Quiltville Custom Quilting
http://www.quiltville.com

Old Tobacco Road!

~A Quiltville Mystery Quilt!!~

© Bonnie K Hunter.

When I moved to Wallburg NC in February 2008, I never knew how fun it was going to be to watch things growing in fields all around me, and how it would connect me to the history of this land. Granted, I wish they would grow anything BUT Tobacco, but since I had never seen it done before, it has been interesting.

I love the old tobacco drying barns that I see everywhere. In NC it seems that old buildings are never taken down, they just stay there until they fall. I would love to do a whole picture portfolio on old farm houses and tumbling down barns. I just love them! The inspiration for the name of the quilt came from the September 2008 issue of North Carolina's "Our State" magazine. It's a beautiful magazine with great photography and really interesting articles on the history of tobacco farming. It became the jumping off point for my designing process in this mystery.

Click pic to see large view....look at these COLORS!

Are you ready to come Quilt down Old Tobacco Road with me?

This is a sample shot of the fabrics I've used. And some hints as well! Is your interest piqued? I hope so! You have a couple options with this quilt. If you choose to do the "couch" size, just omit the borders! The quilt center measures approximately 56-inches X 78-inches. It's bigger than a lap size because all of the men in my life are over 6 feet tall, and require quilts to be long enough to cover their shoulders and wrap around their feet :c)

If you want the quilt bigger, follow along with the optional borders segment, and you'll end up with a full size quilt that measures approximately 81-inches X 104-inches!

But ladies, the one thing I am not going to have time to do is re-draft the pattern to use a different size of strip or unit than is shown in the pattern. If you want to enlarge it, or shrink it, you're flying solo unless you can get some adventurous spirit to join you. Yes, bigger units mean less units, but I don't want to do the math to figure out how many of what you'll need to achieve that, okay?

Yardage Requirements:

Quilt Center:
Lights and neutral Scraps, Fat Quarters or Yardage: 1-3/4yard to 2 yards. (Or equivalent in 2" strips
Assorted dark scraps in many colors from Fat Quarters or Yardage: 1-3/4yard to 2 yards. (Or equivalent in 2" strips)
Earth tone fabrics in shades of rust, dark tan, brown, and some black for depth: 1-3/4yard to 2 yards. (Or equivalent in 3.5" strips)

Optional Controlled Color Scheme: Quilt Diva Julie has posted pics of her fabric choices to her blog with my encouragment as a way to show something less scrappy and more controlled. Feel free to use her color choices as your jumping off point!

Optional First Border:
1/2 yard black (I used something similar to a black moda marble)

Optional Second Border:
More earth tone fabrics as above in shades of rust, dark tan, and rust: 1-3/4yards (or the equivalent in 3-1/2 inch strips)
More lights and neutrals as above: 1-3/4 yards (or the equivalent in 3-1/2 inch strips)

Final Border:
1 1/3 yard dark to tie it all together. You might want to wait until you get to this point to choose, or as an option, choose a busy print for your border FIRST and use the color dots on the selvege edge to help you pull coordinating fabrics for the assorted darks listed as a requirement for the quilt center.

Another option...if you want more color control in your quilt than what I do, Choose your border fabric first. (This is a cheat..but I'm going to tell you because I want you to be happy!) Looking at the picture above...choose ONE color family for the 4 patches (ie: green/neutral) and another color family (ie: cheddars and golds/neutrals) for the half square triangle hint above. Your earth tones can also be a completely different color (say purples and reds?) if you are one of those, like Freddie Moran, who says she "Just doesn't understand BROWN" :cÞ

Binding:
Couch Size: 1/2 yard
Full Size: 3/4 yard

Specialty Rulers:
This is our 3rd Quiltville Mystery Series! By now, you should be aware that I like to use specific rulers in my quiltmaking because they work with the size of scrap strips that I like to keep on hand. This quilt uses both the EZ ANGLE RULER and the COMPANION ANGLE RULER. You can find them in my AMAZON STORE. Or you can find yourself a Joann's coupon, search the internet, beg borrow or steal one from your friend if you have to! I use these rulers all the time and I'll keep using them...so...you best decide to get them and put them to good use as part of your basic tool set too! Other companies such as Omnigrid and Fons & Porter have their own versions of these rulers, but I find these to be the easiest to use and read without a lot of yellow or green lines interfering with my eye sight. I also only like to work with strips cut on the full inch or half inch, so I don't need rulers that have things marked every 1/8" so that I can't see where I am. ;c)

For those who "CAN'T" get the rulers, maybe you can put them on your Christmas list! I'll post regular rotary cutting instructions for you,but your yardage requirements might vary. In this case, shoot for the bigger cuts listed above.

So how is this Labor Day Weekend Mystery going to work? Simple! I'm going to post everything as fast as I can get it up, starting Friday August 29th! That's right! You can start sewing on Friday,and sew straight through Monday if you want, and with any luck at all, I'll get everything uploaded before you actually get to the next step! :cD

This will be a "self paced" mystery with no 2 week break in between steps,but you can sure do it that way if you want. Take your time if you need to, or sew like a quilt-fiend with the pedal to the metal if you sew-desire! When you get to the end of one step, there will be a link to click to the next, and the next and Sew-Forth!Most of all, enjoy yourself while you welcome in a beautiful scrappy Fall, while enjoying the last warmth of Summer 2008!

Watch this space for the link to begin HERE!

Click HERE to get to part 1! It's up and ready!