Magical Mystery - Fabric ...

... and other miscellaneous thoughts

If you are stopping by for the first time, 

or just wondering what this mystery is all about, 

you can catch up HERE.

First, thanks to all of you who are going along on this journey with me.  I hope you enjoy this little venture and that you are inspired to go further with the block!

As I said before, for this exercise you need no more than two fat quarters, one light and one dark.  A suggested cutting diagram can be found HERE.  But I hope you will be inspired to go a bit further, so let's talk a bit about fabric options.

Contrast between light and dark is the key.  You can use just two fabrics, as long as there is enough contrast to make the design obvious.

I frequently use a designer's collection of fat quarters that contains both light and dark.  Pictured below is what I will be using for my examples.  In this case I'm using a collection of medium-light FQs paired with a single dark background.

In the past I have also used a selection of fat quarters in a single color, paired with a group of light FQs or a single light fabric (think of it as background) from yardage.

FQs grouped by color

So, how much fabric will you need for a quilt?  The blocks finish at 8".  To make a whole quilt, just calculate the number of blocks you will need to make the size you want.  For example, a 6 x 7 setting will require 42 blocks and will make a 48" x 56" quilt.  Figure you can get at least 8 blocks out of 1/3 yard (WOF) of each of two fabrics (if you ignore my cutting diagram and cut efficiently).  In other words, a 6 x 7 setting (48" x 56") would require about 2 yards of each fabric (or the equivalent in FQs or scraps).

This block would work well in red, white, and blue for Quilts of Valor.  I can also see it totally scrappy, either coordinated by color, or just by value contrast.  I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Remember, this is an exercise in learning a new block (with multiple setting options).
We are just making 4 blocks and each clue will take no more than 30 minutes.  

So DON'T STRESS!

The next clue will appear on Friday, March 2.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

libbysmith428 at comcast dot net

Linking with Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt.