One-Day Mystery Returns! 

Merry Mayhem presents: Case #121 - Funky Lap Quilt
©2003 Merry May

Inspector Merry Mayhem's Mysteries make wonderful guild activities!

The Chat Room is down. We apologize, but due to technical difficulties, we have had to abandon our attempts to maintain a chat room for this event. We will try to find an alternate chat facility for our next one-day mystery.

The next installment  (11 a.m.) is posted here!

The third installment (12 noon) is posted here!

The fourth installment (1 p.m. ) is posted here!

The fifth installment (2 p.m. ) is posted here!

The sixth installment (3 p.m. ) is posted here!

Happy New Year, everybody! Today, January 1, 2004, at 11:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time (the middle of the night for those of you in Australia and New Zealand, I'm afraid) Planet Patchwork is sponsoring another "Wonderful One-day Mystery Quilt." Installments will be published hourly here at Planet Patchwork, and we will open a chat room and give away door prizes such as quilting books, patterns, gift certificates, and other wonderful things! 

When we did this last year, more than 3,000 quilters worldwide participated. It makes a great group activity, to gather around the sewing machine and the computer and watch the mystery unfold one piece at a time. At the end of the afternoon, you will have an exciting pieced top, ready to be sandwiched and quilted.

Make a copy of this page, or bookmark it, and prepare for the day as outlined below, where fabric requirements and cutting instructions are provided to give you a head start. Then tune in at the appointed time and join the fun! If you are not on the Planet Patchwork Update list and wish to receive notification of further developments on this mystery, including the procedures for entering the drawings, you can join the list at http://planetpatchwork.com/update.htm. Or you may simply check back here, where they will also be posted.

On the day of the mystery, come join our chat, and meet Merry Mayhem!

Use pastels, brights, batiks, black & white prints, stripes, or whatever strikes your fancy as you make this fun(ky) 40" x 47" lap quilt!

Please read all instructions before beginning. Try to be as accurate as possible. All dimensions given include 1/4" seam allowances, unless otherwise noted. Drawings are not to scale.

FABRICS

Avoid obvious directional prints, unless you don’t care which way they end up pointing. Pre-wash and iron all fabrics. Good-quality 100% cotton is recommended.

SUPPLIES: Just your usual quiltmaking stuff, for the most part: sewing machine with an accurate 1/4" seam capability; iron & ironing board or heat-proof mat; rotary cutting equipment (cutter, self-healing mat, and 1/8"-thick gridded plastic ruler) - we also recommend a 6 1/2" square rotary cutting ruler, if you have one; thread (a neutral color usually works well); pins; thread snips or embroidery scissors; seam ripper, etc., etc.

FABRICS

Fabric A - Light: 1 1/3 yards

Fabric B - Medium: 1 1/3 yards

Fabric C - Dark #1: 1/3 yard

Fabric D - Dark #2: 2/3 yard; we suggest trying a subtle stripe.

Fabric E - Coordinating accent: 1/8 yard

Backing - 1 3/4 yards

Binding - same as one of your Darks: 1/2 yard

PART 1: CUTTING

DEFINITION: WOF means "width of fabric"

Fabric A - Light:

o FIVE 2 1/2" by WOF strips

o EIGHT 3 1/2" by WOF strips

Fabric B - Medium:

o FIVE 2 1/2" by WOF strips

o EIGHT 3 1/2" by WOF strips

Fabric C - Dark #1:

o TWO 3 1/2" wide strips by WOF

o ONE 2 1/2" by 12" strip

Fabric D - Dark #2:

o THREE 6 1/2" by WOF strips; then cut into a total of FORTY-NINE 2" by 6

1/2" units

Fabric E - Coordinating Accent:

o TWO 2" by WOF strips; cut into a total of THIRTY 2" squares

Binding:

o FIVE 2" by WOF strips, and miter them together

 (see diagram, right)

You may now GO ON TO PART 2 at 11 a.m. on New Year’s Day! We’ll see you there!