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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

A Mystery!

I love mysteries.  When Emily was a girl, and we were starting our homeschooling journey, I accumulated the whole first 56 original Nancy Drew books for her and for me to read.  It was the first indication that we might have more in common that blood after all!! LOL

In spite of her abhorrance for the concept of "legacy quilter" (I still have hope she will change her mind! She's only 20 -- and someday she'll want quilts for her babies!! :-D), we like many of the same books and movies.

Mystery quilts, however....that I have to share with people who understand! LOL  Four of us from Mountain Laurel Quilters -- Paula, Debbie, Lynn and I -- worked on Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt Roll, Roll Cotton Boll.  And we had so much fun doing it that we talked our club into doing a mystery, too.   Since Bonnie's mysteries are on-line and available for all to peek at, we decided to use something else to mystify our club members, and I am fortunate enough to be the Magical Mystery Tour Guide!  (It was too good an opportunity to quote the Beatles.  You should never pass up a chance to quote the Beatles! LOL)

This past Saturday, we started with the first unit of the quilt.  More and more of the mystery will be revealed until we put the quilt together in October.

I'm using Jo Morton fabrics in deep reds, greens, purples, blacks, and medium blues and browns, with a great mixture of her neutrals and shirtings for backgrounds.  Our first unit is a simple four-patch of squares and half-square triangles.

The units we'll do in March will use the purples, greens and blacks. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that I know the outcome of this mystery.  :-D

One mystery that has me stumped, though, is what I'm gonna do with the Brown Bag Quilt Contest fabric!

I've had my fabric several months, now...and I don't have a clue what I will do.  I found a nice print in my stash that will bring the different fabrics together nicely, and some neutrals to mix in, but beyond that I haven't a single clue!

I'm looking for inspiration among all the scrappy books and patterns that I have....I haven't found anything that speaks to me yet, but I gotta get crackin' since the quilt must be completed -- pieced/appliqued, quilted and bound!!! -- by April 1st.

Some mysteries end well -- like Nancy Drew! -- some don't.  I'm hoping the Brown Bag quilt is one of the former, not the latter! LOL

The Apostle Paul mentioned mysteries quite often in his letters.  I love what he wrote in Colossians:

"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love...., in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:2-3 NIV)

In the movie City Slickers, there's this great scene between Billy Crystal and Jack Palance about the meaning of life. (Warning:  film clip contains what some would consider an offensive word.)



What I love about this clip is that I know the mystery....I know what the "one thing" is! It is, as Paul said in the passage from Colossians, CHRIST!   And the word that Jack uses is the very one that Paul uses in Philippians 3: 8 when he says he counts everything he's lost as but "dung" (KJV) that he may gain Christ.

There are many things I love -- my family, friends, homeschooling, church, music, quilting!!!! -- but none of them is equal to the "hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge" that is found in Jesus.

Oh, that all mysteries were so easily solved!!  I bet Nancy Drew would have figured this one out!  Maybe she'll help me with the Brown Bag Quilt!

Blessings,

9 comments:

Lindah said...

Love it, Mary Lou, Love it! So simple and yet so profound. So deep, one never gets to the limit of it.

How fun to be doing a guild mystery, but even "funner" that the mystery is not a mystery to you. Every time I do a mystery I promise myself that I will not do another one. :-) I just today finished Bonnie's RRCB top. Yay!!!! Glad that is no longer a mystery!

Have fun being the Mystery Tour Guide. Your color scheme and fabrics are beautiful.

Crispy said...

It will be fun seeing what you came up with for the mystery. I don't do them as I have seen too many disasters, but I'm sure you have come up with something beautiful :0)

Crispy

Angie said...

I love mystery quilts (as long as the clues are written well), our guild does one every year and I think it my favorite thing to do with that group. ;)

Shelley said...

Temple maintenance looks like it's progressing :) Good for you!! I will be interested in hearing if the change in thyroid meds will make a difference.

LuAnn said...

I'm glad you are spreading your mystery out over a longer time period. The Cotton Boll came fast and furious. I am still working to get those blocks finished and the top put together. Your brown bag fabrics are interesting but would have no idea what to do with them. Love your log cabin quilt.

Anonymous said...

Oh Mary Lou...now you have me curious as to what you are up to with this new mystery quilt! Sounds wonderful and from the looks of fabric choice I'm going to LOVE IT! As always...your post are thoughtful...your a blessing.

Staci said...

I'm sure you'll be a great tour guide, you are such an accomplished quilter. I'll be interested in your progress. You know, you could host an online mystery quilt along yourself. You'd have a lot of takers!

Kathy said...

What mystery are you doing with the Jo Morton fabrics? I would love to sew along!

Nancy Drew...and before that, I read The Happy Hollisters. Oh, what good memories of the summer I spent with the Hollister Family!

Michelle said...

Loved readiing this thanks