Wyoming Breezes

A11 Mystery 60 x 82 inches Quilt of Valor #192 The last clue for the mystery quilt was released last Thursday, and I was able to complete the quilt top on Friday afternoon. This was a quick and easy quilt to finish.  Alycia, thank you for hosting the mystery.

clue 5 completed November 2020 Clue 5 was released on November 12th, and I finished it during Sunday's FaceTime call. In clue 5, the blocks were sewn together in rows. For the photo, I used the sashing units that were completed in clue 4 where I think they will be placed, but I could be wrong. There is another row of blocks and two sashing strips that would not fit on the wall. 

clue 4 units ready to sew November 2020 Clue 4 was quick and easy - eight strips that I assume will become sashing for the mystery quilt.  clue 4 completed Only a few more clues remaining for this mystery Quilt of Valor.

seventy-two HSTs I worked on the second clue of the A11 mystery QAL during a FaceTime call on October 25th and tackled clue 3 during the call on Sunday, November 1st.  clues 1 and 2 of the A11 mystery quilt along October 2020 I probably should have chosen a more "medium" red rather than this "darker" one. It's hard to select fabrics for a mystery quilt - not knowing which fabrics are going to be placed together. clues 1 -3  November 2020 It's nice to have clues that can be completed in one or two hours. 

clue #1  A11 Mystery Quilt Along October 2020 The first mystery clue was released two weeks ago, and over the weekend, I worked on clue 1 and started working on clue 2. I should be caught up when the third clue is released tomorrow.  It's not too late to join in the fun. The clues can be found here . 

A10 - Pointed Fun mystery QOV completed 69 x 76 inches Quilt of Valor #179 The final clue for the A10 - Pointed Fun mystery QOV was released last Wednesday. So far in 2020, I have met my goal of sewing two Quilts of Valor per month.

clue #4 April 2020 Clue #4 of Pointed Fun resulted in a completed middle section of the quilt.  The edges of the quilt, specifically the cornerstones, will be trimmed flush with the setting triangles before adding the final border.

April 2020 Clue #3, released last Wednesday, placed all the churn dash blocks on point in five rows with sashing and cornerstones, if desired. I like how the colored cornerstones break up the sashing and add another design element to the top. The next clue will be published today and will probably include cutting and sewing the setting triangles to the rows and then sewing the rows together. This mystery has been quick and easy. I like the look of this mystery Quilt of Valor.

four completed churwndash blocks with red background April 2020 Clue #2 for the mystery QAL - Mystery A10 - Pointed Fun - resulted in four additional churn dash blocks, made with red fabrics. The nine blue blocks were completed for clue #1

nine, churn dash blocks March 2020 Clue #1 of Pointed Fun was released and completed on Wednesday. Marilyn and I sewed together via Face Time in the afternoon: she worked on a pieced quilt border while I assembled the nine, churn dash blocks for the mystery QAL. The blocks are 13 inches unfinished.

fabric cut and ready to sew Mystery A10 - Pointed Fun March 2020 Alycia ( Quilty Girl ) started another QOV mystery, and since I have no place to go, I will sew, I will sew, I will sew. . . The clues will be published weekly on the Mystery Quilts 4 Military group on ioGroups.

Counting Down 59 x 78inches Quilt of Valor #174 February 2020 Counting Down was constructed as a Quilt of Valor National Sew Day mystery. The mystery QAL consisted of seven sewing clues, released every two hours on Friday evening and all day Saturday. The fabric was cut before the mystery began. It was a fun mystery project that was coordinated by Alycia C. on the Mystery Quilts for the Military online group.

ready for assembly February 2020 I spent part of Friday and nearly all of Saturday working on a QOV Mystery Quilt-a-Long with others across the United States. Three clues were released on Friday, but the majority were released every two hours on Saturday. Most of the quilts I make are scrappy, but since I had some blue and white yardage (thank you Connie), I decided to stick with three fabrics for this mystery. The sewing was manageable in the two hour segments, and I didn't have any problems finishing each step within that time frame. four-patch units sewn facing each other The first two clues were quite simple, creating two-patches and four-patches, but the third clue brought the mystery to a turning point when the doubled four-patches were cut on the diagonal. the double four-patches were cut diagonally Suddenly, things got interesting.  hour glass units  If I hadn't run out of steam, I could have easily completed the mystery on Saturday. Here it...

Winter Mystery QAL 60 x 72 inches Quilt of Valor #171 The final clue for the mystery QAL was released on Wednesday and looked like this . . . final clue to the Winter Mystery QAL The final design didn't appeal to me, so I began playing around with the blocks in the middle section. an layout idea that I considered Even though I liked this layout better, it still was not pleasing to my eye: it looked disjointed. When I saw  Cindy's photo , I knew that was how I would sew the blocks together. This was a fun and quick mystery.

top section is the completed clue for Hour 4 bottom section is the completed clue for Hour 3 December 2019 I don't know how these two sections will be used, but I'm guessing they will be attached to each other as shown. The remaining stack of blocks contain quite a few red HSTs, and some blue ones, too. I can't anticipate how Alycia is going to incorporate the remaining blocks - that's why this is a Mystery Quilt Along.

four rows sewn together Clue #3 November 2019 The Winter QAL Mystery is starting to take shape. Last week's clue involved sewing four rows of the quilt top together. I didn't anticipate this design, and now I wonder how the rest of the HSTs will be used. I've used the living room floor for a design area until last week. I found a large, new, flannel-back table cloth at Goodwill for $1. A few push pins near the ceiling were used to hang the table cloth; now, I don't have to crawl around on the floor to lay out quilt blocks.  It's not technically a design wall, but for apartment living, it is the next best thing.

trimming and squaring HSTs for Clue 2 November 2019 Alycia's clues are based on when her hour timer goes off. Obviously I'm in a slower gear because I finished sewing the 64 HSTs in an hour, but the pressing and trimming are pushing me closer to two hours per clue. Trimming is only removing slivers or less than an 1/8 inch in some places, but squaring and trimming makes a quilt more accurate. An 1/8 inch can throw everything off. The Hour 3 clue is being released today, so I'd better hustle and finish trimming the HSTs on the right.

Clue #1 completed November 2019 Alycia published the first clue for the Winter Quilt-a-Long last week on her blog. She also leads an online group that makes Quilts of Valor. This is the fifth QAL I've made with the group. The other mystery quilts were:       Lone Rider     The Patriot     Star Struck     Criss Cross     For the Winter QAL mystery, I am using the three fabrics shown in the photo. Alycia told the group that none of the pieces would be smaller than 6.5 inches, so the quilt is beginner friendly. Her clues are easy to follow, and for this QAL, she timed herself as she made the quilt, so each clue takes approximately an hour. Clue #1 took me longer than an hour because I was using some odd cuts of fabric, and I did not press the fabric before starting. Anyone can join in the fun. All the clues will be published here  on Alycia's blog every Wednesday until the mystery is solved.

Lone Rider mystery quilt 63 x 80 inches Quilt of Valor #169 Alycia's mystery (Lone Rider) wrapped up last Wednesday when the last clue was released. I changed the final layout a bit, turning four of the on-point squares into pinwheels, to add some visual interest. image from Alycia Quilts Lone Rider - clue #5 This quilt is larger than the ones I typically make for Quilts of Valor - I'll prepare a wide back for it this week. Finished quilt tops are hung by the patio door so I can enjoy them for a couple of days and are wrapped with the backing and binding. I fixed the flipped blocks soon after they were drawn to my attention. (Thanks, Regan!)