I’ve completed the second clue to Charlotte Hawke’s Handy Dandy Mystery Quilt. So far there are twelve of these blocks and eighty of the sashing strips. I love my maple seed background fabric, but it looks a little…wormy… up on the design wall.

It occurs to me that some of my readers may not be totally sure about the meaning of “mystery quilt”. In my experience, it involves one person designing a quilt, then giving us the directions bit by bit, and we don’t know what the pieces will make until the final reveal. (Some quilters are better guessers than I am!)

Some designers select the colors, too, or suggest them. Charlotte is a dedicated scrap quilter, so her designs are meant to be made with a variety of scraps in any color, with just “light”, “medium”, or “dark” to go by.

Some designers give a new direction every week. Charlotte gives us the cutting directions in November, then, starting in January, we get a new clue every month about which squares and triangles to sew together. It takes longer, but can be easier to manage.

This is probably my scrapiest quilt yet. I have trouble letting go and just throwing everything together. In the past I’ve stuck with certain colors or themes. We’ll see how this turns out!

Looking for the next clue in March!