Return of the Wonderful One-Day New Years Mystery!

Important note for mystery quilters: Each new episode (parts 2 through 7) will be posted as a link at the bottom of this page. New links will be posted on the hour at 10, 11, 12, 1, 2, and 3 o'clock eastern standard time. If the link does not show up in your browser by a few minutes after the hour, you probably need to refresh or reset your browser to get the new page and link to appear. (Ctl-R on your keyboard). We will also announce when each new link is posted in the chat room.

On Friday, January 1, 2010, Planet Patchwork will once again host one of its most popular events, the Wonderful One-Day Mystery. This much-anticipated day-long quiltfest will feature Inspector Merry Mayhem's newest mystery offering, "Have a Nice Trip."

If you haven't participated in one of our mysteries before, here's how it works. We will post, in advance, the fabric requirements, cutting instructions, and general information to get you started before mystery day. You will have time to raid your stash or go to your local quilt shop to get the fabric and tools you need, and to cut the pieces for the quilt, since this seems to be the most time-consuming part of the process.

Then on mystery day, beginning at 10:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time, we will begin posting mystery installments hourly. Each installment will lead you through the construction of the quilt top without revealing what the final product will look like. You will be able to see the design unfold as you go. There will be a total of seven (7) installments, including the one posted below. At the end of the day, you will have a lap quilt top that you can then finish at your leisure with backing, batting, and quilting stitches.

The day is also accompanied by a chat room where mystery quilters can compare notes and talk to the mystery designer, Merry May. We also give away door prizes throughout the day through random drawings. Instructions on how to enter the door prize drawing will be provided in our newsletter. If you don't subscribe, you can join the list at http://planetpatchwork.com/update.htm

After mystery day we always post a gallery of finished tops done by you, at our flickr site. You can see examples of our previous mysteries in the beautiful galleries that are posted there. Go have a look!

Below are the fabric and supply requirements and cutting instructions for the mystery. The remainder of the installments will be published hourly on Planet Patchwork on New Years 2010.

Have a Nice Trip!

Join Merry Mayhem for the romp into the unknown as you make this lap quilt that is perfect for using up some of those wonderful  batik fabrics, as well as some of the batik scraps that are just too good to toss.  

This project measures 42” by 54”   

Fabrics

Feature Fabric (Medium/Dark):  5/8 yard               

Medium-Light: 1/4 yard OR Fat Quarter               

Light Background:  3/4 yard 

Bright Accent:  1/2 yard

Mystery Maven Merry Mayhem recommends that you NOT use a directional fabric for your Feature Fabric. A directional fabric has a definite "up" and "down" to it. Directional fabrics and/or stripes CAN be used for all of the other fabrics in the project (especially for the Dark Scraps), as long as you don't care which way they end up pointing!

Assorted Dark Prints:  

(24)  2  1/2” squares 

(20)  4  1/2” squares

(14)  6  1/2” squares

Backing:  2  2/3 yards    

Binding:  1/2 yard

Supplies

•  Rotary Cutting Equipment, including rotary cutter, self-healing mat and ruler

•  Sewing Machine in good working order, extra needles, extra bobbins, extension cord, surge strip, instruction manual

•  Iron, ironing board

•  Basic sewing supplies, including pins, neutral-color thread for piecing, seam ripper, scissors, etc.

PART 1:  Cutting

WOF = Width of Fabric, or the distance from selvage to selvage. 

Feature Fabric: 

Cut into:

ONE 4-1/2” by WOF strip

ONE 2 -1/2” by WOF strip; cut in half - you will only need a  2-1/2” by 22” piece, and

ONE 9” square

Medium-Light:  Cut into:

FOUR  2 -1/2” by 12 -1/2” strips

Light Background:  Cut into:

TWO  4 -1/2” by WOF strips; cut into FOUR 4 -1/2” by  20 -1/2” strips

FOUR  3 -1/2” by WOF strips

Bright Accent:  Cut into:

TWO  6 -7/8” squares

ONE  4 -1/2” by WOF strip

 ONE  2 -1/2” by WOF strip; cut in half - you will only need a 2 -1/2” by 22” piece

Dark Scraps:       Cut into:

TWENTY-FOUR  2 -1/2” squares

 TWENTY 4 -1/2” squares

FOURTEEN 6 -1/2” squares

Backing:  Cut  TWO 14” by WOF strips; remove  selvages and sew them end-to-end.  Then sew them to ONE long edge of the remaining piece (should be about 66” long).  Trim off any extra fabric from the 14” strip. 

Binding: Set aside for now.

Thanks, and we hope you're as excited about the new mystery as we are! We'll see you on New Year's Day!

Click here for a printer-friendly pdf version.

You may now go on to part 2 by clicking here!

You may now go on to part 3 by clicking here!

You may now go on to part 4 by clicking here!

You may now go on to part 5 by clicking here!

You may now go on to part 6 by clicking here!

You may now go on to part 7 by clicking here!