Quiltville Winter Mystery: Old Town (Starówka)

It's Mystery Season, Quiltvillians!

This year gets its inspiration from somewhere I've been in the past year or so- POLAND!

This post contains the back story, colors, yardage requirements, and recommended tools.

Our yearly Quiltville Winter Mystery begins in earnest with Part One going live on - PLEASE READ - NOVEMBER 22, 2024!

Yes, I know that is a week early - but I leave for England on Black Friday - and we are getting an early start.

I will post Part Two on Black Friday before heading to the airport for NYC to meet up with my Craftours group on 11/30. I will also post Part Three while I am in England.

All of the posts for our Old Town mystery will be linked under the Old Town tab at the top of the blog for easy reference.

Click HERE for Printable PDF.

If you’ve followed along with our many past Quiltville Mysteries, you’ll already have a good handle of what happens.  I’m glad to have you back sewing with me again!

If you are one of the many, many new ones who are joining in from the land of Instagram, Facebook and beyond, I want to welcome you.

The most important thing I can mention is to PRINT YOUR PDF COPIES (or save them to your  device, cloud, whatever) as they are released. I can't recommend a site like Dropbox highly enough especially after my own computer crash last month.

When the mystery retires, likely some time in February - all of these mystery posts will go away and I will not be providing missing parts. You'll be directed to the Quiltville Store to purchase the pattern. SAVE YOUR CLUES.

Why do we do a mystery quilt during the holidays?  It's simple.

No matter how busy you may be during the holidays, there are people who are not. They could be alone, or caring for aging parents, their children may be across country or on the other side of the world. 

We have folks dealing with devastating illnesses - newly widowed or divorced. Maybe there was a loss of a job, or a move across country and away from family and friends.

The holidays are NOT joyful for everyone - so we do this during this time to bring a little joy into their lives.  Sewing in community can heal.  It's a gift I can give.  

If you are too busy to participate because your holidays are bustling and joyful - that's wonderful.  Just save the clues so you can jump in later as your own schedule allows.

Okay!  Now that all of that is out of the way - let's get on with it!

Old Town Krakow, Poland

I was traveling with a fabulous group of quilters, spouses and friends to Poland in September 2023. It was my first time, and I was enchanted by the beauty as well as haunted by the history. I think we need to see and understand BOTH to really appreciate this marvelous country.

Everywhere I turned was artistry, color, creativity, culture and history.  You can't separate any of these things as they are part of the whole.

Our colors for this mystery are found in the beautiful paper art from the workshop we attended.

Click to Play:

Yes, she did this with sheep sheers!

And I know you noticed the embroidery on her native dress.

All of these things and more - the buildings we saw, the people we met, from handcrafts to cooking - it all comes together in the quilt I have named Old Town.

If you want to pronounce the Polish word, just remember that W is a V or F sound. 

Starówka = Starufka. Or just call it Old Town.

I'll be sharing more photos from things we saw and did in Poland as we work our way through the mystery.

Our Old Town quilt finishes at 78'' X 78''.  You can make it bigger by adding more blocks.

You can make it smaller by making fewer blocks.

Colors & Yardage Requirements:

My paint chips are from the Valspar line at Lowes.  You do NOT need to go get paint chips to choose your fabrics. You can save these photos and I have also included the paint chips in the PDF of this post for your reference.

You may choose ANY THREE COLORS that you like together, plus a background. Mine are neutrals (no big surprise there!) but you can choose black, grey, navy – whatever – as long as it plays well with your 3 color choices.

Neutrals: 6 1/2 yards total. White to cream, but not too dark.

Reds: 2 3/4 Yards.

Notice these are not all the same shade - feel free to go for a variety.

My reds and neutrals are representative of the Polish flag.

Aqua to Turquoise: 1 3/4 yard

Needs to contrast next to all of the fabrics, including the neutrals so don't go too light.

Coral to Melon: 2 1/8 yard

NONE of my fabrics match the paint chips exactly.  That's just a starting point to pull color families together. Variety is the spark of the quilt!

These yardage amounts are estimates and may change depending on the method YOU choose for your units. Some methods take more fabric, as in copious amounts of sewing big and sliver trimming down, or as in paper piecing. Plan accordingly.

Our friends at  Cotton to Quilts have pulled together special color rolls to enhance your own stash for this mystery.

Each color roll has 20 different pieces measuring 8 1/2'' X 22''. While these are not a *kit* to match the yardage requirements of Old Town, they are a great help in adding variety to fabrics you may already have on hand.

Please note - I do not endorse nor am I working with shops providing *KITS.*  They do not know what this quilt looks like.  They may not have included enough variety, nor would they be fabrics that I would choose to use myself. I just want to be sure everyone understands that if you find a shop selling *KITS* that the shops are in no way in the know as far as this mystery goes.

Other optional things that may be helpful to you:

My Essential Triangle Tool.

Simple Folded Corners ruler – either large

Or the Simple Folded Corners mini.

Ultimate 3-in-1 Color tool.

I love this tool for helping with color recipes that WORK!  If you don’t want to sew with my 3 colors – this tool will help you choose what goes with what in a very simple way.

 You don’t need to be a color wizard to choose a knock-out color plan.

Use coupon code NOTIONS to save 15% on all items in the Rulers, Notions & Tools category of the Quiltville Store. Code must be used for discount to apply. (Shipping within the USA Only.)

I will not be giving Accuquilt die information as it reveals too much too soon.  As each clue comes out with each given finished unit size, you can easily find the corresponding die you need.

I will also provide traditional rotary cutting measurements for those who wish to work that way. 

So there you have it.  You have roughly 3 weeks to pull your fabrics together.

We start with PART ONE on Friday, November 22nd - the Friday BEFORE Thanksgiving here in the USA.

Let's Do This!

Oh, and one last thing:

What's my number 1 rule?

No whining!

This will be a learning experience for many, but I know you can do this. I will present alternate methods for you to do the units. Try them all and choose the one that works for you.

This is a time to slow down, find out where problems may be coming from, make a change, develop new habits with better results.  You've got this!

How do we make it through a crazy busy holiday season?

We find quiet moments to sew and create, focus on simplicity and make wonderful quilts while embracing each step along the way!

It's going to be an awesome mystery season.

I'm so glad you are here with me.

 

This mystery pattern is given for personal use only. 

No part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical including printing or photocopying for sharing, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author.

Please no uploading and saving of this file with intent to share, email or distribute, either digitally or in hard copy. 

It is a reader appreciation mystery, something I give back to my readers for their support over the years.

Please help me continue to design and show your support by sending your friends to my blog to print their own copy. 

Please check out my other designs found in the Quiltville Store where my books (paperback) notions, tools, and other goodies along with my digital patterns are found right at your fingertips.