"Orca Bay" by Bonnie K. Hunter was a mystery quilt that she created for her blog readers.

Every year on Bonnie's blog she runs a reader appreciation mystery, which is a quilt. The readers get their yardage requirements and colors in October and then in November, the day after Thanksgiving, she releases the first clue to the mystery. Her Orca Bay quilt was one of the blog's previous mysteries. It was inspired by a photograph she took over Orca Bay in Prince William Sound while teaching up in Cordova, Alaska.

Artist Statement: "I spent several glorious days with the quilters of Cordova, Alaska in September of 2011. These wonderful women went way out of their way to make sure I had an authentic Alaskan experience, including a trip deep sea fishing in Prince William Sound where Orca Bay is beautiful enough to make me catch my breath. A sunset picture overlooking the vastness of the water stretching as far as the eye can see inspired me to name this quilt after this most magical of places. I’ll always carry Cordova and Orca Bay in my heart!

I had a great time playing with two color families of strings in this quilt. My reds go all the way through the red spectrum from orangey-red to pinky-red to fire engine and everywhere in between. My blues have quite the variety too, from light blue to turquoise and pushing through from royal blue to periwinkle and beyond. I tried to stay away from really dark navy as I didn’t want it to make my blacks disappear."

Main Quilt Photo by Gregory Case