A Stoney's Crew Mystery...What Will We Find?

I guess you have decided to play along on this mysterious sojourn? That's why you're here, right? Right? If not to actually participate in this adventure, then you are just here to live vicariously thru others OR is it you have always wondered how this ditzy blonde's mind works? Join us as we plow thru this together.

What are the housekeeping details of the who, what, where, and when's of how this will work? The How of this program will be contained in each week's clue. I will tell you that the center of the quilt that I have planned is 60"x60" (ish). I wait until my center fun is together before I decide what kind of borders to add, if any. So depending on how you treat your creation will depend on the final overall size of YOUR quilt.

WHO:

The WHO is YOU! I am not going to tell you what color selections to use in your quilt. I want you to make it YOURS, not a facsimile of mine. This is what I want you to do, go to your fabric stash (or your mom's, or mother-in-law's, or sister's, or aunt's, or friend's, or your local quilt shop) and choose the fabrics that make you smile. {Please note I am not encouraging you to steal from any of these locations, perhaps your friend or family will trade that hideous 1973 Army Green Camo fat quarter for a pink duck 30's? Of course your local quilt shop will trade fat quarters for $$$$.}

Will this work for a 30's reproduction stash? Yes! Will this work for a civil war reproduction stash? Yes! Christmas fabric stash? Yes! What about a modern stash of Kaffe Fassett, solids, Batiks, or a hodge podge of all my stowed away treasure fabrics? Yes, Yes, YES! The secret will be revealed in due time. Choose the fabrics that make YOU happy. The more the merrier.

WHAT (you will need):

Choosing Your Fabric:

A selection of assorted cottons. Some pieces will be 2-1/2", in my case that happens to be the size I use for bindings...and there is always some left over. It is also well known that I am the Princess of Precuts. Translate that moniker to Jelly Roll Junkie with a healthy dose of Layer Cake Lollygagging and Fat Quarter Flavor madness thrown in. How much of any of it? Well...remember we are flying by the seat of my pants, so exact measurements of each fabric and how many different fabrics is totally up to you. This is a stash-buster event. I can tell you that if you have a Jelly Roll and a Layer Cake that play well together you can use them and you will have leftovers, by some standards A LOT of leftovers. Do you have a Layer Cake that you love the fabrics, but you haven't figured out how to use? It may work for this IF all 40 or 42 pieces (every brand of cake is different) of the 10" squares stand out from the color of background that you choose and you are a careful and thrifty fabric cutter. What does THAT mean? Here is an example. You have a large variety of 30's fabrics in addition to your 30's inspired Layer Cake. They play nice together, so you can integrate some of your stash scraps into each week's clue. Remember a Layer Cake isn't just 10" squares, it is about 2-1/2 yards of fabric. If you choose to use Fat Quarters exclusively, 10-12 Fat Quarters will be more than ample fabric. I personally am going to use a Layer Cake augmented with scraps in my stash and 2-3 Fat Quarters integrated, but then I love scrappy looking quilts.

Can this quilt be a two-color quilt? If by 2-color you mean an assortment of fabrics within the same color wave, then yes, it could be.

Like this.

If you mean a SOLID color and a SOLID background, that would mean a whole lot of unnecessary cutting and sewing and a lot less fun along the way.

Background Fabric:

Here is where the mystery magic happens. You will need a total of 2-1/2 to 3 yards of background fabric. This fabric needs to stand out from the colors you choose. Back to the 30's example, if one of the prints in your Layer Cake is a white background, it will not show up against a white background fabric, so you may want to rethink that square OR rethink your background fabric choice.

Does the background fabric need to be a full 2-1/2 to 3 yards of the same fabric?
No. Background fabrics can make your quilt twinkle. And if we want to truly bust your stash, use what you have within a color range or type of fabric. Background Fabric Doesn't Have to be a Solid. It can be, but have some fun.

Mix and match from your scrap stash of tone-on-tone prints, grunge, batiks, or small scale prints. Just keep the overall color within the same family of color.

Will any special tools or rulers be needed?

Yes and no...it depends on what you have in your Ruler Toolbox. During the Bonnie Hunter mystery that I participated in, I had said on several occasions that I was not going to buy another ruler. Well, I bought another ruler during that mystery. So these are the rulers I recommend for this event:

• EZ Quilting (Simplicity) EASY ANGLE RULER (this is the one I bought during the BH mystery)
• Deb Tucker (Studio 180 Design) V-BLOCK RULER
• June Taylor Shape Cutter

Your standard fabric cutting rulers and squares that you are comfortable using to cut and square up your units.

The EZ Angle Ruler is to make half square triangles (HST), and is not required. I will show you several ways to make HST units, but you may want to check them out when we get to that step. I have seen these rulers at quilt shops, JoAnn's and WalMart.

The June Taylor Shape Cutter will make fast work of subcutting some of the units that we will be making, but is not required. I got mine at JoAnn's years ago with a coupon. Many quilt shops also carry them.

The Deb Tucker V-Block Ruler, is the only way I will show you how to make the V-Block (also known as Peaks & Spikes) units that we will be making. Are there other rulers that will do this? Yes; however, this ruler is a ONE piece ruler with all of the measurements on it. You do the cutting and the square up using this ONE ruler. All of the others on the market are 2 piece units. The smaller piece I was always misplacing. I will give you the size of unit to make using other rulers, but make your life easier. Get Deb Tucker's ruler! I have only seen these in Quilt Shops (support your local quilt shop when you can) and was introduced to this line of rulers at Calico Point in Goshen. Last resort for you folks that can't find it, is Amazon, but please, please support your local quilt shops when you can.

Where and When

Ok, I know that this was a hugely, annoyingly, long post, but now you can gather your materials and get ready to start next Wednesday, May 22 for the first clue. I will post a new clue every week, until there are no more!