Old Town Mystery - The Reveal!

Yes, that's right!
Part NINE is actually our REVEAL!
I'm sure plenty of you figured it would happen today. After all I leave for Los Angeles on January 7th, this coming Tuesday, and our flight to Brisbane, Australia departs LAX Wednesday January 8th.
I need to have all of this buttoned up before I go - so here we are!
That means that this post will contain any missing units and the assembly of units into blocks, sashings and borders.
Are you ready?

Arrangements outside of a flower boutique on one of our walkabouts - More coral/melon inspiration!

And against those gorgeous neutral flowers?

I love looking at scenes like this - also take in the colors of the chairs, and the lovely periwinkle purple in the bottom left. Quilt color inspiration is everywhere!

A beautiful window arrangement.
I'll be carrying the colors of Poland with me for a long long time.  From the people to the past and future. To the culture, the artistry and so much more. I'm so happy we've had Poland as our inspiration for our Old Town mystery this year.
Click HERE for Part Nine PDF (The Reveal)
First things first - I know you are wanting to make blocks so let's get right down to it. All of these pieces have been made in previous parts.

Do you recognize these units?

We will be making 25 blocks.

Blocks will measure 12 1/2'' unfinished and finish at 12'' in the quilt.

Block Corner units.

Made with red/neutral four-patches

Coral/neutral half-square triangles

red/neutral half square triangles.

Make 25 sets of 4 matching.

Units will measure 4 1/2'' unfinished and finish at 4'' in the quilt.

Position units as shown, and stitch units in rows, pressing the top row toward the four-patch and the bottom row toward the red triangle. 

Join rows to complete unit.  DO NOT SPIN PRESS or units will not work with the flying geese side units. Instead, press seam down toward the bottom row.  Do not rotate units when assembling.  Make them all the same.  They will rotate AFTER assembly when making blocks.

Make 25 sets of 4 matching. The only thing random-scrappy will be the fabrics in the four-patches.

Double Geese.

Make 25 sets of 4 matching.

Join red base triangles to neutral base triangles.  If you pressed the right hand wing triangles under as instructed, these geese points should nest when sewing the center seam. 

Press center seam up toward the red base triangles.

Units will measure 4 1/2'' unfinished and finish at 4'' in the quilt.

Block Assembly

Position units for one block like this!

I find it helpful to put things wrong-sides-up to double check that pressing will work. If you pressed as suggested, everything will nest.  You may also press anything you wish open to minimize some bulk.

Join units into rows, pinning to match points. Press top and bottom rows toward the corner units and the center row toward the center unit.

Join rows, pressing last two long seams toward the top and bottom rows.  Make 25.

My first two - love them!

Pieced Sashings

This is the LAST unit to make!

Make 80

Units will measure 2 1/2'' X 4 1/2'' unfinished and finish at 2'' X 4'' in the quilt.

From aqua/turquoise fabric cut 80 rectangles 2 1/2'' X 4 1/2''.  These are completely scrappy, no sets are needed.

From neutral scraps cut 160 squares 1 1/2''.

You can use either the draw-a-line method to make these with stitch & flip corners the same way we did the coral/neutral small geese in Part Seven -

Or use the Simple Folded Corners or Simple Folded Corners Mini ruler to trim the corners first before sewing, the same way we did in Part Seven. 

Just remember to ALWAYS stitch on the right hand wing triangle first, pressing the seam allowance under toward the base rectangle after sewing.

Press the left hand wing triangle toward the triangle.

One completed unit.  Make 80.

The back after pressing looks like this.

Sashing Assembly

Units will measure 12 1/2'' X 2 1/2'' unfinished

and will finish at 12'' X 2'' in the quilt.

Join the pieced hourglass and geese units between two sashing units and press seams toward the coral geese.  Make 40.

Quilt Center Assembly

Cornerstones:

From red scraps cut 16 squares 2 1/2''

Position blocks in 5 rows of 5, placing sashing  and cornerstones in between the blocks. Notice that the sashings do not go around the outside edge of the quilt but stay in the center only.

Join blocks and sashings into rows, pressing seams toward sashings and away from cornerstones.

Join rows to complete quilt center, pressing seams toward sashings.

Stitch around the outside edge of the quilt top just shy of 1/4'' from the outside edge to stabilize the edge and minimize stretch and to keep seams at the edge from popping open.

Adding borders.

There are 3 rounds of borders on Old Town.

Border #1 is a neutral spacer border from 1 1/2'' strips finishing at 1''.

From neutral fabric cut 8 strips 1 1/2''.  Join fabric ends on the diagonal into one long length. Trim seams leaving 1/4'’ seam allowance and press seams open.

Measure the quilt top from top to bottom through the center. Cut two side inner borders this length.

Join side borders to quilt center, pinning to match centers and ends and in between.

Press seams toward the inner border.

Measure the quilt top from side to side through the center, including the borders just added in this measurement. Cut top and bottom inner borders this length.

Add top and bottom borders to quilt center, pinning to match centers and ends, easing where necessary to fit. Press seams toward inner border.

Checkerboard border. 

Direction matters! Take a good look at the full quilt diagram above and compare it to the way these four-patches rotate in this diagram.

This is a sample diagram, it doesn't have the exact number of four-patches but is here to show the pattern.

The top two partial rows are the side borders. Red square in the upper left corner.

The bottom two rows are for the top/bottom borders.  Red square in the bottom left corners.

Side borders: Join 35 four-patches end to end into one border length with the first red square in the upper left. Press seams one direction. Make 2.

Top/Bottom borders: Join 37 four-patches end to end into one border length with first red square in the bottom left.  Press seams one direction.  Make 2.

Join side borders to quilt, pinning to match centers and ends and in between. Press seam towards inner neutral border.

Add top and bottom borders to quilt center, pinning to match centers and ends, easing where necessary to fit. Press seams toward inner border.

Outer Border: These squares were cut in Part Five.

This is a sample diagram, it doesn't have the exact number of squares but is here to show the pattern.

Top row: Side borders.

Beginning with neutral 2 1/2'' squares, join 37 squares alternating neutral with red and ending with neutral. Press seams to oppose seams in the checkerboard borders. Laying the border strip up against the four-patch border will show you which direction pressing needs to go. Make 2.

Join side outer borders to quilt, pinning to match centers and ends and in between. Press seam towards outer border.

Assemble top/bottom borders in the same manner joining 39 squares and alternating red with neutral beginning and ending with red. Press seams to nest with checkerboard inner border.

Join top/bottom outer borders to quilt, pinning to match centers and ends and in between. Press seam towards outer border.

Run another round of stay stitching to secure the outer edge of the quilt top, to minimize stretch and to keep seams from popping open during the quilting process.

I machine quilted Old Town with a sand colored thread in an edge-to-edge design called A Rose Is A Rose by Karen Thompson.

I used 2'' cut strips of a light aqua print for a double-fold binding sewn on with a 1/4'' seam for a 1/4'' finish that kept the squares in the outer border square.

I have loved working through Old Town with you, and sharing everything I could during the process.

I can't wait to see what your finishes look like as they begin to come in.

Just remember - there is no hurry, there is no stress.  This is not a race, you can now work at your own pace.

It's likely the blog won't see much activity while I am gone to Australia, but you can always follow me on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube where I will try to keep everyone up to date with photos of where we are and what we are doing.

Who knows? This trip may just inspire our NEXT Quiltville Winter Mystery!

I would love to have you join me on my 2025-2026 lineup of exciting tours.

June 2025: crafts, culture and cuisine of Iceland.

September 2025: Germany, Switzerland and France winding up at the Fantastic quilt show in Alsace!

Nov/Dec 2025: Bavarian/Austrian Christmas Markets!

January 2026: exclusive arts and crafts experience in Morocco.

June 2026: culture, crafts and traditions of Romania.

September 2026: quilting Inspirations of India.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Thanks for another fun season of mystery sewing -

Did you know that June 2025 marks 20 years of blogging here?

Can't quite believe it myself, but it's true!

Happy Friday!

 

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