Down Under Mystery

I am off to court this morning to testify for CAAWS in the case where that guy tossed the dog over our fence, spiking him to the cement below.  He did this rather than open the gate or place him over the 4 foot fence.  I guess that is better than shooting him.  Luckily the dog was young and not hurt.  He is being charged with cruelty to animals but has chosen to fight it.  We shall see.

If you want to follow along with the River City Mystery Quilt, you can find my instructions for the first two parts here.  I posted them but got no response from anyone so I figured no one was interested.

This is an interesting pattern, finishes about 91 x 91 so it is large.  The last three Mystery Quilts I have done were lap sizes and I thought to branch out.  This one is less traditional than the last four.  It is easy with just one size for cutting.  If you want to make it smaller you can cut 2.5 inches rather than the 3.5 inches.  I have no idea how big or small that comes out, but it can be done if you want it significantly smaller.

When you choose your fabrics, make sure you have a clear light and dark and that your print combines the two nicely but doesn't blend into any of them.  I had that happen with my first one.  The print looked quite separate when in piece good form but blended in with the light so as to disappear.  So be mindful of that.

We are in June so I can give you a few more.  If you do like this and want to continue, please let me know!

Part 1 - Choosing Fabrics can be found here

Part 2 - Cutting Your Fabrics can be found here

Part 3 - Beginning to sew

In this Part 3 you will sew strips. Since I cannot be sure exactly how many sections each of you will be able to cut from the strip sets these are estimates. Depending on the width of your fabric you may get as few as 10 sections or as many as 12. Make a 3x5 card with your three fabrics on it and label them :

Light:  (should read as a definite light and not have a large pattern)
  
Dark:  (should read as a definite dark and not have a large pattern)
   
Print:   (should be a print that has the light and dark within the design, but audition a 3.5 inch window to make sure you are getting a bit of every pattern in the square.  Don't choose a LARGE pattern, but one that can be seen in the 3.5 inch window)

To Sew the Strips

Check to make sure you are ready to sew scant 1/4 inch seam allowances. Lay the groups of strip you will sew next to your machine and sew the same pairs together in series. Then sew the 3rd strip. Press seams toward the dark fabric after sewing. Or, if the combination of strips is light and print, press toward the print fabric. I will refer to the sewn group of 3 cut strips into one group of strips as a "strip set".


1. Sew 6 strip sets of Dark-Light-Dark (D-L-D) strips. Each sewn strip set will be 40-43" long by 9.5" wide after the 3 strips are sewn. (you may need 1-1.5 more strip sets than this. You will know after cutting the sections). Remember to mix fabrics in the sets if you have several different lights and darks. Press as described above and hang the strips over a chair back or table to keep them neat. 

2. Sew 5 strip sets of Light-Dark-Light (L-D-L) strips. Remember to mix fabrics in the sets if you have several different lights and darks. 

3. Sew 4 strip sets of Dark-Print-Dark (D-P-D) strips. Remember to mix fabrics in the sets if you have several different darks

4. Sew 3 strip sets of Light-Print-Light (L-P-L) strips. Remember to mix fabrics in the sets if you have several different lights. [For Smaller Version sew 1 strip set.]

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