Recently, I received the following photo from Ginny Andersen, of Spokane Valley, WA, who is an American Quilter Magazine reader. Ginny completed the Trail to Paducah mystery quilt, one of my original designs, which ran as a featured series article in 2008.
Ginny wrote, “The fabrics included were originally bought in Poulsbo, WA, during a visit to my father’s, for a now long forgotten project, with only a couple additions to get the required values needed. I made this for my brother, Dave (who is holding the quilt in the image), and his wife, Gwen, for this last Christmas. This is the first mystery quilt I’ve ever made and was a bit apprehensive to begin with, but felt better and better as the blocks came together and my color choices became more and more pleasing together. I won’t hesitate at all when you offer another ‘Mystery’ to solve.”
Thank you so much, Ginny! I’m absolutely delighted to know you had such a great experience with your first-ever mystery quilt. I hope you’ll consider making more of my original designs in the future. In fact, I have two free mystery quilt patterns available to download on my website. Check it out on the home page.
And thank you for sending the photo of your beautiful version of Trail to Paducah to share with all my blog readers. I’m sure your brother and his wife are thrilled with your gift made with love!
Ginny: I love the colors, and I raelly love the pattern! That purple and black make the stars pop — the PA Amish seem to favor those colors in some of their stunning quilts. The finished piece is lovely.
I’ve been doing Kimberley’s MQ’s, partly because I love to do them, but also because it’s helping me develop a better sense of fabric values. Mystery Quilts are always a leap of faith, and I find them a little scary at first. The fact that she sometimes gives fabric clues (by way of swatches of her choices) helps. I try to pull from my stash, but usually end up going to the fabric store for just the right 4th or 5th fabric, then end up re-thinking the whole thing & spending hours worrying if I made the right choices. All the 2nd-guessing does not always mean that what I end up with is any better than what I started with. I’m getting better at becoming less obsessive about it, but not much. Like they say, quilting is a journey!
Oh Kimberley, where can we get that pattern?
Pat — What a lovely comment you left on the blog today! I know Ginny will be so tickled. I loved her choice of colors just as much as you! Her version is STUNNING! Trail to Paducah was a series article that ran in American Quilter Magazine last year. There may be back issues to order from the website. Check it out if you have a chance.
And thank you for all the wonderful and kind things you said about my mystery quilt patterns. How thoughtful! I’m so glad you are always willing to give them a try!
Bless you –
Pat & Kimberly,
Thank you so much for the compliments. I admit that the picture does appear to have a black as the dark hue, but it is actually a deep leaf patterned forest green.
I will be sure to let my brother & his wife know that their quilt is viewable on your, Kimberly’s, website.
I agree, Pat, quilting is a journey, with exciting happenings at every corner, when we make a color choice for our current project. I like doing scrappy quilts to practice my value selection. So many scrappy patterns rely on color selection for lights and darks vs. specific colors. Always a challenge and can result in some amazing results that are a totally pleasant surprise.
Thank you for the words of encouragement. This has been a thoroughly wonderful experience and I WILL do another MQ, for sure.