INSTALLMENT 1 OF 5

There will be 5 installments to this mystery quilt-a new installment will be in each newsletter and will be put on the khqs.org website every 2 months. We would love to have you bring your completed mystery quilt to Getaway next year, and we will see what they all look like at Show and Tell time at Getaway. If you bring a completed mystery quilt or completed top, you will be entered in a drawing for a prize at Getaway. We will wait until we have given all installments to give credit to the author of the mystery quilt so that it truly is a mystery. At the completion of the 5 installments, credit will be given to the designer of the mystery quilt. The quilt is designed for all levels of quilters. We hope you will participate in this challenge and bring a completed top or quilt to 2012 Getaway!

In this installment, fabric choices and cutting of the fabric will be given. The mystery quilt will be constructed with mostly strings of fabric but not the traditional string blocks. Strings will be cut in 1", 1. 5" and 2.5" strips. You may use whatever width and length of strips you have in your stash (that's right-this quilt is a stashbuster!!). The decision to make your quilt scrappy or not is entirely up to you. It is your quilt. You will be sewing your strips together and then trimming to the necessary sizes. This way you won't have to worry about a perfect inch seam and problems working with skinniest strips or strips that are not an even width. The size of the completed quilt is 43" by 52", but it could be enlarged with more borders, etc. The finished size of 43" by 52" includes borders.

Fabric Requirements : There are 6 design elements in the quilt. You may choose a single fabric, a scrappy set of fabrics or a controlled scrappy set of fabrics for each element. It is a good idea to keep your cut fabrics organized in plastic bags. Please label your plastic bags A, B, C, and D.

Fabrics that will be part of the Outer Border : (Cut from Colored Fabrics)

• Put these cut fabrics in Baggie A
  (4) 8.5" squares
  (150-160) strings that are about 6.5" long and of widths varying from about 1" to 2.5"-can be completely scrappy.

Background fabric: A total of 1 1/2 yds. is required for the background fabric; this fabric will not be cut in strings but in larger pieces. The background fabric does not need to be one piece of fabric only but can be scrappy as long as the pieces are big enough for the cut pieces listed below. The quilt designer used scrappy whites and neutrals for her background.

• From the background fabrics, cut and put in Baggie A:
  (20) 5.5" squares
  (4) 2.5" by 9" rectangles
  (4) 2.5" by 6.5" rectangles
  (6) 2.5" by 12.5" rectangles
  (4) 8.5" squares

• From the background fabrics, cut and put in Baggie B:
  (2) 6" by 28" rectangles
  (2) 3.5" by 27.5" rectangles

• From the background fabrics, cut and put in Baggie C
  (10) 4.5" squares
  (3) 2" by 8" rectangles
  (1) 1.5" by 8" rectangle
  (3) 2" by 7.5" rectangles
  (1) 1.5" by 7.5" rectangle
  (1) 2.5" by 6.5" rectangle

Flower petals:

• Cut and put in Baggie C
  (24-30) strings in "flower colors" 10" long with widths varying from about 1" to 2.5"
  The quilt designer used controlled scrappy pinks, purples, and yellows.

• Cut and put in Baggie C
  (1) 2" by 12" rectangle
  (15) fabric strips approximately 7" long by widths varying from 1" to 2.5"
  The quilt designer used controlled scrappy greens.

• Cut and put in Baggie C
  (1) 2.5" square
  The quilt designer used black.

• Cut and put in Baggie D
  (2) 1.75 " by 29.5" rectangles
  (2) 1.5" by 34" rectangles

If you have any questions about these instructions, you can email quiltaway@hotmail.com , and we will try and answer your questions.