De Stijl

Mystery Geometry Quilt by Polly Pohlman

June, 2020

We are offering a mystery quilt project as a fundraiser. An advantage to this type of fundraiser is that the guild has NO expenses in bringing this to you. Your participation fee of $25 goes directly and completely to the guild!

General information:

• You may join at any time. There is no deadline.
• The first email will be sent on Monday, June 8th. Subsequent emails with instructions will be sent to participants on the following Mondays:
  • June 15
  • June 22
  • June 29
  • July 6
  • July 13
  • July 20
• We will have an optional weekly Zoom meeting for questions, discussion and peeking at people’s progress. Information regarding these meetings will be shared through the QAL emails.
• We will devote part of the August 25th meeting (virtual or in person) to showing our quilts.

Notes from Polly:

• The quilt is a seven-week block project with weekly zoom meetings, if needed.
• The quilt will be 39½”x47½”. It could make a great wall hanging, a fun baby quilt, or gift for an art lover. You could enlarge the quilt with a border.
• The final quilt design will not be revealed until week 6.
• Weekly instructions could include a chart or two showing fabrics needed, sub-cutting lists, and/or a piecing plan with a photo shown of the final block you will complete in that week.
• The Prep Week is choosing and cutting fabric.
• Weeks 1-5 is the sub-cuttng of the sashing strips needed for that week and the creation of blocks 1-5.
• Week 6 is the creation of block 6 and sewing all blocks together to create the quilt top and “solve the mystery.”
• Quilting and binding will be left up to you. I do, however, suggest an invisible quilt facing instead of a traditional binding. Some examples of how a few people have finished the quilt will be shown in week 6.

Minimum Fabric Requirements:

• White – 1½ yards (exactly 49” needed)
• Black – ½ yard
• Primary Red – ¼ yard (You will actually only need one 9”x9” square)
• Primary Yellow – ⅛ yard
• Primary Blue – ⅛ yard
• Binding – ⅜ yard for traditional binding or invisible quilt facing

Fabric Suggestions:

Two features that make this quilt pop are negative space and high contrast. Minimalism is characterized by the repetition of simple geometric forms using a limited color palette and it is noted for being hard-edged with precise transitions between colors. I (Polly) would encourage people to push the boundaries and think outside the constraints of the proverbial box.

• I (Polly) made the blocks in solids.
• A friend made the quilt with patterned fabrics that mostly read as solids. This friend also used a white fabric with a gray swirl for the white and that worked well.
• Sarah is planning to reverse light and dark.
• Polka dots could be fun!
• Using 3 shades of one color instead of the 3 primary colors is another possibility.