Lupine and Laughter: A Quiltville Mystery Tradition

It’s mid-January and that means its Lupine and Laughter Quiltville Mystery reveal time!

Each fall, Bonnie Hunter who runs the Quiltville business, leads quilters in a mystery quilt, this year the name of the quilt is Lupine and Laughter.

These photos are my version of the Lupine and Laughter Quiltville Mystery quilt, but this is NOT my pattern.  I will not reveal cutting directions or numbers of units, you need to go to Bonnie for that.

Right now, until mid-February, the Lupine and Laughter clues, including the fabric yardage and all of the block making directions, are on the Quiltville website for FREE!  In mid-February, the free clues will be taken down and the pattern will be available for sale.  Definitely go grab those free clues now!

Lupine and Laughter Fabric Requirements

In October, Bonnie releases the name, color palette and fabric requirements for the upcoming mystery. 

Lupine and Laughter is named for the lupines Bonnie saw on her trip to Iceland.  We have lupines in Washington state too, and they are magical!

This year, the color palette was for purples, pinks, an icy blue, and a white/neutral for the background.

My quilt is destined to be a tenth birthday gift, and the recipient has been counting down the days to her tenth birthday since her older (now teenage!) sister turned ten a few years ago!

It makes my heart so happy to know that this quilt is anticipated and loved, long before it’s complete!

I’d had these periwinkle purples in the back of my mind for this quilt, and was happy that they could easily substitute for the purples.  I used a berry-pink so that I could incorporate this star fabric I already had in my stash.

At the time of the palette reveal, I couldn’t decide between a lighter or a brighter aqua for the blues, fortunately I ended up being able to use them both!

I pulled from my stash, and did a little bit of shopping, to round out my palette as well as to have enough yardage.  I especially love those little strawberries!

Mystery quilt season kicks off on the Friday after American Thanksgiving (late November) and runs weekly on Fridays until the final reveal.

Clue One

The first clue was for quarter-square triangles in pink, blue and neutral.  I enjoy making quarter-square triangles with this 4-at-a-time tutorial and this was a great first week of the mystery.  These are the smallest quarter square triangles I’ve ever made.

Clue Two

Flying geese in two colorways.  I love a good flying goose!  Again, I tend to make mine four-at-a-time like this tutorial. 

Half of the flying geese were white and pink like this fun berry-filled one, and half were purple and white.

I was hoping these might become a zigzag border! 

I was right in thinking these were for the borders, but I was wrong about the zigzag.  I do like how they worked out in the quilt though!

That’s the fun of the mystery! You just don’t know how the pieces will be used until the end.

Clue Three

Clue three was lots of half square triangles. Lots and lots.  This was different from other half square triangle clues in past years as there were multiple sizes and color combos to work with.

Clue Four

Half rectangle triangles!

I’ve made lots of half rectangle triangles before.  I’ve even written two different patterns (Sensation and Obrigado) that use HRTs. 

They look hard but really aren’t too bad.

These are by far the smallest I’ve ever made, but the method is the same and smaller isn’t any more difficult than the larger sizes.

Now, my mind is swirling with updates to my previous patterns using other sizes.  Something to add to my to do list for 2026, or at least to let swirl around in my mind for a bit.

Clue Five

Clue 5 was a surprise!

Okay, I know, I know.  All clues are surprises in a mystery, Darcy.  Sheesh!

What I mean is, this is the earliest in the mystery that we’ve switched from making units to putting units together into quilt blocks.

Clue 5 uses the quarter square triangles from Clue 1 and makes them into Ohio Star blocks with the addition of purple corners.

The block centers were meant to be white.

Do you remember me saying that I struggled to decide between lighter and brighter aquas in the beginning?  I went with the lighter option, but didn’t put away the brighter fabrics, hoping I would find a place to use them in the quilt.

The centers of these stars seemed like a good place.

I had some smaller scraps to use up, and now that I’ve seen the finished quilt, I am really glad I did this!

Clue Six

Clue six also had us putting pieces together, this time some of the half square triangles from clue one and the half rectangle triangles from clue four.

I had anticipated those half rectangle triangles to make some spiky stars, but again, I was guessing incorrectly.  Oh well!

Clue Seven

Bonnie called these kitty ears.  I’ve never seen a quilt block unit like this before!

Clue Eight – The Lupine and Laughter Quiltville Mystery Quilt Reveal

The Quiltville Mystery Quilt reveal is a day I always look forward too.  Bonnie has this amazing way of creating a block plus sashing, or in this years’ case an A Block and a B Block, that create all kinds of secondary designs when put together.

Block A

The pieces from Clue Seven plus a little bit of sashing made the A block.  I was excited to see these, as the cornerstones of the sashing are another great place to sneak in a little bit of the brighter aqua!

Block B

The Ohio Stars from Clue Five, the Kitty Ears from Clue Seven and the remaining Half Square Triangles from Clue Three make up the B Block.

I have to admit; I like the B Block better than the A Block this time around. 

As guessed, I was right that the flying geese made the border.  But, I was wrong about the zigzags. 

I considered making zig zag borders anyway, but decided to stick with the pattern as written.

I wanted to get this post out to you as quickly as possible, so that you can GO DOWNLOAD THOSE FREE CLUES, to get started on your own Lupine and Laughter Quiltville Mystery quilt. This is why I took my quilt photos before I finished the borders. Remember, the quilt pattern won’t stay free for ever, the clues will be taken down in early to mid February and turned into a pattern for sale.

If you look closely, you can see the inner aqua border is along the bottom of the quilt but not yet on the sides, and the outer border is missing completely.

Windy Winter Quilt Photography

We had a sunny day today, but it is still January and so the sunsets ridiculously early.  That makes quilt photography tough!

While it was a sunny day, I didn’t realize how windy it was until I attempted to take the photos.

I will finish up this quilt top, I will baste, quilt, and bind, and then I’ll have some additional photos to share.  Instagram and Facebook are the best places to see those kinds of updates.