Old Town Mystery, Part Three!

Hello, Quiltvillians!

I have written this post ahead so it will post while I am in England.

Please note that I have limited access to wifi and internet connection may not be available for me as we travel place to place on our Craftours adventure.

I return home late on December 9th - so if there are any problems with the PDF or instructions, please know that I will take care of things as I get my feet back under me.

I saved a part with just fewer units for this week so if you need to sit this one out, it will be easy to catch up later.

Are you falling in love with Poland as much as I did on my first visit there? I am so excited that so many of Polish heritage are joining in on this mystery quilt - it means so much to see them here.

What a rich culture, and resilient history even in the face of so much adversity in the past.

And before we get to Part Three, I want to be sure everyone knows about this:

While Bonnie's Away Pattern Sale!
From right now until the morning of December 10th when I wake up after my return home, ALL PDF Patterns in the Quiltville Store are 30% off - no coupon code needed!
The price marked IS with the 30% off.  What you see is what you pay.  The regular price is usually $12.00. They are showing at $8.40 right now.
So this isn't just a Black Friday sale, a Small Business Saturday sale, a Cyber Monday sale - It's a Bonnie Goes to England sale.  
This is the deepest pattern discount I do all year, so if there is anything you've been wanting to pick up, now is the time to do it.  You won't see patterns at 30% off again until next year.

Click HERE for Part Three PDF.

Beauty from the little town of Zalipie!

Zalipie, Poland is perhaps one of the most beautiful villages in Poland, and surely the most colorful one. It is known for its tradition of painting special, folksy flower patterns on EVERYTHING.

The whole village is charmingly painted. There is no other place like this – the paintings are unique. And they are everywhere – not only houses are painted, but also barns, dog kennels, walls, furniture, fences, clothes, you name it!

Window shutters -

All of these designs are freehand painted - no stencils or patterns are used.

Garage - and no, the dog is not real!

Bee boxes! So cute!

Thatched garden shed.

Painted sewing machine yard art!

Let's just paint all the things!

Wouldn't the world be a prettier place?

I loved the color combo here -

The melon flowers and the aqua leaves -

Can you see where a lot of our color inspiration for our Old Town mystery inspiration came from?

Inside a local resident's house!

We were warmly welcomed inside to take a look around. Just look at all of this! 

Now, if I gave up quilting - maybe I could do something like this.  But who am I kidding?

Are you ready to sew?

Hourglass units.

Make 40.

Units will measure 2 1/2'' unfinished and finish at 2'' in the quilt.

These units are completely scrappy (or not if you wish) using 2 different reds and 2 different neutrals in each hourglass unit.

You can use any method to make these, just keep in mind the unfinished and finished sizes. This is an easy one to sew-big and sliver-trim-down as long as you remember to keep your middle intersection centered in your unit.

Traditional Rotary Cutting:

From red fabrics cut:

20 red squares 3 1/4''

From neutral fabrics cut:

20 neutral squares 3 1/4''

Pair a red square with a neutral square with right sides together.  Slice twice on the diagonal with an X to yield 4 matched pairs of quarter square triangles ready to sew.  Repeat for all of the squares, matching them into pairs and cutting with an X. You should have 80 matched pairs.

The sewing is the same as with the Essential Triangle Tool below.

Using the Essential Triangle Tool will have you cutting easily from strips, saving time and increasing your piecing accuracy.

Unlike having to cut 3 1/4'’ squares as in the traditional rotary cutting method above, I used my Essential Triangle Tool to cut the quarter-square triangles from 1 1/2’’ strips. 

1 1/2’’ strips are something I keep readily on hand so I can easily go to my strip stash and pull what I need.

Cutting Quarter -square Triangles 

We will be working with red and neutral 1 1/2'' strips the same as we were with the four-patches in Part Two.

Pair a neutral 1 1/2'' strip with a red 1 1/2'' strip with right sides together. Placing the neutral strip on top makes it easier for me to read the lines on the ruler.

To cut quarter-square triangles, place the second green line from the top (Look for the 1 1/2’’ strip width marking down the center in green) at the bottom edge of the strip with the green line ON neutral background fabric, not below it on the mat.  

Trim 2 sides as shown. The upper tip of the ruler will extend above the top of the strip just a bit creating a flat spot at the top of the cut triangle. 

Pivot the ruler, placing that fourth green line at the bottom of the strip, ON the fabric. Cut.

Pivot the ruler and continue to cut as many units from each fabric pairing as desired. I went with no more than 4 cuts per pairing to build my variety as I went.

Cut 80 units.  Each unit is half an hourglass unit.  When they are sewn and added to another unit they will complete one hourglass.

Stitch units as shown, sewing from corner down off the point with the red fabric on top. 

Sewing from the corner first will keep your machine from eating the point.

Gently press toward the red triangles.  Remove dog ears.  Make 80 half hourglass units.

Join hourglass halves to make 40 hourglass units.

Press center seams open to minimize bulk and remove dog ears.  Trim units to 2 1/2'' as needed.

And that's it for this week!

Click to view All My Tours and join me in my 2025 line up to discovering the crafts, culture and cuisine of Iceland in June, a celebration of quilting & textiles in France, Germany & Switzerland in September, and the treasures of a Bavarian/Austrian Christmas in December.

In January of 2026 we'll be somewhere warm with an exclusive arts & crafts experience in Morocco followed by the culture, crafts and traditions of Romania in June. September 2026 has us exploring all the quilting inspirations of India. 
I am so excited about this whole lineup over the next couple of years and I hope you'll join me.
Space is limited, and there is an early booking discount if you reserve your spot before Jan 1, 2025. Don't miss out!

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Really? You, too?

I'm writing this post from Bath, England and this morning we are heading over to Highclere Castle of Downton Abbey fame.  I'm so excited!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

 

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. 

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