Friday 1 May 2020

Marshal Mystery Quilt revisited

Today I decided to revisit my Marshal Mystery Quilt.  The Marshal quilt was designed by Jen Kingwell and released in Quiltmania magazine throughout 2019.



 

I made most of the blocks during 2019, but when the final quilt was revealed at Houston in November, I lost motivation to continue.  I didn't like the final design, so I've spent some months thinking about how I could use all the blocks I spent hours making.

The full reveal of the Marshal mystery quilt

I decided to buy yardage of Jen Kingwell's Lollies fabric and planned to applique the feature blocks onto it like my good friend Racheldaisy did in a quilt that she designed.


My plan this morning

However, I still had the issue of how to use all the 4" square blocks.  So I started playing with them this afternoon.




Now I've decided that it's either going to be the hand pieced blocks OR the 4" square blocks.  I don't think I can incorporate them both into the same quilt.

So it's back to the drawing board as I consider how to make the most of what I've got in front of me.


Thanks for all the comments in support of shopping local.  I've added a new tab with a list of NZ quilt shops.  I haven't quite worked through all my emails yet, but I promise to do that tomorrow morning and will add any more mentioned in those emails.  I'll also add more details about where each shop is.  

How's your quilting going? Are you getting lots done?  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.



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11 comments:

Gretchen Weaver said...

I don't like Jen's finished quilt either. I'm sure whatever you come up with will be more happy! Maybe you'll be ready to show us progress next week. Have a lovely day!

Jocelyn is Canadian Needle Nana said...

Thank you for writing this post, Wendy. Not all projects work out the way intended and I did not care for Jen's final block arrangement of this one. Beautiful blocks and joyous fabrics you have there. I'm sure whatever you do with them will be wonderful.

Sumac said...

I'm with you, Wendy. I don't like the quilt, either, and am glad that I couldn't keep up. Now to decide what to do with the bits of this very expensive failure. I do like the elements and the fabric. Plus I'm happy to find someone else that didn't like it, so I could whine

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I didn't care for that quilt either - the individual blocks I liked bu it seemed way too busy for me in that final layout she chose - maybe if it was different colors it would have worked but when I say the final I thought I was so glad I had just saved the patterns and hadn't made it! I like the layout you show with the strips of fabric - maybe the other blocks could be a border around?

FlourishingPalms said...

Oh Wendy, your fabric preferences and quiltmaking style are so different than mine! But very refreshing. It's good to see what you are making in your part of the world. I really like those four-inch square blocks with the hand-appliqued circles. It's so nice that you have quilt shop options. Here in Florida, our choices have always been limited, and even more so now with quarantine. However, just two days ago, the nearest shop put their store online. While that's good, the selection isn't to my taste... nor would it be yours. Nary a Kaffe or Horner fabric to be found. I'm okay with not shopping for a long time, as I'm focusing on using up what I have and turning scraps into something useful. I'm making, but don't seem to have much to show for my efforts. You though, are showing lots of great stuff! Keep up the good work!

Kris said...

I agree, her quilt is kinda...boring if I may say that. Not all the pieces but I think the value is missing? Not sure. I can't wait to see what you do. I bet you figure it out and use all the blocks somehow.

Susan said...

It's unfortunate how this mystery quilt came together. I'm with you, I don't care for it. But I like your idea of what to do with the circles. As for the other parts, make either two more quilts, or make one, maybe one half circles and one half squares?

Susan said...

I remember at the time seeing that final layout and wondering...what was she thinking? Could you use that gorgeous star ( the last photo) as the centre of a medallion quilt? Four corners with the other circular blocks and fill in with the smaller 4” squares and circles? Of course it’s hard to tell from the scale of things if this would work? Good luck on your designing!

Rebecca Grace said...

Hmmm... Well, I'm not surprised that you were disappointed to see the final layout for that mystery quilt. I like your idea MUCH better -- and how is it that I've never seen that Lollies fabric before?! It's fabulous!! I need about 8 yards of it in every colorway! :-)

greeneggs said...

Those blocks are just gorgeous. I didn’t make any of the quilt blocks, but like you I didn’t think the final quilt was great. I can’t wait to see what you do with them.

Eremophila2018 said...

Hello I did not like the finished quilt design either. It was totally unexpected after looking at her other quilt patterns most of which I really like. I decided to use the first block as a medallion centre, and border it out with the 4 inch blocks as I have made most of those. Perhaps applique some circular segment blocks in a border round as well. Lucky I was also way behind and it was revealed before I made all the blocks. That might have been a bit unlikely to happen anyway!
Christine