Where or Where has my Di Ford Mystery Quilt Project Gone?

Welcome to South Texas where we only have tropical weather – YUP – back to the 90’s with high humidity – YEA –

Well, this should have set the mood for this Blog Posting.  Saturday I started to work on my Di Ford Mountmellick 2014 Mystery Quilt project.  This began 3 days of total frustration and here I am on Wednesday a little on the cynical side of life.

In 2004 I made my first pieced quilt called Cozy Christmas, a pattern from Fons and Porter Magazine.  It took me 1 month to complete it and I learned from that project that I knew nothing about quilting.  But when I finished that quilt it was perfectly square and all points were perfect.

It was a hard lesson to learn that when a pattern is provided free in a magazine that the magazine ‘assumes’ that the quilter knows everything there is to know about quilting.  After the 3rd call to Fons and Porter, I so advised!  Lesson learned on that one?  No more quilts made from a magazine UNLESS it was a utility quilt, quick and easy for a give away!

OK – 10 years later!  I was so excited about the Di Ford Mystery Quilt in the Quiltmania Magazine, I  worked very hard  trying to find the same fabric that she was using, but by the time I found out about the Di Ford, her 2014 quilt, Quiltmania, and Australian Quilters, I was out of luck for the first border fabric.  I told myself – ‘that’s OK’  we will just do another colorway.  Remember,  this is the year that I am into Reproductions – so am a babe in the woods on selections of fabrics.  I worked with a reproduction quilt shop and I chose to use the “Amelia” fabric line for this quilt.  It was top dollar price – and I did not mind at the time because I was so excited to start on this quilt.

I selected a background fabric and started on the Medallion.  Then in April Darryl got sick and all was put on hold.  The only applique  I had accomplished on this quilt included the stems, with the other pieces  ready to applique but I never seemed to get in the mood, or have the time for to work on it.  Since I have now caught up on other projects, I thought this would be the time to “get with it” and start my Di Ford Mystery quilt.

Well, it did not take long to realize that I was going to learn a very very very costly lesson………….Number 1.  The background I had chosen did not match the cream in the Amelia line.  I told myself, “well, not to worry Nanette – you have plenty of creams”!   NEXT….I then sat down and began studying the first border fabric that I was planning on using versus what Di Ford had picked out…………YIKES!    Must have been in LA LA Land when I first reviewed Part One!  Judie Rothermel’s 25th Anniversary border fabric is ONLY 3 INCHES and my beautiful Amelia border fabric is 4 1/2″……….WOW am I ever having some fun here!    It did not take a Rocket Scientist to realize that I had a SERIOUS problem here to correct (if at all possible).

I hit the panic button and started calling my quilting Buddies (like they really needed my problem)   I was determined somehow I would make it work. I put in calls to Jaydee and Jan – two of my long distance quilting buddies.  Jaydee was the lucky one (?) as she called me back first and calmed me down long enough to realize I needed to make a decision –  I could  move forward or put it away!  Being the Type A Scorpio idiot,  I decided I would forge ahead, use this as a challenge and make it work.  She spent time with me discussing medallion quilts with borders and how they work.   (Jaydee is a little smarter than me – she was going to wait until the entire quilt was published – REAL SMART LADY!)

By Tuesday morning I had decided to re-size the pattern and cut out a small piece of my Amelia border fabric.  Tuesday afternoon I spoke with Jan who had already ordered the kit in January and had all the suggested fabric line to make the entire quilt – especially that first border!   I told her I realized that this quilt had to have a 3″ border fabric and mine was NOT 3″, but 4 1/2″.  We discussed different ways to make it work, but when I tried one of the ways it BOMBED!  End of that story.

Jaydee, Jan and I have all agreed that in order to make this quilt come out like it should, the quilt had to have the exact border fabric or forget it!.

OK – so here I am on Wednesday at 2:22 – Nothing more to report – the fabric is back in the  drawer for another project and Di Ford’s 2014 Mystery Quilt is gone forever!

To top it off – I was looking at my Happy Scrappy Medallion with the 3 borders completed and getting ready to sew the hexie flowers on when I realized that the last border was sewn on wrong…………………..

I have a date with Mr Ripper ……. Fun Fun Fun

I think I may go get my knitting, sit in my rocking chair and wait for winter!  One thing I will not do the rest of the day is to Quilt!  Maybe there will be a good segment of Gunsmoke to watch!

Have a Blessed Day and hope you received a chuckle today!