Patterns
Judy was the Agatha Christie of the mystery quilt genre. Hundreds of quilting shops and groups have used Judy’s mysteries for workshops and retreats; individual quilters enjoyed the Mystery Quilt Singles patterns.Three free mystery patterns are still available on Marsha McCloskey’s website »
Judy was the first “magazine mystery” writer, creating series-style mystery patterns for Lady’s Circle Patchwork Quilts.
I am working on the Basket Weave quilt from Creative Quilt Collections volume two. I have sewn all of my strip sets as directed. I cannot get the rows (multicolored 2″x5″ strips) to line up. I have remeasured all of my strip sets and I do not know what is wrong. Do you know if there were any corrections made to this pattern after it was printed? I cannot find any on- line. Thank you very much for your help.
Susan – Alas, I am not a quilter, but I looked through my Mom’s electronic files and don’t see any notation about a correction. The Basket Weave quilt in the Creative Collections book was taken from Mom’s Big ‘n Easy book, and the instructions appear to be identical. Do you want to send me a photo of your strip sets and I will confer with one of Mom’s quilting experts about it?
Susan – I calculated each of the two different rows and once sewn together they should each be 97 inches long:
Row 1 12.75 1.5 12.5 1.5 12.5 1.5 12.5 1.5 12.5 1.5 12.5 1.5 12.75 = 97
Row 2 5.75 1.5 12.5 1.5 12.5 1.5 12.5 1.5 12.5 1.5 12.5 1.5 12.5 1.5 5.75 = 97
The multicolored blocks in every other row should align if they are identical rows, 97 inches long. Each row should be 5 inches tall – with three two-inch strips sewn together with 1/4 inch seams, the middle strip will measure 1-1/2 inches once sewn, and the outside strips will measure 1-3/4 inches – for a total of 5 inches. I am terrible at 1/4 inch seams – even with a special foot my seams are not that precise. As Mom says in the forward to the Big n’ Easy book, “If your seam allowance is off by even a few threads, your seams may not line up and your seams and blocks may not be the desired finished size; this, in turn, will affect the measurements for everything else in the quilt.”
Hi from Australia. I’m trying to buy the calypso pattern that judy made. I particularly want to make the mammy squares to make in to a quilt. Can you tell me whe this type of pattern may be available for purchase. Kind regards
Joan
Joan – I am not seeing a Calypso pattern in my mom’s electronic files, but I will keep looking. Do you have any more information about where you saw it?
Thanks
Blythe
Dear Blythe: I contacted you quite a while ago regarding “Sew Many Choices,” a mystery quilt by your mom. I would like your permission to teach a class using your mom’s pattern. My last response from you was that you were still looking for the pattern.
If you haven’t found the pattern, would you like me to send the copy I have? It’s pretty smudged since it seems to be a copy of a copy of a copy. Still, I used it to make my quilt.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Rita Eisenstat
530-656-5090
Rita – I did find notes about that pattern – it was one that was in Quilting Professional magazine, meant for shop owners to provide to their customers. Is that how you got it originally?
I believe I’ve found the disk with those patterns on it, which are in Microsoft Publisher right now. I can get those converted to PDF form. If you want to use the pattern for a one-time class, we can grant that permission as long as you make sure to reproduce the first page with the copyright and “used by permission” notice that I will include.
If you plan to teach the class more than once, we would need to charge a fee of $5 per participant after the first class.
We can’t grant permission to sell the pattern or republish it in any way, in print or online. There is a good chance that we will publish these mysteries for shops and teachers in the future and we need to protect that copyright. Please feel free to email me directly through the website for more information.
Help! I am looking for the pattern for what I think is the first Mystery Quilt Judy did for Lady’s Circle Patchwork quilt. It was copyrighted in 1997. It had many pieces and used lights, mediums and darks, very much a scrappy quilt. Of all the mystery quilts I’ve done it is my favorite, made probably 20 years ago and now I want to make another. I can only find the first 5 installments with no final picture or assembly instructions. Can you please, please help me? I’ll be glad to pay for the pattern. Thanks for your help, Jenny
Jenny – sorry, I did not see this comment waiting for a reply. Please send an email to blythe (at) alaskan.com and I will try to help you.
I am in charge of supplying my Quilt Guild with a mystery quilt pattern for 2017. could you guide me in how to find that?
I am so sorry for the late reply – I had website issues and finally have been able to log back in. We are in the process of updating and reprinting many of my mom’s mystery patterns but do not yet have them available. Let me know if you still need something, and when, and I will see what I can do.
I have a copy of two of Judy Hopkins Mystery Quilts published in the SQE Professional Magazine in 2003 and 2006. The titles are “Sew Easy Nap Quilt” and “Easy Picking”. Our Quilt Guild (Tall Pines Quilt Guild) would like to use one of these quilt patterns in a Treasure Hunt given free to participates of our 2017 Airing of the Quilt Show in Huntsville,Texas. In researching these patterns, It is with sadness that I’ve learned of Ms. Hopkins passing. Information contained in the publication indicates that these patterns may be used if given free. However, I feel compelled to request your permission in view of her passing. Distribution to the participants will follow guidelines published by the magazine.
The quilt show will be held on May 6, 2017. Our guild website is listed below.
Sorry for the late reply – was having website login issues – yes you may use the patterns in accordance with the guidelines. Thanks so much for asking and best of luck for a fun Treasure Hunt!
I am so interested in the fireweed quilt pattern. Do you carry it or know who does?
Many thanks…..
So sorry for the late reply – was having login issues for the website. It’s likely that Mom created the pattern herself for reverse appliqué – she usually sketched those out on graph paper and then made cardboard templates. If she saved the pattern, we probably discarded it when we cleaned out her things – sorry about that. It’s also possible she got it from a book – I will double check the quilt notes and update this reply if I find out otherwise.
Dear Judy
re” Scrappy Trails to You”.
For fun I was looking at ” vintage” quilts on Ebay to see pricing. Well.. I came upon this quilt that the seller claimed was vintage. Is this your own design . ? I gather it is. Two of my friends have made it and it is an awesome quilt. I cut it out but never made it. too many small pieces. but maybe someday .. I wrote to the seller and nicely asked how old the quilt was it was as it was listed as ‘ second hand”. I told them my friends got this pattern just several years ago as part of a mystery quilt . They went to several shops to get the fabrics. I chose some really neat African jungle prints. it’s still sitting in a box.!!! hope you can clear this up. I am quite sure this is YOUR original design and the person selling it got it from someone else.
How can I purchase a mystery quilt pattern for use in my guild