The Modern Wholecloth Mystery Quilt

Free Motion Quilted SpoolsGood Morning, Confident Quilters! (YOU will be soon!)

Today we are starting The Inbox Jaunt’s first ever

MYSTERY FREE MOTION QUILT-A-LONG.

(To my knowledge this is a first in quilting history…LOL!)

Every week we will have a short assignment—less than thirty minutes.

The end result will be a surprise…

I can tell you this:

  • The project is a small wall hanging.
  • There is no piecing or appliqué (whole cloth)—just free motion quilting.
  • There will be prizes in the end…(Sign up for FLICKR now!)
  • EVERYONE can do this.
  • If this goes well, we will do it again…

There are several lessons built into this project.  My hope is that YOU will have more confidence in the entire quilting process by following along.

Of course, there will be a special emphasis on free motion quilting.

Pin Basting

We will learn a little about:

  •  Design
  • Quilt Preparation
  • Marking/Marking Tools
  • Thread
  • Binding
  • Personalizing
  • Free Motion Quilting
  • And much more…

It’s going to be fun and it’s going to help me accomplish my #1 goal for 2015:

Getting YOU to Free Motion Quilt with Confidence!

So let’s get started:

TODAY’S ASSIGNMENT:

Cotton Solid Fabrics

Choose your fabrics:

You will need two fat quarters (18 x 22 inches) of solid 

The top fabric:

A medium to light fabric in a color you LOVE—no leftover scraps….no muslin…no white… You must choose a color that inspires you right now!

The backing fabric

A light or medium light solid. White is okay here, but any light color will work. Again, choose something you like…not the dregs of your stash…(Which begs the question…why do you keep those fabrics…but I digress…)

As you know, I love Robert Kaufman Kona solids.  I buy them at my local quilt shop whenever I can (We must support our quilt stores!)  or From Hancocks of Paducah.

Cotton Solid FabricsChoose and wash your batting:

If you’re not sure if you should wash your batting, you might like this blog post by the amazing quilter, Sue Garman.  Sue pre-washes all her batting.  Scroll down the post for step by step photos of how she washes and dries her batting.   Sue claims that ALL battings shrink–despite what the label says–and I have to agree.

NOTE–I don’t usually wash my batting, but I think I am going to try a few samples with and without washing…If YOU have time, add this to your assignment this week.

Light weight battings like Warm and Natural cotton work well for wall hangings, but use what you have…(For an more on battings read HERE.)

This might be a chance to try a new batting like bamboo, silk, or wool. (Wool might be too puffy for this project so if you want to try it-pull the layers apart and use 1/2 layer.  (Read more about separating wool.)

Cut the batting

Cut the batting two inches larger than your fabric. Batting is cut larger than the top fabric to allow for shift and the shrinkage that occurs with quilting.  (Note-if we were stitching a very large quilt, we would cut the batting eight to ten inches larger than our quilt top.  We would cut our backing fabric larger as well.)

Iron and Spray StarchIron the fabrics and batting

Iron the fabrics with a little spray starch. It’s important to begin with a wrinkle free quilt.  Once the quilt is quilted, the wrinkles will never come out!  Also, If you are not using a Supreme Slider on your sewing machine bed, the starch on the batting will help the quilt slide better.

Basting SprayThe Quilt Sandwich

Baste the layers of the quilt together.  Because this is a small quilt, you have a few choices:

NOTE-We will be marking our quilts next week so you may prefer to wait to layer the quilts sandwich.

The Practice Sandwich

Each week we will be practicing techniques, motifs and threads on a scrap sandwich.  If you have time this week, create several practice sandwiches to have on hand.  The practice sandwiches must have THE SAME batting, and similar fabrics.

That’s it!

If you have any extra time…DOODLE…always, DOODLE!

Sewing Motif DoodlesBe Confident!

and START TODAY!

Signed,

Agatha Christennedy

PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy and are intended for personal use only.  Feel free to re-blog, pin, tweet with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt.  For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com.  Thanks!

126 responses to “The Modern Wholecloth Mystery Quilt”

  2. I laughed out loud reading your question of why we keep the dregs of our stash!! I use the white cheesy bits and pieces to cut foundations for my selvage quilts…I’m working on 5″ squares and eventually will make a woven look quilt. Is that OK? 🙂

  3. This is going to be fun!! I have a question…I have that pink can of spray…do you use this indoors with no problem? Since you have as much winter as I do practically I’m thinking yes and not like we can just throw open a window for a couple hours. I’ve always been a little scared of the “cloud”. The one time I used it it was so stinky I had to go upstairs for a while…am I being silly? It was a large quilt so it wasn’t just a little spritzer. Thanks…just curious of your thoughts.

    2. Hi Ness…Thanks for the great question…
      If I am doing a small thing and a quick spray, I will do it indoors and open the windows for a while. Otherwise I do this outside. It is stinky! For this size project, I find that the Warm and Natural cotton batting has a bit of grip to it and I just iron the three layers together–I call it “Iron Basting”.

  5. I love your designs, I will be participating! Now, to choose just one fabric…..

  6. One of my resolutions for this year — to get comfortable with free motion quilting. Thanks for your serendipitous assistance! Maybe I’ll actually keep a resolution. This looks like so much fun.

  7. This sounds like a great learning experience! Should we shop for a particular thread while we’re shopping for our fabric?

    Thanks

    1. Hi Joanne,
      Good question! We will be talking a lot about threads as we move through this project. I would not shop for threads yet. If you are out shopping and see a thread you’ve been wanting to try, grab a spool in a shade that complements your fabric. That’s all I can say for now. It’s part of THE MYSTERY…

  10. Dear Agatha (insert “smiley”), I will be eagerly watching this progression as we are leaving for a few weeks and I won’t be taking a machine with me. This is a great idea (but then any idea to get ppl to fmq is an awesome idea!!!!).

    1. Fleeing the jurisdiction….hmm….considering the temps here in MN I’ll let it pass!

    2. Maybe you should restrain yourself from reading THE CLUES until you get back…We don’t want you to solve THE MYSTERY before you even sew a stitch!

  13. I’m really excited to join your fmq-along! I just practiced grid-pop & was pretty happy with it, for my first try. You do a great job of breaking down each step. I think this will be my year of confident FMQ!

  14. You didn’t mention thread. What weight would you recommend? Thanks. I’m really looking forward to this journey. I can’t fmq for the life of me and this is going to be a challange that I am really looking forward to.

    1. Carolyn,

      We are going to talk a lot about threads as we move through this project. To start, use what you have. 40 or 50 wt cotton or something with a little sheen in a color that complements your fabric. Don’t buy anything yet…
      Remember, it’s a MYSTERY!

  15. I really identify with some of the comments, like being a silent voyeur. This is the year I resolved to actually do some of your marvelous tutorials. What better time to jump in than right now? Thank you so much!

  17. Rosemary B here:
    This does look very interesting and exciting. I will try to participate. I am still finishing up my quilt club project from 2014 due tomorrow…. 😛
    I am with many others here. My FMQ skills are erratic and only sometimes it looks okay. That does not sound confident does it.
    However to counter that, I will state that I am eager to join in and see how this turns out for all of us.
    I do indeed have my very own flikr account with nothing on it to show.
    Happy Snappy New Year, Lori.

    1. another big thing… just one color of fabric???? Oh my.
      Light color? oh my….
      Okay. 😀

  18. Curious about the Flickr thing. I’m not a Yahoo person. I don’t have and don’t want a Yahoo account. Can I do this without Flickr?

    1. Yes you can do THE MYSTERY without Flickr, but I’m not sure if we can figure out a way so you can win prizes… Do you really have to have a Yahoo account to have a Flickr account?

      2. It is a Flickr group-a photo sharing sight–where everyone can post their photos to share. I really want to encourage everyone to use this more. It is a great way to showcase the motifs on different quilts. It’s free to join!

  20. I have a goal this year to get more comfortable with machine quilting. Thank you for your wonderful blog.

  21. Ok Lori (Agatha), I am going to take a deep breath & try to sew along with you on this one! I have my FQ’s, batting & backings cut – still have to starch/size & press but I’m good to go, I hope!

  23. This is going to be so much fun. I’m not at all confident so I look forward to the project.

    1. I’m totally prepared.
      A few months ago, I bought several 1/4 and1/2 yard cuts of Kona cotton in various colors.
      I did this because my stash fabric prints aren’t necessarily the “modern” prints. (Tho I do have a lot of Kaffe Fasset).
      Now my stash can be matched up with the solids, along with the more modern patterns.
      It will be fun to choose my two favorite solids.
      Lori, you and the quilt along are a bright spot in a cold Winter!

  26. Doing it!!! Thanks for offering this. Your signature threw me for a moment. LOL So clever!

      1. Thank you. Another question–I have Hobbs wool batting that I washed 3 times to remove a processing smell. It got nicer and softer with each washing. Also a piece of Aqua silk has been languishing in my stash for a couple of years. I love the silk and the wool. Would it be OK to use them and practice on cotton? I do know how to split the wool if you think that’s best. I do have cotton batting, too.

  28. I love your idea of this QAL but feel I just absolutely continue with my current projects. I needed to add my note of CAUTION when deciding to wash batting. The first quilt I made, I washed the fabric and the batting (My background was garment sewing and washing fabric was an absolute.) Much to my horror, when I opened up my washing machine at the end of washing the batting, ALL I had was a big pile of cotton!! That scared me so bad I’ve never washed batting again. CHECK THE LABEL OR WITH THE MANUFACTURER BEFORE WASHING.

    2. I read Sue Garman’s instructions for pre-shrinking batting …
      As I suspected, she specifically instructs to just SOAK the batting in a washing machine. One DOES NOT let the machine go through the agitation part of the cycle; instead, after soaking, manually forward the setting dial to the SPIN cycle. Then proceed to the drying instructions.

      Common sense threw up red flags when contemplating pre-shrinking batting, given the nature of the beast. What a relief to learn of Sue’s method.

  29. Since I don’t feel comfortable with FMQ, and since I want to become better, I’d like to begin my journey with your guidance. With the New Year just starting, this is a good time to improve my skills.

  30. I, too, laughed at the comment about why do we keep the fabrics we don’t love! Well, I keep mine because I make a lot of pillows. I prefer to make pillows with an opening in the back (buttons, velcro, zippers) so that you can wash the cover and maybe change it for a holiday or something. This requires a form instead of just stuffing. Pillow forms are pricey in comparison to making your own. So, that’s what I use mine for–making my own pillow forms. Love this QAL idea. Now to remember that password for Flickr… thanks!

    1. Alright! got into my Flickr account!! Yaay for me. 🙂 Anyway, obviously I don’t use it much. You’ll post the group name for us to search for or something like that?

  31. I am really excited… it goes along with my goal of two FMQing projects a week. I will get better! See my post card with Wolly Mittens on flickr. If I remebr my pass word…

    1. There’s at least three of us with password problems! Another of my NY resolutions–get them all written (and up to date) in one place! Could take until July! I’m off to view the Wooly mittens now!

  32. I think I will give this a try too! Sounds like fun 🙂 Now…just keeping up with it will be the trick — lot of things going on — new baby with one daughter, wedding next month for the other daughter…..so much fun!!

  34. Lori
    Just what I need. My husband is currently sheet rocking my craft room. So the challenge will be to get to the sewing machine. Look forward to this.
    The FRIDGED UP NORTH MN girl
    Jerril

  36. So excited for this! Thanks Lori. ..i am wanting to be confident and your help is wonderful.

  37. I will be playing along. I’ve got a few other projects underway (a gift that must be done by June, a BOM, a mystery quilt that starts this month, and now a mystery quilt-along) but I promise to take the time to follow along here and do each step

  39. I have to have a list:) This week, we prepare by getting together:

    2 fat quarters and batting
    several practice sandwiches (with same batting), if time permits

    I can’t wait!! I do a lot of trial and error so this will be great:)

  41. This IS a very new way to do a mystery quilt and sounds like a great way to try/practice FMQ! Really hoping I can get set up for this.

    One question regarding the Practice Sandwiches: when you say they have to have the same batting and similar fabrics, does that mean all the PS’s have to be of the same materials or that they have to have the same batting and similar materials as the actual mystery piece?

  42. Thanks for taking the time to prepare this mystery. I am looking forward to it.

  43. What a terrific project! Thanks for doing this, Lori. I’ve sworn off mystery quilts after my one and only attempt (never had so many missing points before), but I’ve always kind of wanted to try a QAL. I can’t wait to get started on this one!

    1. Funny about swearing off Mystery Quilts. I did one once and vowed to never do another…ironic…This one is different…only one color fabric, and it’s small. Not a huge time commitment with fabrics you wouldn’t combine!

  44. Oh, Lori! This sounds so exciting! I’ll be at my local shop tomorrow, and shall pick some new fabrics then. But is it okay if I use the dregs of my stash for the practice sandwiches? 😉

  45. I left a comment first off this morning asking about thread weight to use. you may have missed it as I notice that some one this afternoon has asked the same question. I really would like an answer.

    1. Early in the posts Lori replied that we’ll be learning about the threads as we go along. No need to be concerned about it now. She did say if you’re out shopping and see a thread you’ve been wanting to try to pick up a spool. I hope this helps.

  46. Dear Agatha (a.k.a. Lori) – This is a fabulous idea! I can’t wait to get started. Can you give us a suggestion of how many practice sandwiches we should prepare? Should they also be fat quarter sized? Just want to know how much of the dregs of my stash I can use up! 😉

  48. What a fun idea Lori! I can’t wait. I’ve found that mystery quilts conflict with my Type A personality, but I think FMQ will be different. No worrying about style and fabric color. Thank you!! Are we posting pictures in the Inbox Jaunt Quilting Guild group or will you be creating a new group.

  49. What a great idea Lori — I am always so inspired by your FMQ designs. Finally a mystery for someone who doesn’t do much piecing. Thanks so much!

  50. Oh, I’m very happy, your QAL comes to the right time. I love your blog and your tutorials. I’m an absolute beginner, but I will follow you <3
    I wanna pin your project, so it would be nice to have a good picture/icon/sign for the Quilt along 🙂 please…
    Now I will prepare the pieces – and I will use no dreg 😉 Promised.
    Liebe Grüße from Germany,
    Kathrin

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