Mystery Quilt! Mystery of the Scrappy Thanksgiving Table Runner

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Introduction, Clue #1 & Clue #2 to the Thanksgiving Mystery Quilt

We all know Thanksgiving is THE time to celebrate, be thankful for the happiness in our lives, get together with family and friends, and to EAT! We think it’s also a great time for quilters to come together to make a Thanksgiving mystery quilt.

The Scrappy Thanksgiving Table Runner mystery series has four clues. This series originally appeared in October, 2018 and was written and created by Tricia Patterson and Lori Baker.

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Materials List

Select assorted batiks or choose other fabrics. They don’t have to be of the same print but be sure to select fabrics in the same hue or shade for each color.

Turkey Gobble Tip… The yardage below makes a table runner with three 12” blocks, a 1” border 1 and 2-1/2” border 2. The finished size of the table runner is 19” x 43”.

Or make nine blocks with a 3 x 3 block layout to make a table topper. Or, if you want to go farmhouse chic for your Thanksgiving table, just keep adding blocks to make a table spread!

• 1/2 yard total assorted cream

• 3/4 yard total assorted rust

• 3/8 yard total assorted green

• 1/4 yard total assorted gold

• 1/4 yard total assorted red

• 1/4 yard total assorted medium brown

• 1/2 yard medium brown for border 2

• 1/4 yard total assorted dark brown

• 3/8 yard dark brown for border 1 and 2

• 3/4 yard binding

Clue #1 – How to Sort Your Stash

It didn’t take long before Lori and Tricia discovered they have a different approach for selecting fabrics from a stash. They decided it’s a mystery of its own as they watched the difference in the approach each of them took unfold. You could interpret these behaviors in so many different ways.

Tricia selecst a fabric, folds it and places it in a staggered stack of like fabrics as she sorted so she could see how they worked together. She “auditioned” the fabrics as a collection for the quilt as she went, often pulling one that didn’t belong as she stacked.

Lori said she typically takes another approach.

She pulls out all of the fabrics that are good candidates for the project and heaps them on the table.

Then, she sorts the heap. In this case, to join the fabrics they collected to add those similar to the same hue or shade. (Please note, there is still a heap.)

Next, Lori auditions the fabrics to pull out the ones that won’t work for the quilt. (Please note, the heap hasn’t changed much.)

And now, Lori has a pile! She’s ready to go to the next step… cutting the patches.

(Lori wants to share with you: “I actually folded the fabric here because Tricia’s fabrics were folded. If I were doing this without Tricia, I’d move the heap to the cutting table and pull fabric from the heap to cut it. I wouldn’t fold anything until I was done cutting.” And, now I’m wondering if she would iron any of the fabrics first before cutting.)

All right! We are now ready to prepare for the next clue for cutting and construction.

Let’s get started with Clue #2

You don’t have to use batiks for this project, and you don’t have to make your runner scrappy. We chose scrappy because we had the fabrics on hand and didn’t have to buy more fabric. And, we chose batiks because we thought the greens, golds, rusts, and reds would give us a nice subtle blend of color, like the brilliant leaves you see trees across the United States in the fall season.

Ready to start cutting fabric for our table runner?

Cutting Instructions

Assorted Rust Batiks 8 rectangles (A) 1½” x 2½” 4 rectangles (C) 1½” x 3½”

Assorted Cream Batiks 44 squares (B) 1½” x 1½” 4 squares (F) 2″ x 2″

Assorted Green Batiks 8 rectangles (A) 1½” x 2½” 8 squares (B) 1½” x 1½” 8 rectangles (C) 1½” x 3½” 8 rectangles (D) 1½” x 2¼”

Assorted Gold Batiks 4 squares (E) 3¼” x 3¼”

Assorted Red Batiks 4 squares (G) 3½” x 3½”

Let’s start sewing our Thanksgiving table runner!

All of the units you make this week use the Stitch-and-Flip method of construction. It’s pretty easy.

Unit 1

Align a cream B patch on the corner of a rust A patch right sides together. (Photo 1)

Mark a diagonal line on the B patch from corner to corner and sew on the marked line. (Photo 2)

Trim the seam allowance to ¼”. (Photo 3)

Flip the B patch open and press. (Photo 4)

Make 6 unit 1’s with rust A’s and cream B’s.

Unit 2

Using the same stitch & flip method, make unit 2 with rust A’s and cream B’s. Notice the stitching goes in the opposite direction from unit 1’s. Make 2 unit 2’s. (Photo 5) 

Unit 2 – Make 2

Unit 3

Using the stitch & flip method make unit 3 with green A’s and cream B’s. Make 6 unit 3’s. (Photo 6)

Unit 3 – Make 6

Unit 4

Make 2 unit 4’s with green A’s and cream B’s; again notice the stitching is the opposite direction from unit 3’s. (Photo7)

Unit 4 – Make 2

Unit 5

Make 4 unit 5’s with cream B’s and rust C’s. (Photo 8)

Unit 5 – Make 4

Unit 6

Make 4 unit 6’s with cream B’s and green C’s. (Photo 9)

Unit 6 – Make 4

Unit 7

Make 4 unit 7’s with cream B’s and green C’s. Note the stitching is the opposite direction as the unit 6’s. (Photo 10)

Unit 7 – Make 4

Unit 8

Make 4 unit 8’s with cream B’s and green D’s. (Photo 11)

Unit 8 – Make 4

Unit 9

Make 4 unit 9’s with cream B’s and green D’s. Note the stitching is the opposite direction as the unit 8’s. (Photo 12)

Unit 9 – Make 4

Unit 10

Make unit 10 with 2 green B’s, gold E, and cream F. Use the stitch & flip method to add a green B to opposite sides of a gold E, as shown. (photos 1 and 2)

Then add a cream F to another corner as shown. (Photos 3 and 4) Make 4 unit 10’s.

Unit 10 – Make 4

Unit 11

In the same way, make unit 11 as shown with 2 cream B’s and 1 red G. (photos 1 and 2) Make 4.

Unit 11 – Make 4 If you would like a more detailed explanation of the stitch and flip technique, Diane Harris has a great lesson available on Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Volume 2 Digital Edition.

That’s all you need to do for clue #2 of the Thanksgiving Mystery Quilt!

You have finished the piecing for this clue of the Mystery of the Scrappy Thanksgiving Table Runner for this week. Put all those units in a safe place for next time. Be sure to join us next week to learn clue #3.

Until then, Happy Quilting!