Announcing the Mystery Quilt contest winners

Congratulations to Amy Allen, Cynthia Felts, and Beth Schillig, the three winners of American Quilter’s Beyond the Block Mystery Quilt contest! And special thanks go to every quilter who completed the challenge within the short time frame required. You can see photos and read descriptions of ALL contest quilts in the Readers’ Quilts gallery located under the American Quilter tab at http://www.americanquilter.com/ or use the link below:
http://www.americanquilter.com/publications/readers_contests.php?id=1&year=2011

MYSTERY, 58" x 74", by Amy Allen, Honaunau, HI
















DANICA’S PINK BUTTERFLY QUILT, 54" x 73", by Cynthia H. Felts, Rolla, MO

A MORNING IN MARBLEHEAD, 50" x 66", by Beth A. Schillig, Columbus, OH








It’s not too late to make your own special Beyond the Block quilt! The first installment of the mystery quilt pattern, designed by those “Crafty Ol’ Broads” Linda K. Johnson and Jane K. Wells, was published in the September 2010 issue of American Quilter, with the remaining two parts published in the November 2010 and January 2011 issues. All three parts are available at www.AmericanQuilter.com to AQS members.

69 Amazing mystery quilts now posted

Sixty-nine quilters beat the clock to enter their completed Beyond the Block mystery quilts in our contest, which ended in January. From embroidery to applique to foundation piecing to photos printed on fabric, participants showcased an incredible array of techniques and styles in their focus blocks. All 69 quilts are now posted for your enjoyment at http://www.americanquilter.com/publications/readers_contests.php?id=1&year=2011, where you can read about the quiltmakers and their  inspiration. Three winning quilts have been selected from these entries and will be announced next week. Photos of the three winning quilts will appear in the May 2011 issue of American Quilter magazine.

The spectacular quilt shown above is one of the contest entries. Marlene Oddie of College Place, Washington, wrote this about her finished quilt, which she titled Bordered Beyond the Block:

"The focus blocks were chosen from the Savannah line by Michael Miller. This fabric reminded me of a painting, My Grandmother Dreams in Peonies, http://www.stacybarter.com/images/peonieslowresimage.JPG by Stacy Barter, a high school work colleague and classmate. This painting received the Best in Show $25,000 Award for the 2007-2009 Museum Exhibition Tour of Blossom - Art of Flowers. The fabric was in my stash with a few coordinating prints I had been saving along with it to someday do something spectacular. The ad for the 2010 American Quilter magazine Beyond the Block mystery quilt said it would have a ‘stunning setting’ so I decided this was the project to get out the Savannah fabric and put it to use. The rest of the fabric was selected from my stash based on the mystery guidelines. I did use two fabrics for #6 Light.
Extending the borders was exciting. I had just written an article about extending centers into the border for the Country Register, so it was fresh on my mind. I experimented in EQ7 until I was satisfied with the final outcome. I used black Quilter’s Cotton Sateen in the border, backing and binding and wool batting. I quilted this on my Gammill Optimum Plus with a fair amount of stitch-in-the-ditch and the rest free motion. It is fun to look at the backside with a light on in the front of the quilt—you can see the quilting in a whole new way."

Marlene has graciously offered to share her instructions to make the extra extended border for this mystery quilt pattern. Contact Marlene via her blog at http://kissedquilts.blogspot.com/

Mystery Quilt Contest finalists

The response to our Beyond the Block Mystery Quilt Contest has been nothing short of amazing! Of the 119 quilters who entered last August by completing part 1 published in the September 2010 issue, 95 (80%) completed part 2 by the November 2010 deadline, and 71 (60%) submitted photos of their finished quilts by the January 2011 completion deadline. But it wasn’t only the numbers that were fantastic—the comments were, too. Almost without exception, entrants thoroughly enjoyed participating in the challenge and were delighted with their finished quilts.
Here are the eight randomly-chosen finalists:
Kitty Adamo of Hopewell Junction, NY
Dorothy Alexander of Superior, NE
Amy Allen of Honaunau, HI
Cynthia Felts of Rolla, MO
Abigail Fuller of Troy, ID
Synneva Hicks of Byron, MN
Alice Means of Bolton, CT
Beth Schillig of Columbus, OH
Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. Three winning quilts will be chosen by AQS founder and president Meredith Schroeder, and photos of those three quilts will appear in the May 2011 issue of American Quilter magazine.

If you’re catching up and still want to make your own Beyond the Block quilt, all three installments of the pattern are available at http://www.americanquilter.com/ to AQS members. And for inspiration, photos of ALL completed mystery quilts submitted for the contest will be posted in the Readers’ Quilts gallery under the American Quilter tab on the AQS home page by the end of February.

2011...time to finish those mystery quilts!

For those quilters who qualified for continuation in our Beyond the Block mystery contest, you have until Tuesday, January 18th to send me photos of your completed mystery quilt. Your quilt must be quilted with the edges finished and a hanging sleeve attached to the back. Send mystery quilt photos to chrisbrown@AQSquilt.com and please include a little information about your focus blocks and process.

Approximately eight finalists will be chosen during the last week of January, and those finalists will be given instructions on shipping their quilts to the AQS photography studio in Paducah. The three contest winners will be chosen from the finalists, and the three winning quilts will be published in the May 2011 issue of American Quilter magazine. This issue will be available online to AQS members by mid-March and on newsstand the second week of April.

The beautiful completed mystery quilt shown above was made by Janet Springfield of Pendleton, Indiana. Janet writes: "My quilt is named Fascinatin' Fences because of my own fascination with fences. The focus blocks are from my community and include a classic farm fence, three very different wood fences including a picket style, an old iron fence, a utilitarian chain link, and a somewhat shocking prison fence from the Indiana State Reformatory south of town. Continuing with the fence theme, I pieced the Rail Fence pattern for the backing. My label is a photo, taken two miles from my house, of an old style rail fence."

Even though we can only publish three winning quilts in the magazine, photos of all completed Beyond the Block mystery quilts will be posted in our Readers’ Quilts gallery online at www.AmericanQuilter.com by late spring 2011. You can access this gallery in the drop-down menu under the American Quilter Magazine tab on the home page.

Attention Mystery Quilters!

If you are one of the nearly 150 quilters who entered our Beyond the Block Mystery Quilt Contest, remember that the deadline for submitting a photo of your second installment is looming. Please send a clear photo of your Part 2 sewn components to me at chrisbrown@aqsquilt.com by November 1, 2010. (Sorry, only those quilters who entered the contest by August 31, 2010, are eligible to win.)

I'll be in Houston at International Quilt Market and International Quilt Festival through November 6th but I'll be checking e-mail every day.

Part 3 of the pattern, which reveals the final clues for completing your mystery quilt, will be published in the January 2011 issue of American Quilter magazine. This issue will be available online for AQS members by mid-November, and mailed to members later that month. In order to be eligible to win one of the three contest prizes, you should e-mail me a photo of your completed mystery quilt (quilted, edges finished, and sleeve attached) no later than January 18, 2011. You may send the photo earlier if you finish earlier. Please include a little information about your focus blocks when you submit your final quilt photo.

Happy sewing and Happy Halloween!

One week left to enter mystery quilt contest

There's still time...but you need to get those sewing machines revved up if you want to enter our Beyond the Block Mystery Quilt contest. Deadline for entries is Tuesday, August 31. All the details are on page 66 of the September 2010 issue of American Quilter magazine. (The digital version of this issue is available for AQS members at http://www.americanquilter.com/.)

Just after we went to press with this issue, our testers found an error in the cutting diagrams for templates E and H. Please be sure to follow the diagrams above instead of those printed in the magazine.
And if you are using directional focus blocks (with a distinct up and down), please use the figure 9 shown below to complete Star block #2.

I continue to get contest entries from dozens of U.S. states and several countries. Below are the completed blocks made by Yvette Maynard of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The masks are appliquéd from a pattern collection by Sindy Rodemeyer, while the animals are cut from a panel. Yvette had some animal print fabric bought on a whim and she says this contest gave her the opportunity to use it.

Martien Bakker from The Netherlands writes that this is her first-ever mystery quilt. She used fabrics purchased in Norway while on spring holiday along with suitable fabrics pulled from her stash (photo below).

And Janice Matsen of Portland, Oregon, fussy cut and pieced her eyecatching focus blocks.

Mystery quilt contest entries

There are still 15 sewing days left until the deadline for our Beyond the Block Mystery Quilt Contest. The excitement here at AQS is growing, as we’ve already received entries from quilters in 23 U.S. states and Canada. For complete contest details, see page 66 of the September 2010 issue of American Quilter magazine. (This article is also available online for AQS members.) And be sure to read my blog posting of August 5 for important cutting corrections to patches E and H. Here are a few more samples of the distinctive focus blocks readers have chosen for this challenge.

Marlene Hager of Springfield, Illinois, sent me photos of her beautifully pieced focus blocks (above), but admits the mystery quilt was a little beyond her comfort zone: “This is my very first mystery quilt and it was hard to let go of the control—choosing focus blocks and colors and not knowing where they were going to be in the quilt. Now that my first installment is done, I really like the blocks, so I feel better.”

Abigail Fuller of Troy, Idaho, started with leftover Maple Leaf blocks she had pieced for her sister’s wedding quilt 12 years ago. What a beautiful color scheme!

“Wow. I thought I was being bold in my fabric choices, but this is over the top,” writes Judy Hoxie of Cornelius, North Carolina. Judy, those blocks are just dynamite, and your finished quilt will have amazing visual impact.

The focus blocks chosen by Joy Hatcher of Clarksville, Tennessee, include an alphabet’s worth of sage advice and uplifting thoughts.

Barbara Skimin of Troy, Michigan, compliments our pattern instructions: “I really appreciate the precision of the instructions. Thank you for making this mystery so much fun. I can hardly wait for the next set of clues!” Barbara’s focus blocks are fabric transfers of photos taken during a recent vacation in Tucson, using colors that coordinate with her newly-painted living room.

A soothing Kona Bay oriental print was chosen by Jennie Peck of Alexander, New York, for her focus blocks. Jennie’s other fabrics include scraps from antique kimono pieces.

Ann Alexander’s lovely bird blocks are from the Legacy Studio "Nestled In the Branches" collection. This Tubac, Arizona, quilter intended to do something "traditional" with the fabric (for her mom's bird collection) but decided to use them for this mystery project instead. Ann says, “The birds are squared up on the fabric, but I found that some could be put on point without falling off the branches!”

I wish I had time and space in this blog to post all the wonderful entries. But I can say with assurance that each mystery quiltmaker so far has done a great job of expressing his or her personality and quilting style in their Part 1 blocks. Great work, everyone!

Mystery gaining momentum

I am surprised and delighted every day when more Beyond the Block Mystery Quilt contest entries arrive. The one above one is from Elsie Vredenburg of Tustin, Michigan. Using photos of gloriosa daisies from her garden as inspiration, Elsie created these gorgeous focus blocks with fusible appliqué and thread painting.
Willie Fiedler of Sandwich, Massachusetts, writes, "After a trying few days to get my blocks to work, I persevered and got them together. I tried to work out of my stash which worked out until the cutting error in the directions. So, as I always say, there are no mistakes, only design opportunities. The large green areas are going to include appliqued vines when I get the quilt top together. Thanks for giving me a spark of creativity and a challenge when I really needed it."
You still have plenty of time to start the mystery quilt in the September 2010 issue of American Quilter magazine and enter our contest. (If you haven't yet begun the project, please make note of the corrected diagrams for patches E and H, shown in my blog posting on July 23rd.) The pattern starts on page 60 and contest details are on page 66. (AQS members can also access the pattern online at http://www.americanquilter.com/.) Be sure to send your contact information (address, phone, e-mail) along with photos of your focus blocks and completed Part 1 blocks.

More mystery

If you're working on the Beyond the Block Mystery Quilt (Part 1 was just published in the September 2010 issue of American Quilter magazine), be sure to read my blog post of July 23, which details the corrected dimensions and diagrams for two patches in the rotary cutting box.

Barb Bruce of Salisbury, North Carolina, sent me these photos of her focus blocks and four Part 1 blocks. The focus blocks are cut from a panel fabric, designed by Sarah Moe for Blank Fabrics. Barb added a frame around them to get the correct size.
Gorgeous fabrics and color palette, Barb! Thank you for sharing.

Mystery Quilt Update

If you’re working on Part 1 of the Beyond the Block Mystery Quilt (published in the September 2010 issue of American Quilter), please note that two illustrations in the Rotary Cutting box on page 62 were not correct. These are the correct diagrams for patches E and H:

We apologize for this small error, but it does not affect the yardage requirements or any other aspect of the construction in Part 1.

Pat Thompson, an experienced quilter from Mount Vernon, Washington, is using vintage linens, embroidered with directional flower baskets, for her mystery quilt focus blocks.

If you plan to use directional focus blocks (blocks with a definite top and bottom design), follow the figure 9 below rather than the one pictured on page 65. Both are correct, depending on your focus fabric.

Janet Foster, another quilter from Washington, is using Oriental-style fabrics for her focus blocks. This is her finished Star block from Part 1:

And quilter/author Joan Hanson from Seattle, Washington, has forged ahead and already finished Part 1. She used a gorgeous large-scale print as her focus fabric, combined with a variety of complementary batiks and commercial prints. I can’t wait to see her completed quilt!

If you are making a mystery quilt, be sure to enter the contest described on page 66 of the September issue. You could win quilt books, fabrics, and a subscription to American Quilter!

Are you ready for a mystery?

It’s just a little over a month until the introduction to a new mystery quilt, designed by Beyond the Block authors Linda K. Johnson and Jane K. Wells, is published in the July 2010 issue of American Quilter magazine. This is a mystery like none you’ve ever seen before: it’s non-traditional, personalized, and a way to use some of your accumulated unfinished quilt blocks. I'm really excited about this project and just can't wait to reveal a few clues to get you started...

First, an explanation to those who have no idea what a mystery quilt entails: You, the quilter, embark on a quilt project without knowing what the final result will look like. You will be given instructions (the clues!) one installment at a time in three consecutive issues of American Quilter.

Why is this upcoming mystery quilt different? (1)The final block layout will be dynamic and non-traditional. (2)You start with your own specially-chosen focus blocks, not just shapes cut from stash or purchased fabrics. (3)You have a chance to win a nice prize simply by participating in the mystery as it is published. (I'll give you more information on that last piece of news in a future blog!)

So what is a "focus block"? You could use hand or machine appliquéd squares; paper-pieced blocks that feature a centered image or design; cross-stitched or embroidered squares; vintage linen squares; photo transfers or photos inkjet printed on fabric; or squares of a beautiful large-scale print or any other special fabric, perhaps holiday themed. You could even use squares cut from treasured tee shirts, backed with lightweight fusible interfacing. The only blocks not recommended as focus blocks are pieced blocks with busy overall designs, as they may not blend well within the mystery quilt setting.
Two more important clues: The focus blocks should be cut at least 8 ½" square so they finish 8". (If your focus blocks are smaller, just add some borders.) Four of the focus blocks will be straight set and three of them will be set on point. Keep this in mind if you are cutting a directional large-scale print.
Intriuged? Take a look at some of these photos for ideas on focus blocks and then read the complete introduction and clues on choosing additional fabrics in the July issue. Even our AQ pattern editor, Marje Rhine, is excited about this project. She'll be making her own mystery quilt (even though she knows the final result!).
Stay tuned for more clues...