Mystery Boxes Quilt by Kylie Kenny Part One

Hi all.  To make it easier for me with the travel over the next few days Naomi is going to write a couple of posts.  First up a Mystery Quilt Pt1, then Friend of the Day which is now her weekly gig, and finally the Part 2 of the Mystery Quilt on Tuesday.   I will still be around answering emails and Facebook though.

Enjoy and thanks Naomi!

You didn't honestly think I was going to show you what the quilt looks like already do you?  That would spoil all the fun if you don't play along.

Firstly, a little housekeeping, Kylie has very kindly allowed us to put her Mystery Quilt on the blog and has even adapted it to allow for 2 AHQ quilts to be constructed at the one time....in other words, it's a multi size option quilt tutorial.  Also, Kylie has another Mystery Quilt starting and here's what she says about it, 

 'Join in the fun on my next Mystery Quilt and help AHQ at the same
time. The Pinwheels Mystery kicks off on 1 February - and for every
AHQ member that buys the 'Mystery Quilt' I will donate $5 to AHQ. The
cost is $25 (payable up front) and it runs over 6 months - that is
less then $1 each week. Mystery Quilts are tons of fun....with this
one you also get a FREE bonus pattern which is a fabulous quilt for
AHQ. Hope you will join in the fun - here is the link to my Etsy Storeto enrol.'

Alrighty, now it's time to start revealing clues to this mystery here for you.....on your marks, get set, PEEK!
 

Finished Size of Quilt: 68” square without borders

Skill Level:  Beginners

This is absolutely one of the easiest quilts you will ever make – great for gifts

you need to ‘whip up quick’ and so many possibilities once you have made one!

The top can easily be made in two days – including borders,  so relax, crank up the slow cooker and the coffee and enjoy some time out for yourself!

Note: For those of you involved with Aussie Hero Quilts (AHQ), I have included some additional comments in these instructions for you. While others are making one big quilt with this mystery – you can instead make two quilts which end up being the perfect size for AHQ quilts. The instructions are exactly the same until you get to joining blocks – then look out for the comments in green!

For those of you that want to know what AHQ is all about….go here:

http://aussieheroquilts.blogspot.com.au/

Choosing your Fabrics:

It is really easy to choose fabric for this quilt and it is an awesome quilt to use that feature fabric you just LOVE and don’t want to cut into tiny pieces. Big squares of feature fabric are the basis for this quilt – you can use an allover print, panels or even make blocks to use. If making blocks, you could repeat the same one or use lots of different blocks for a unique sampler quilt. I used some cat panels for one sample…and in another I have used an allover batman print.

Kaffe Fasset florals would also look awesome in this quilt – you may even like to mix them up and use a variety of prints instead of just one. The possibilities are endless – embroidered blocks, appliqué, machine embroidery, painted, crayon coloured blocks could all be used.

If you are looking for some pieced or appliqué blocks… do you know about Quilters Cache? It is my first stop for blocks! The website is: 

http://www.quilterscache.com/QuiltBlocksGalore.html

If you are looking for machine embroidery designs…this is one of my favourite sites.

The blocks are 7 ½” finished (8” cut), therefore you can either use 7 ½” blocks, or you could use 6” blocks and add sashings. For example you could use a Churn Dash Block made 7 ½” (8” cut):

Or make the Churn Dash 6” finished and add sashings which are 1 ¼” (cut 1 ¾”) to each side of the block, this will give it a nice ‘floating’ affect in the quilt:

Once you have chosen your feature fabric or blocks, you need to chose a ‘highlight’ fabric – this is the same fabric in every block. You will also need some coordinating colours – tone on tones work well here, nothing with a big print as they would detract from the feature blocks….they should complement your feature fabric, not detract from it and should contrast with your highlight fabric.

Some examples:

For this quilt I used some cat panels….the black and white spot is the highlight fabric and I used 2 co-ordinating fabrics - purple, tan and lime green.

For the batman sample I am using these fabrics:

   

This panel would also make an awesome quilt:

Fabric Quantities:

Feature Fabric:                   2.2m  or 2 ½ yards

If you are making blocks instead of the feature fabric, you will need 36 @ 7 ½” finished (8” cut)

Highlight Fabric:                 1.7m  or 2 yards

Coordinating Fabrics:        3 different fabrics - 1m of each or 1 ¼ yards

** For the coordinating fabrics you can use up to 12 different fabrics if you like, alternatively you could use one only…or you can stick to the 3 different fabrics as I have used.

Borders (optional):                        I added two borders – Inner border was 2” (1.2m 

                                                     or 1 ½ yards)

                                                    Border 2 – 5” wide (2m or 2 1.2 yards)

 

 

Step One:

Highlight Fabric:    

Cut 9 strips @ 1 ¾”            (strips should be cut WOF – Width of Fabric)

Co-ordinating Fabric:

            If using 3 fabrics – Cut 3 strips @ 1 ¾” of each fabric (total 9 strips)

If using 12 fabrics – Cut 1 Strip of each fabric

(if using 12 fabrics you will need to cut 3 more strips of highlight fabric)

1.     Join one strip of coordinating fabric and one strip of highlight fabric along the length using an accurate ¼” seam.

2.     Iron the strips pressing toward the highlight fabric.

3.     Crosscut the strips into 4 ¼” segments – if using 3 fabrics, cut 24 segments of each colour. If you are using 12 different fabrics, cut 6 segments from each strip – you will have some leftover.

You should have 72 segments that look like this:

Step Two:

Highlight Fabric:

            Cut 6 strips @ 1 ¾” (WOF)

Co-ordinating Fabric:

            If using 3 Fabrics - Cut 2 strips @ 3” of each colour

If using 12 Fabrics – Cut 1 strip of each colour

(if using 12 fabrics, you will need to cut an additional 6 strips of highlight fabric)

1.     Join one strip of highlight fabric to each strip of co-ordinating fabric.

2.     Iron the seam allowance toward the co-ordinating fabric.

3.     Crosscut the strip sets into 36 segments @ 5 ½” – 12 of each colour.

(If you are using 12 different fabrics, cut 3 segments from each strip)

Note: you will have some leftover strips which will be used in the next step

You should have 36 segments that look like this:

Step Three:

For this step you will need half of the segments made in Step One and the segments from Step Two:

                                 

1.     Join one of the segments from Step 1 to the end of one segment from Step 2. Make sure when joining you have the highlight fabric placed the same as the diagram, so that it forms an upside down ‘L’.

2.     Iron the seam allowance toward the short highlight strip.

NOTE: Use the same co-ordinating fabric in each block, therefore you will make 12 of each colour if using 3 co-ordinating colours.

You should have 36 segments that look like this:

Step Four:

Highlight Fabric:

            Cut 6 strips @ 1 ¾” (WOF)

Co-ordinating Fabric:

            If using 3 Fabrics - Cut 2 strips @ 3” of each colour

If using 12 Fabrics – You do not need to cut more strips – you can simply cut from the leftover strips from Step Two.

1.     Join one strip of highlight fabric to each strip of co-ordinating fabric.

2.     Iron the seam allowance toward the highlight fabric.

3.     Crosscut the strip sets into 36 segments @ 8” – 12 of each colour.

(If you are using 12 different fabrics, cut 3 segments from each strip – use the leftover strips from Step Two)

*** Note – you should get 5 segments from each strip set, use the leftover strips from Step Two to cut the remaining two segments. If you cannot get it, cut and join another strip – I have allowed enough fabric for that scenario.

You should have 36 segments that look like this:

Step Five:

For this step you will need the remaining half of the segments made in Step One and the segments from Step Four:

                                 

1.     Join one of the segments from Step One to the end of one segment from Step Four. Make sure when joining you have the highlight fabric placed the same as the diagram, so that it forms a sideways/backwards ‘L’.

2.     Press the seam allowance toward the short highlight strip.

You should have 36 segments that look like this:

1.     Cut 4 strips @ 1 ¾” of highlight fabric.

2.     Cross cut into 36 @ 4 ¼” segments.

3.     Join to the right hand end (opposite end to the short strips) of these units.

4.     Iron pressing the seam allowance toward the highlight fabric.

You should have 36 segments that look like this:

Ok, well that should keep you busy until the next and final steps are revealed on Tuesday nights post....also, once the mystery quilt has been revealed, there will be a pdf version of these instructions for you to save and use.  I'm sure you won't be disappointed with the final results.

Hugs & Stay safe

Naomi