and is the main reason that my other projects have been neglected over the past two weeks. Below are the blocks I made  most recently for Week #5. You can see many more blocks in yesterday's post HERE.

5. Rainbow Scrap Challenge 16-Patch Stars--make 2 red blocks  not done

I'm hoping to get back to some of my ongoing projects this week and be a little less obsessed with the mystery quilt. We'll see how that goes!

To-Do List for 7/11 - 7/17/2023

1. Modern Quilt Studio Mystery--remake a few blocks (change colors)

2. Rainbow Scrap Challenge 16-Patch Stars--make 2 red blocks

3. A Maze Zing--make 2 blocks (red or Christmas)

4. National Quilt Museum BOM--make Block #3

5. Guild Christmas Market--it's time to figure out what I'm going to make for this sale

That will be enough to keep me busy for the week ahead. I'll report on my progress next Tuesday, and post a new set of goals too. I'm linking up with other To-Do Tuesday lists at Quilt Schmilt.

 

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA 

Design Wall Monday 7/10/2023

After pausing my progress on the Modern Quilt Studio 2023 Summer Camp Mystery while waiting for some additional fabric to arrive, there was a major push last week in order to catch up on the weekly clues. I finished making the blocks for Weeks 3 & 4 on Friday, not long after the clues for Week 5 were posted. Here are all of my blocks so far.

Weeks 1 & 2

Weeks 3 & 4

After that second photo was posted on Facebook, there were some comments from others participating in the mystery asking about my plan for background fabric. The sandy gold fabric shown in the top photo was my original choice for the background, but someone suggested turquoise. I was intrigued by that idea (although it would mean buying more fabric, instead of using what I already have.) I decided to audition some aqua/turquoise options.

Each of these next two photos show an assortment of blocks on top of six different possible background colors. I started out with the lighter aqua choices.

My favorites in that first group were the two darker pieces on the right end. Then I moved on to even darker shades of aqua in the next group (although they don't look much different than some in the previous group in this shot.)

Those backgrounds are pretty with my blocks, but none of the aqua background choices fit with my color palette inspiration of the desert and Sedona, AZ. I put the same selection of blocks up on the design wall along with my original background choice.

This is definitely closer to the feel I am hoping to achieve. I'm happy with the colors (and also glad that I already have plenty of this background fabric!)

I'm hoping to finish the Week 5 blocks for this mystery today. This Friday is the final reveal for the Modern Quilt Studio 2023 Summer Camp Mystery, and I can't wait to see how it all comes together!

Check out what other quilters are working on this week at Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and at Monday Musings at Songbird Designs. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA 

Stash Report and Stitching Time 7/9/2023

My stash report shows a sizable increase thanks to some recent additions. I've been working away on blocks for the Modern Quilt Studio 2023 Summer Camp Mystery, and I felt the need to add some more solids to my palette for that project. This first photo shows my blocks from the first two weeks of the mystery.

My inspiration for this project is the colors of the desert around Sedona, AZ. After making the blocks shown above, I felt the need to use more of the rust, terra cotta, dark gold, and brick red colors and to cut down on the blues and teals as well as the brighter pinks. I ordered two bundles of fat quarters, which gave me plenty of new choices.

Choosing colors online is tricky, and many of these will not make it into this quilt. However, there are plenty of options that fit in perfectly with my color scheme. Here are a few of the blocks I was able to make after those new fabrics were added to my palette. I'm much happier with the balance of colors in these blocks.

The new additions to the stash totaled 10.75 yards. Figuring out the amount of fabric used for all the different blocks will be a challenge, so I'm going to put it off for now.

2023 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                         0.00 yards

Used year to date:                   55.25 yards

Added last week:                     10.75 yards

Added year to date:                60.375 yards

Net added in 2023                5.625 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I've become rather obsessed with these mystery blocks, and have spent much more than 15 minutes on them every day this week. 

15 Minute Challenge for 2023: 

7/2 - 7/8               7 of 7 days

2023 Total      179 of 189 days

The final reveal for this quilt comes on Friday, and I am very eager to see how it all comes together. It's still possible to join if you are interested in the Modern Quilt Studio 2023 Summer Camp Mystery.

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Tuesday To-Do List 6/27/2023

Good morning and welcome to another To-Do Tuesday! It's time once again to share how I did on last Tuesday's to-do list, then figure out what I'd like to get done in the week ahead. The To-Do Tuesday link-up is hosted by Carol at Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric.

It was a very good week for the to-do list, with all four items being completed!

To-Do List for 6/20 - 6/26/2023

1. Perfectly Pieced Quilt Backs blog hop--write my post   ✔done 

I shared my Toppling Tower quilt back HERE. You can read more about Kelly's wonderful new book and find links to the other bloggers who participated in the blog tour at My Quilt Infatuation.

Toppling Tower quilt back

2. A Maze Zing--make light blue block   ✔done 

One light blue and one medium blue block finished.

3. Modern Quilt Studio Mystery--make second set of blocks   ✔done 

These are the first two sets of blocks together.

4. Rainbow Scrap Challenge 16-Patch Stars--make 2 blocks   ✔done 

One light green and one light blue block done.

My list for the next week includes one older UFO, plus a sample for a new idea, along with the ongoing projects. 

To-Do List for 6/27 - 7/3/2023

1. Moda Blockheads quilt top--add borders

I made blocks as part of the original Moda Blockheads QAL starting in 2017. The blocks were completed and joined together in 2021. I would love to finish the borders on this quilt top, just in time for July 4th!

2. A Maze Zing--make sample with Christmas fabrics

3. ABC Table Scraps Challenge--finish light blue project

4. Modern Quilt Studio Mystery--make third set of blocks

5. Rainbow Scrap Challenge 16-Patch Stars--make 2 red blocks

That will be enough to keep me busy for the week ahead. I'll report on my progress next Tuesday, and post a new set of goals too. I'm linking up with other To-Do Tuesday lists at Quilt Schmilt.

 

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA 

Tuesday To-Do List 6/20/2023

Good morning and welcome to another To-Do Tuesday! It's time once again to share how I did on last Tuesday's to-do list, then figure out what I'd like to get done in the week ahead. The To-Do Tuesday link-up is hosted by Carol at Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric.

I knew that my list from last week was ambitious, and I am happy to see that I managed to complete four of the five items on that list. 

To-Do List for 6/13 - 6/19/2023

1. Get outdoor photos of recent finishes   ✔done 

2. A Maze Zing workshop--get my supplies together  ✔done 

The guild workshop with Candace Hassen was great, and I ended up with two finished A Maze Zing blocks that measure about 13" x 19". I'm planning to continue making these each month as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

3. National Quilt Museum BOM--make Block #2   ✔done 

I wasn't crazy about the design of the second block, but after some tweaking with the layout and colors, I was happier with my version.

4. Modern Quilt Studio Mystery--make first set of blocks   ✔done 

I finished set #1 yesterday and made a start on set #2.

5. Rainbow Scrap Challenge 16-Patch Stars--make 2 blocks  not done

The first item on my new list needs to happen TODAY. Everything else is negotiable through the coming week.

To-Do List for 6/20 - 6/26/2023

1. Perfectly Pieced Quilt Backs blog hop--write my post

Kelly Young has a new book being released tomorrow, and I have a pieced backing to share as part of the blog hop.

2. A Maze Zing workshop--make light blue block

3. Modern Quilt Studio Mystery--make second set of blocks

4. Rainbow Scrap Challenge 16-Patch Stars--make 2 blocks

That will be enough to keep me busy for the week ahead. I'll report on my progress next Tuesday, and post a new set of goals too. I'm linking up with other To-Do Tuesday lists at Quilt Schmilt.

 

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA 

Design Wall Monday 6/12/2023

I knew I had been neglecting my blog lately, but I was still very surprised to discover that it has been nearly a month since my last Design Wall Monday post. I've been doing plenty of quilting; I just haven't been taking photos of everything or can't share photos just yet.

Today I have some photos of a new project that I am starting. I had become intrigued by the photos I'd been seeing of fabric pulls/color palettes for the Summer Camp Modern Mystery Quiltalong, hosted by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr of Modern Quilt Studio. Any of you who are regular readers of my blog know that I'm not a "modern" quilter. However, I am trying to expand my horizons, and this seemed like a good way to try something different.

The quiltalong starts by choosing a range of fabrics, with at least 15-20 different colors recommended for the piecing, plus a background fabric. After checking out many fabric pulls on Facebook (I think anyone on Facebook can see the posts HERE), I started going through my collection of solids. My first possible fabric palette was inspired by the colors in this Kaffe Fassett fabric.

Like the print fabric, my plan was to use primarily greens and greenish blues, with accents of mustard, caramel, salmon and lavender. Below is what I pulled from my stash, along with a couple of dark pieces as possible background.

While washing up my solid fabrics, I was inspired by a stack of darker solids that had sort of a terra cotta feel that I liked. I pulled out a group that ranges from gold to rust to brick red and some purples, along with some blues for accents. I might try to pull in more light/medium pieces to keep it from all being too dark, but I do love the feel of this grouping. The light pieces along the top and bottom are ideas for background, but none of them are really working for me yet--maybe more of a sandy desert color.

The Summer Camp Modern Mystery Quiltalong just started on June 1st, so it's not too late to join the fun! One thing I should let you know is that it is not a free mystery; you have to buy the pattern which also includes video tutorials.

Check out what other quilters are working on this week at Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and at Monday Musings at Songbird Designs. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA