It’s almost time for another mystery quilt!
The Switchback Mystery Quilt Along begins October 19, and this one is going to be a fun excuse to dig through your fabric stash, sew along with other quilters, and see where the pieces take us.
Because, of course, I’m not showing you the finished quilt yet.
That would ruin the mystery!
What is the Switchback Mystery Quilt?
With a mystery quilt, you start with the fabric requirements and then sew the quilt one step at a time—without seeing the finished quilt ahead of time.
For Switchback, we’ll have two new steps released each week.
You’ll sew your units as they’re released, keep them tucked away, and slowly work your way toward the final quilt.
Then we’ll put everything together and see what we’ve been making!
Finished Size: 78″ x 78″
Let’s Talk Fabric
Switchback is a scrappy quilt, which makes it a great project for using fabric you already have.
I used a dark background for my quilt, but you certainly don’t have to.
A light background would work. A different color could work. Pull something you love and then start digging through your stash for the scrappy fabrics to go with it.
This is one of those projects where you can spread some fabric across the sewing room, pull from different collections and finally use some of those pieces you’ve been saving.
Switchback Mystery Quilt — Let’s Gather Our Fabrics!
It’s time to start pulling fabrics for the Switchback Mystery Quilt!
This quilt uses one background fabric along with a scrappy mix of colors.
For the scrappy portion of the quilt, you’ll need 2 yards TOTAL. This does not need to be 2 yards of one fabric. This is where you can pull from your stash and mix things up.
Not sure which colors to pull?
Here’s what I did.
I found one print fabric that had several colors in it that I liked. Mine was a floral print with different blues, pinks, reds, greens and just a little bit of yellow.
I used that print as my jumping-off point.
Then I went through my stash and pulled fabrics that coordinated with those colors until I had the total yardage I needed.
Your inspiration fabric doesn’t have to be floral. A stripe, geometric print or any multicolor fabric will work. You’re simply using it as your little cheat sheet for choosing colors that play nicely together.
And here’s the funny part — you don’t even have to use that inspiration fabric in the quilt!
Its job can simply be to help you pull together a group of fabrics that you know will work well together.
So for now:
- Choose your background fabric.
- Find a multicolor print you like.
- Use the colors in that print to start shopping your stash.
- Pull 2 yards total of coordinating scrappy fabrics.
I have a video showing you how I pulled mine together as well. I should have access to that this weekend and will add it here when I do.
For now, start digging through that stash. You might be surprised what works together once you have that inspiration fabric sitting beside you.
Don’t cut anything yet! We’re just gathering fabrics right now.
The mystery begins Monday, October 19!
Switchback Mystery Quilt Schedule
We’ll begin on Monday, October 19, 2026.
From there, you’ll get two steps each week:
Mondays — New mystery quilt step
Thursdays — New mystery quilt step
The final step will be released on Monday, November 16.
Then comes the fun part.
Tuesday, November 17 — Full Quilt Reveal!
We’ll reveal the finished Switchback quilt during our Patchworkers Plus Show & Tell evening.
No peeking before then!
Where is the Mystery Quilt Along Happening?
The complete Switchback Mystery Quilt Along is happening inside Patchworkers Plus, my online quilting community.
Members will find each new step inside the membership as it’s released.
You’ll also have access to our Sewing Room Zoom, so you don’t have to work through the mystery by yourself. Bring your machine, your latest step and whatever you’re working on and sew with other members.
That’s one of my favorite parts of doing a quilt along this way. We’re all making the same mystery quilt, but everyone’s fabric choices make their quilt completely different.
And you have other quilters right there when you want some company.
Get Ready for October 19
For now, your job is pretty easy.
Grab the Switchback Material List, start pulling fabrics from your stash and get everything ready to sew.
You don’t need to know where every fabric is going.
You don’t need to know what the quilt looks like.
You just need to trust the process and have a little fun with the mystery.
We’ll figure out the rest together.
Switchback Mystery Quilt Along begins October 19.
Come join us inside Patchworkers Plus and sew the mystery with us.
Never sew alone.
