The SCQuilters 'Blue Gum' Mystery Quilt Challenge - Step One!

Applique.

Please read the 'Mystery Quilt Challenge' on the right of this post before joining this Challenge.


This first step will be what decides your Mystery Quilt see below for some hints.

Row by Row - you choose the size of each row to finish up with a quilt of 9 rows.

Medallion - start with a centrepiece and work around this, the centre can be 6" x 6" or 12" x 12" or  even 3" x 3"...  you decide.

Blocks - all the same size making a quilt 3 x 3 or different sizes and shapes giving a totally different look.

Themes - all Cats?  Flowers?  Australiana?  Oriental?  or all one fabric Designer?  or all Scrappy?

Level - if you aren't an experienced quilter this quilt will suit you but there again it might be the one quilt to take you outside your comfort zone for the first time. 

If you are an experienced quilter... we can't wait to see what you will come up with :-)

Good Luck everybody, and Enjoy!

The post below is a Slideshow of a similar Challenge done by a small group called the Ku-ring-gai Quilters, check it out for some ideas.

Ku-ring-gai Mystery Quilt Challenge.

On this Slideshow you can see the finished Ku-ring-gai Mystery Challenge Quilts of 2008.

Our SCQuilters Blue Gum Mystery will be quite similar although this Challenge designed by Penny Smith started with each of us receiving a small piece of fabric which was pale blue with a small white spot.    Notice how very different each quilt turned out.

'You make me feel so Young' sung by my son Tomos Griffiths.

It was unexpectedly a tad chilly at the Blue Gum today... February is usually hot and we worry about Air Con but not today, didn't make a jot of difference to our enjoyment though!

 Ruth from the Blue Mountains with Gillian from St Ives.

 Irene from Turramurra, Erica from Parramatta and Glynis from Berowra.

 Jenn and Sel from Turramurra.

 Jill from Thornleigh and Liz from Deniston.

 I dunno who these two are, they must have been very naughty... why else would they be so blurry?

 Marianne from Frenches Forest and Annette from Allambie Heights.

 Penny from Pymble and Lynne from Waitara.

 Cath from Minchinbury and Pennie from Turramurra.

Marilyn from Bungan and ... oh not again, why is that Pennie hogging the camera?

There were more SCQuilters who I've missed this month, they either left early or they weren't in the room when I was taking photos... I was concentrating on my little hexagons today.

So now to some of the Food Glorious Food.

Pan fried potato gnocchi, sage, morels, parmesan, cream.

 Beetroot, quinoa, grains, baby greens, pesto, capsicum, carrots, alfalfa, champagne vinegairette.

 Chicken liver parfait, toast & cornichons.

 Herb & cheese crumbed chicken schnitzel, salad, chips, lemon, aioli.

Three mushroom and walnut ravioli.

Baby salt & pepper calamari sliders (3) salsa verde, mayo.

Show and Tell #1.

Rita's Show #1... Very effective this block isn't it, especially with just two colours.

 Rita's Show #2... One of the Charity quilts Rita is always making.

 Rita's Show #3... Great quilt for a child!  I have my very own Very Hungry Caterpillar in the form of Grandchild #6 :-)

 Sel's Show...

 Sel's Show #2... This quilt is a fantastic colour wheel, in the machine quilting you can see the word 'Serenity'  Amazing quilting!

Rita's Show #4 - A Fishy quilt for her daughter Rachel.

Show and Tell #2.

 Pennie's Show... This is the quilt that started my obsession with Hexagons.  It was started by David's Grandmother 'Dudu' in the 1930's with scraps of all sorts of fabrics plus school uniforms and dresses made for David's mother 'Mary', it was badly sewn, sometimes with thread that looked like it should be used for trussing a chicken and the whole quilt was very long and thin and had a curve in it.
Mary had it for years and had added a few hexagons to it herself and when David's (not very friendly) sister heard that I'd offered to finish it for Mary,  took it and held onto it but did nothing to it for about 5 years until Mary insisted she give it back... so eventually I got it.
First thing I did was to wash this top and you should have seen the black water left in the sink, then I mended what needed mending, then I took off one end and added it to the sides, straightened the whole quilt up, appliqued the pale green edging then sent it off to be machine quilted...  when it was bound and labeled I gave it to David's mother for her 80th Birthday and she had it on her bed until the day she died. 
David loves this quilt and it was one thing he was determined to get back...  This is one very special quilt which started my Hexagon obsession about 20 years ago.

 Liz's Show #1... Liz has started another Quilt as you go Quilt.

Liz's Show #2... Here are two more of Liz's blocks, I'm loving this quilt already!

 Joy's Show... lovely fabrics making something really interesting here.

 Irene's Show #1... Knitting a different sort of quilt, Irene made a terrific knitted block quilt last year.

Irene's Show #2... another block underway.

Show and Tell #3.

 Ruth's Show... One of the members of the 'Chain Gang', this lovely little rug is for some lucky child.

 Erica's Show...  Steadily working away on this lovely fresh quilt.

 Brenda's Show... this is a sun print getting a lot of purple stitching.

 Gillian's Show... a beautiful shawl in the making.

 Marilyn's sort of show...  Marilyn started Bonnie K Hunters Orca Bay Mystery but had to put it away when guests were coming, she's lost interest in it now and has given these blocks to Glynis... it will be interesting to see what Glynis does with them, will they be Orca Bay or will they be ???

Marilyn's Show... A lovely Sunshine and Shadow just getting it's binding finished.

Show and Tell #4.

 Cath's Show... A lovely Hexagon quilt just starting, I wonder how big it will grow.

 Heather's Show... Another block for a very special Grand Daughter.

 Lynne's Show #1... Lynne has just been on a wonderful Quilty Cruise where she met other quilters as well as a couple of SCQuilters as well.  This is one of the classes she did onboard.

 Lynne's Show #2... a close up of the above.

Lynne's Show #3... more close up of these wonderful little... teardrops?

Joy's Show #?... hand work underway.

Show and Tell #5.

 Lynne's Show #4... Clamshells another class done on her Cruise Ship Tour.

 Penny's Show #1... A lot of people have bought out their UFO's to finish and this quilt of Penny Smith's is another example of some wonderful work that has been sitting for too long.

 Penny's Show #2...

 Joy's Show #1... Isn't this a fabulous bag!

 Joy's Show #2... The other side of the beautiful bag.

Joy's Show #3... Yet another UFO come to life again :-)

Show and Tell #6

 Jenn's Show...  A bright little quilt for a child.

 Jenn's Show #2...  This is one quarter of the quilt Jenn is making for her Mother-in-law's birthday, it's one of the four corners.  I hope we get to see it when it's finished.

 Marianne's Show #1... This was a Stack and Whack  UFO from long long ago... but now a finished top!

 Marianne's Show #2...  Another UFO of 1,000??  different triangles, there are no two fabrics the same Marianne tells us, none of us checked of course, we trust her :-)

 Annette's Show #1... A beautiful Crochet rug.  I bet she's using it right now on this cold old evening.

Annette's Show #2... a little bit of fudging on the odd corner makes this beaut quilt from a pack of squares.