Mystery Quilt 2013: The Wrap Up!

As National Quilting Month winds down, it is time to make some concluding comments about the March’s Mystery Quilt 2013 Quilt Along.  

When it came time to pick an activity for National Quilt Month, I suggested a mystery quilt because it would be a new experience for Connecting Threads and for me as a designer. I wanted the design & pattern to be:

• Suitable for confident beginners and more experienced quilters
• Manageable in 3-4 weekly installments
• Appropriate for a variety of fabrics
• Versatile for future use
• Instructional, with some detailed instructions and photos as added notes
• Most of all… a surprise at the end! Whew!

Many of the quilt along members said they joined the Mystery Quilt 2013 Quilt Along because they had never made a mystery quilt or loved doing them. Having participated in a few mystery quilt groups, I remember an occasional participant complaining they would not have picked the same fabrics if they had known what they were making. Since this is even more of a potential problem with an online mystery quilt, a  Fabric Selection Suggestions handout was provided. Those guidelines resulted in a large variety of lovely fabric combinations and many terrific quilts!

Spoiler Alert!
If you haven't finished  Part 1,  Part 2, and Part 3 of the Mystery Quilt 2013, you may want to wait to to look at the Photo Pages to maximize the mystery quilt experience. Note: Today is the last official blog on Notions and Quilt with Us, but comments and photos from the members of the quilt along and Ann will continue here on the Mystery Quilt 2013 Quilt Along page for quite a while.

To see how different the Mystery Quilt 2013 looks in a variety of fabrics, check out the Photo Pages! Amazing!

The following are the highlights of the Mystery Quilt 2013 Quilt Along for me as the designer and group leader:

• It was exciting to watch the quilt along group grow to 429 members on Quilt with Us (not including an unknown number who participated on Notions).
• I enjoyed the quilt along members; you are a delightful, chatty and supportive group, always encouraging each other, offering suggestions, and answering questions.
• As the weeks progressed, it was fun to see the posted photos of the wide variety of fabrics selected, blocks made from the fabrics, and finally, the completed (or almost completed) quilt tops; some members even made two!
• It was rewarding to hear that members were enjoying the mystery quilt experience, the pattern & instructional component, and most of all, that the final design was a surprise when revealed in Part 3.
• The creative editor of Quilter's Newsletter, Lori Baker, participated in the quilt along. Click here to see her blog posting and the results of the Connecting Threads fabric give-away of Neutral Love fabrics to make the Mystery Quilt 2013 pattern; there were 592 responses!

A huge thanks to everyone who participated in the Mystery Quilt 2013 Quilt Along! There have been many requests for another mystery quilt, perhaps using fat quarters. I had so much fun designing this one, it is a possibility! I will be on the lookout for a design suitable for another mystery quilt adventure!