Mystery Quilts Anonymous

Mystery Quilts Anonymous It's New Year's Eve!!! I hope you're ready to sew with me tomorrow! You should have your fabric chosen and maybe even some cutting finished, but if you don't, that's ok! You can still join in the fun! Check out the files on our Facebook page to find the "Picture Perfect" files and you will find our New Year's Day Quilt Along! I so hope you join me in the fun. I plan to go live for a bit and actually sew right beside you. I CANNOT WAIT!   I took a poll on our page and asked you all to choose my fabrics and that's what I would sew with. Your choice is pictured here. These didn't win by a landslide, choices 1 and 2 were pretty close! These are not my favourite, so I am trusting all of you to steer me out of my comfort zone!! The pic on our FB page made the lavender look very pink, but it truly is lavender. Can't wait to see your choices!! This is a very quick and easy project that can be gifted or used for y...

Mystery Quilts Anonymous I am sitting here in astonishment. My older "family" on our Facebook page will know I started this group on 4 July 2018. Here we are at the very end of 2019 and we have surpassed every single expectation for us. We had a hard road getting the the 5,000 member status, but once we hit it, we have been growing almost too fast to count! I guess I should get started on our next milestone quilt! I have our 5,000 quilt "Kindred Spirits" designed and nearly ready for you to sew!   I just wanted to say thanks to you, my family, whether old friend or new, for trusting me and sewing with me. I so enjoy having you beside me on this amazing journey! Words just seem too small for the gratitude in my heart! I find family in each of you. You are deeply appreciated, Deb

Mystery Quilts Anonymous   We have been spending the last few days, trying to dig out from a rain that caused the stream to overflow it's banks on Christmas night. We are taking out trees, plants, and fences damaged in the aftermath. This shows the height of the stream, this would be up about 3 metres. The "mud line" is where it finally stopped and started receding again.   If you can see the plank at the bottom of the picture, this is our bridge. My hero of a husband made sure it was anchored to the big boulders on this side of the river so it is still there, just parallel with the river instead of crossing it! We (and our neighbours) have lost more than our fair share of bridges. Between trees and rubbish, we spent hours cleaning up...only to have it rain again. Praying it stays just a slow easy rain with no more flooding for a long time.  Fortunately, we didn't lose power and I still could cut and sew on some future mysteries! I do h...

Mystery Quilts Anonymous As I sit here eating a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, I am breathing a sigh of happiness and peace! We are a couple days past Christmas in a calm before the storm of a new year and children and grandchildren coming home. We are so looking forward to having them, but enjoying our little bit of calm right now.  Alongside my coffee and pnbutter cups is my agenda for the week. I just keep adding things to it, but it seems to help to get everything non-quilty completed. I am planning 2020 with retreats, mysteries, quilt alongs, block of the months.....   I can't wait to spend 2020 and following years with you!   Starting mid January, we will be starting a BOM to increase our skills. For this, you should be able to use scraps, fat quarter bundles, or yardage, but it will not be a "traditional" quilt. It will be more like a sampler, but will still have the continuity of one of my patterns. It has been a challenge to design (and be cohes...

Mystery Quilts Anonymous Here we are at Boxing Day in New Zealand, and I find myself thinking about the traditions we have. We inherited Boxing Day when we came to New Zealand 28 years ago. It has nothing to do the sport of "boxing" and everything to do with Christmas cake! It is the day after Christmas when everyone "boxes" up the last of the Christmas cake and sends it to those who couldn't be with them at this holiday season. What traditions are in your area of the world or family. I love to hear how others celebrate and share.   Also makes me think we, as a quilting group (family) should start our own tradition, maybe starting with the holidays next year, I give you a pattern that IS NOT a mystery! So many ideas floating in my head, we will have to have fun with it! We have plenty of time to make new traditions! I love our kind community of quilters and would love to share traditions with you. Please share your thoughts... For those e...

Mystery Quilts Anonymous Life has been very busy around the Montgomery household. Between church activities, family activities, and preparing for family to come in January, I'm not sure we have had time to breathe recently. There are so many blessings in the busy-ness though: we have family to love on and a church that loves us...double blessings. I haven't written on the blog for a few days, and for that, I am sorry. I have taken what spare time I have had and sewn on our Kindred Spirits 5K quilt. I am so excited with this one and and very happy with my fabric choices. If you're having trouble choosing, please post your choices and I will do all I can to help you. Also, with this one we have larger block sizes. If you need it to be smaller, you can cut your blocks in half (for example you would make 6" blocks instead of 12"...although, our blocks are larger than 12"!!) It will just take a bit of math on your part, again I will help as much as I c...

  Mystery Quilts Anonymous   For those of us in the Southern Hemisphere, Happy Christmas Eve! Hope your day is amazing and you have all the makings of a beautiful Christmas Day! Here in Rotorua, NZ, we are meant to have rain...sad, but still fun! Can't wait to share the day with family and friends. For those in the Northern Hemisphere...ENJOY the day! Time for me to sit back, relax, and sew a while. I am ready for tomorrow. We have family coming in January, so our Christmas #2 will be then and I will be more busy. Have an amazing day celebrating the reason for the season!  Love and happy wishes! Deb

  Mystery Quilts Anonymous Why is it that after the great things, come a bit of a low patch....things are no different around here. Amid growing VERY FAST over the past few days, I woke with a UTI this morning and it has set me in bed for the day. I so wanted to sew today, but every time I sit down to try, I am running elsewhere! I got on the antibiotics as quickly as possible, so hopefully one day down and were done!   In the meantime, I thought I would show you a pic of our wee mascot. You helped me name her and were excited for me before we got her. She is now 7 months old and a cute as can be! She loves lying on the bed with her "brother" and playing outside. Her best friend is the kitten our mama cat had just over a year ago. I love this wee girl!   She loves hanging out in her kangaroo pouch with me! She's been in there since she was 8 weeks old!   And don't get me started when she poses for the camera! Such a diva when I w...

Mystery Quilts Anonymous After such an amazing day yesterday...zooming through the 5,000 member point... one would think today would be a let down. BUT, not for me! I have a couple of appointments in town, one at the fabric store but don't tell my hubby!, then I will have the rest of the day to finish up the quilt I am working on. I should be sewing on our 5k quilt, but I have been digging in to finish a quilt I call Love Conquers All. I designed this one for a friend, but we will share it with you once we have it finished. This is a really sweet quilt dedicated to all our adopted children and their adoptive parent(s). I have a very soft spot for these children and deeply appreciate the ladies and gentlemen who do their best to provide them with a stable, wonderful, loving home. Thank you. It’s meant to represent the love we show as parents to our children no matter how we have them, adopted or biological. This is Sadie’s Quilt. This is for you and your mum, I love you both...

  Mystery Quilts Anonymous Here we are sitting at over 5,100 members! When I started this group on 4 July 2018, I never imagined we would ever grow this fast or this big. I sat here in my dream world thinking wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have 100 members and sew all day when we can??? I began pinching myself at 500 members, I couldn't believe a nobody from New Zealand (formerly from Ohio) could ever accomplish what WE have in the last 17 months. Let's keep going, growing, sewing, and encouraging each other for many more years! This is the first pic I used on the blog with never a thought that we would grow so fast and stay so loving and fun! I enjoy every minute with you and this truly has become my passion, my happy place, and my love. I honestly love each of you and thank you for being my "family". We are truly Kindred Spirits. Our 5K quilt is well underway, but I thought I would have a wee bit more time to finish it up. OH WELL!! We will s...

  Mystery Quilts Anonymous I don't know about you, but when life gets in the way and I can't sew for a few days, I get grumpy! Well, today I am QUITE grumpy. I haven't been about to turn on my machine for almost two weeks. This time of the year is always busy, but this year it seems more busy than I can remember. Today, I AM GOING TO SEW! My sanity (and my hubby's sanity) depends on it!   I love to sew and I love being in my sewing room. Well, not only sewing goes on in here, but you understand. It is my happy place. My computer is set up beside my sewing machine so I have both my happy places in one place (our quilting group in my sewing room!). I may not have the flashest machine, the most fabric, or the most current tools, but I love it! I need to get off here now and "heal" my soul with a bit of sewing for today. I miss it and need it! Short and sweet today, our sanity depends on it! Deb

  Mystery Quilts Anonymous I'm sitting here looking at the computer design for our 5,000 member celebration quilt. I am labouring over the name and starting to write the instructions. The amazing thing about it is some asked for a two colour quilt, this quilt is two colours, but four fabrics and so beautiful. I have worked long and hard on this one....it seemed every design I could come up with was horrible. Finally, I just started playing with colour and VOILA! there it was. I am very pleased with the outcome. This one will be one size...a queen, but you can make it smaller by choosing different borders, or no borders. It has large block units and is amazing. It is designed in teal and black, I used (on my computer app) a light and dark teal and black and grey. You can choose two different colours and then use a light and dark or even medium and dark of these colours. I have yet to choose my fabrics, so I can't show you a pic quite yet. I may use the colours it i...

Mystery Quilts Anonymous   It is just about two weeks until Christmas and I am sitting here just thinking about all I have had the opportunity to do this year. I have been so blessed to meet a few of you face to face and go to a few fabric stores in the US. Boy was that an eye opener! (the fabric stores not meeting some of you!!) We are nearly 5,000 strong and our blog (started in Jan 2019) has been re-born into a fun thing for me to keep up with you and share a bit about myself, my family, and my fur babies. We have had AN AMAZING YEAR, going strong and growing every day. Our group page was created on 4 July 2018...I can't believe in 17 months, we have blown all my expectations out of the water. I am so happy with our group and find comfort, peace, and joy everyday. We even have a YouTube channel now and I'm sharing videos with you on a regular basis. You all make what I do fun and worth every broken pencil lead! Our group and everything ab...

  Mystery Quilts Anonymous I wanted to share something that I have been thinking about and working on for months. I have been working with a friend of mine to create my everything journal. I have tried and thrown away most everything on the market. I have tried to use a "calendar" type and just get frustrated that I am falling WAY behind. SO...   I have created a quilting journal (junk journal) that helps me keep up with my projects for you and is my right arm when at the fabric store and away from home without my fabric to play with. I quilted the (pretty stiff) cover and made it so I can just replace the inserts when full. I have coloured pencils, a ruler, grid paper, plain paper, and a pen...I even have a plastic tea spoon for when I am away from home and want a cuppa tea!  I made a place for sticky notes in the back, so they are always available when I need one! I love my journal. I design borders, blocks, and play with colours in it. I also stap...

  Mystery Quilts Anonymous   Today while I was creating a video for you (for Queen of Diamonds), all I could hear in the background was my sweet dog snoring. I think I was boring her! I love that my fur babies love to be with me, but it's a bit distracting when they SNORE!!! I usually am in my sewing room about 6-8 hours a day. This week, I haven't been able to be in here so much and I am going through withdrawal! I think tomorrow (today when this posts) I will just sit and sew ALL DAY! My sanity certainly needs it. Zoey loves posing for her head shots! I just love this old girl. What a sweetie! Been catching up on laundry after being away for a few days... sheets from guests needed washing.... a window needed replacing (after hubby broke into our home!! - that's a whole different story!)... and fur babies needed some loving. Now that everything is caught up on..I can finally play in here for a while!  Hope you have time to just play today!! Deb

Mystery Quilts Anonymous   I am so excited for one of our mysteries coming up. I have designed something different and I can't wait to get started. BUT, I (of all people) am having a hard time with colour choices. I know it is a three fabric quilt and one colour is light, or contrasting to the other two. I know the other two need to have HEAPS of contrast as the design and pattern depend on that contrast. I design most everything in black, white, and red....just so I can see the contrast. But I don't want all the quilts in my house (and those who receive them) to be black, white, and red!! I could use your help! I am completely bamboozled. I know that there needs to be heaps of contrast, like black and white.... like opposites on the colour wheel, but I don't want my quilt to look like a Christmas tree either. Red/grey with white, Blue/yellow with ???  WOW!! Please comment with your ideas or favourite colour combinations. I'm open to try ANYTHING!...

Mystery Quilts Anonymous   Just a quick reminder to clean your machine!! Just cleaned mine and put a new needle in. I can't remember when I put a new needle in last, so it is definitely time. I try to replace the needle every couple of quilts. I clean my machine after every project. That lint can really destroy our machines. I use a sewing machine cleaning brush for the bulk of the cleaning. I truly wish I had a vacuum hose small enough to get in there because the brush really doesn't do a perfect job. I keep it clean, so that helps. Whatever you use, make sure to do a pretty thorough job for less trips to the serviceman!   And don't forget under the needle plate, there is usually a build-up of lint under there as well. I also turn over my bobbin case as there is ALWAYS lint on the bottom of it!! Then I give it a drink of a couple drops of oil and we're back at it. I know my machine says not to oil it, but I still do, old habits die hard....