This is the EASIEST clue yet!
I know many of you are still traveling, visiting with friends and family and busy between Christmas & New Years. This should give those of us who are busy but still can sew here and there something to feed through the machine, keeping us happy!
What are we working on today?
Two rectangles make a square! I call these “Double Bricks.”
We are simply going to sew 2” black-on-white strips together in pairs with right sides together!
Press to one side! Cut 128 3-1/2” units from strip sets.
Strip sets should measure 3-1/2” tall. From here we are going to cut 128 Double Bricks. I used a ton of different 2” strips of black-on-white in my units. I wanted as much variety as possible. Only a few are shown here.
These are NOT the rectangles we cut in Part 2. The Part 2 rectangles will be used in another step later.
These are NOT the rectangles we cut in Part 2. The Part 2 rectangles will be used in another step later.
How many strips do you need? Well, that depends on the length of your strips. I get emails all the time asking “How many strips will I need?” I work with scraps in many different lengths and “HOW MANY” has never been important to me. The number of units I need is what is important. If you are working from width-of-fabric strips, you can get about 11 units from one strip set. If you are working from Fat Quarters, it’s going to mean more strips for you. But I have faith in you that you can do the math to see what you can get out of one strip set and do some simple multiplication to find out how many strips YOU need.
4 Double Bricks! I just need 124 more!
**Note** If you only chose one background fabric for your quilt---skip the strip piecing and simply cut 128 3-1/2” squares for your quilt. There is no sense in you piecing these if you have only one fabric. You’ll lose some of the motion that the strip pieced background adds to the quilt –but you will save the fabric you would lose to a seam allowance.
Extra Credit!
Cut 19 5-1/2” squares from your green scraps.
(Yes, I also used many greens)
Stack them and cut them corner to corner twice with an X to yield 64 quarter square triangles.
That’s it for today!
But I need to let you know that we are on our way to a RAPID FIRE FINISH!
There will be NO Mystery Monday Link-Up on Monday, Dec 31st – which is New Year’s Eve.
Clue 7 goes live New Year’s Eve morning instead! Be watching for it and be ready!
The next Mystery Monday Link-Up will take place on Monday, Jan 7th.
Oooh, this is SEW FUN!
Love it! Perfect for me today and I have a day off and plan on spending it in the sewing room! So far I have just used stash for this. This is so fun!!!
ReplyDeleteUp late on the west coast & I get to post the first comment!!! This looks like it'll be super fun & easy. I still have about half of part 5 to finish so I better get going if the next clue arrives on Monday.
ReplyDeleteMachelle beat me to it.
DeleteActually, it was a tie! :)
DeleteYay! I cut too many b&w strips when I was doing other clues, so all I have to do this week is piece...yay, me!
ReplyDeleteI'm right there along with you Sharon. I cut too many too, so will be done in no time huh?
DeleteMe too. So we have a little head start. Which I will need because I am still finishing Part 4. Lucky I am off this week and sewing like crazy to catch up. If I am successful, this will be the first Bonnie mystery that I was able to complete along with everyone else! So excited to see what this turns into! Happy sewing!
DeleteAh Randi, if I can do it, while planning a wedding for my daughter in Jan you can too. You go girl! I am done with this clue! yay! But guess what? I am doing the crazy thing and doing 2, HA will see how far I get.
DeleteAnd Randi, if you get these clues caught up, get out the other mystery you started. Trust me you'll love them. I did Roll Roll Cotton Boll and just love it!
Yay! I cut too many b&w strips when I was doing other clues, so all I have to do this week is piece...yay, me!
ReplyDeleteThanks Bonnie, I have to do clue 5 but should catch up quite easily with that and clue 6 by Monday. Happy New Year and safe travels.
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo! I get to cut squares from the black/white cat fabric I've been saving for one of the steps in this quilt. THIS is the step!
ReplyDeleteYeah! I too have some cat (and dog) faces on White that needed this big piece -- would LOVE to have some of Bonnie's cute Roof, Scratch, Yap fabric lol
DeleteI just found some with high heels in black, very cute!
DeleteI got some of the dog fabric after digging through my stash. Just enough for a few squares..YAY! I also came across some black on white that has busy city streets on it. What great fabric to add to the Theme quilt huh?
DeleteI think I can cope with that. I am behind with the steps but hoping to catch up over the weekend. It' s exciting doing a mystery. The best bit is I have been good and used only fabrics I already had. You are so good to us Bonnie. I am itching to start one of the quilts from the three amazing books I bought from you but not letting myself until the mystery is complete.
ReplyDeleteAll done! Now I can work on my Old Tobacco Road. Ony have the pinwheels to make and I can get it all together.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the easy step today! I think I have enough black and white left to get these out! Need to finish clue #4 and #5. Everything is cut, but somehow my sewing time disappeared??!! Loving this mystery.
ReplyDeleteBonnie,
ReplyDeleteGreat mystery and I am so glad we don't have to wait a week for another step! You do an amazing job!
This will give me plenty of time to get a lot of other stuff done too. Looking forward to Monday as well.
ReplyDeleteSo excited that the next clue is on Monday! We are NOT using the 64 background "bars" we already cut - correct? Those still have yet to find a home I assume. :-) This is SO fun!
ReplyDeleteLeave the bricks from earlier for later. These are not them :c)
ReplyDeleteahhhh me too, along with everyone else is loving this mystery. Been too busy to even try to figure it out. Takes all the fun out of it anyway. Just busy sewing away. Got all the steps cut and just about caught up. So you will be on QuiltCam then? if you said you are going to be LIVE? Will we miss it if you dont catch it live? We need a time. Thanks for the mystery Bonnie! love it!
ReplyDeleteYAY! I just started the mystery this week and am well into clue 3 - using only one background fabric, this clue will make catch up even easier!
ReplyDeleteSounds great, Bonnie! I've a single fabric so I'll just cut squares (which I find very relaxing) and then go at those greens. Travelling mercies, oh guru of ours!
ReplyDeleteThe grey isn't what would bee referred to as background fabric ... is it?
ReplyDeleteNo its the black on whites. The grey is the constant. And by the picture she has in the directions it is the black on whites. Hope that helps
DeleteWell she said if you bought a background fabric and want to use it instead. I was wondering if the she recommended was also meant as a background.
DeleteThat was suppose to say the grey she recommended
DeleteI'm impressed with how ya'll are managing to keep up - I'm still on Clue 2! Hope I'm not the only slow poke...
ReplyDeleteNo I am Just starting clue 2 today. I substituted the greens for cherry red.....
DeleteCount me in for the slow poke side :) need to start piecing clue 2 :)
DeleteI am also a very slow poke... Just started on clue nr 2!
DeleteI have condensed Bonnie's Easy Street instructions as the weeks have gone by and posted them on WisconsinQuilting's Nov. 24 post
ReplyDeleteIt's a quick way to see the directions when you are doing more than one week's work at a time.
Also posted in the same place are modified instructions so a group can tackle the project. I've posted the instructions for each individual for a group of 40 working together. For example, today's instructions require each of 40 people to make only 3 blocks (plus a handful more to make 128). If you only have 20 people, it can be easily be doubled. This would be a great guild project... with the scrappiness already built in. Great fun. Now it's time to go catch up.
I'm all caught up with my sewing for this wonderfully fantastic mystery!!! Even our oldest daughter is caught up. We're looking forward to the next clue MONDAY! Now to get more coffee and cut a pile of pillowcases!
ReplyDeleteThis is the best mystery ever Bonnie!! So fun... and I still have no idea what we are making!!
ReplyDeleteOh, man! Yes, this IS exciting. Now I have my work cut out for me to catch up. I soooo want to have a completed top right along with the rest of you. If not, well, it's still been lots of fun and I know I will have a finished top soon. Still loving the colors. Cannot wait to see how this all comes together. Thanks, Bonnie!
ReplyDeleteThis is so exciting! I have no idea what my quilt will look like! You are a great mystery writer! Just finishing part five then on to part six. Thanks for all you do, Bonnie.
ReplyDeleteYou are a tease with the greens!!! I love it. Will have to wait on the double brick to see what I want to do. Loving my purples and blues! Rea
ReplyDeleteThis should be a quick and easy set. I was looking forward to the greens.
ReplyDeleteHmmmmmmmm so many possible combinations.....
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! You sure do have me guessing!!
ReplyDeleteI started late because of our move to a new state. I am finally finished with Clue 1. I have dragged my mom into another one of your MQ. I think this is our 4th NYMQ. You had me scrambling for fabric this time. I have been trying to work from my stash, but I don't collect scraps. I only buy what I need per project or I buy fabric in yardage. This was the first one I had to buy everything for.I have clue 2 cut and ready to go today.I thought about setting up a blog but just no time to make it look pretty. Thank you for taking the time to feed our creativity again.
ReplyDeleteYou have the most fun black and white fabrics!
ReplyDeleteYou make a mystery so FUN Bonnie! Thank you again for doing all the hard work to make this happen for us!! I so look forward to Friday mornings that I find myself waking up early (4 AM??) to check and get started. I'm so appreciative. Rapid Fire Finish here we come!!!
ReplyDeleteI am loving this as I have no idea how all these beautiful pieces will come together. Problem is, I'm all caught up with nothing to do until Monday and I go back to work on the 2nd-doesn't give me much time to put it all together (am I whining? How disgraceful!)
ReplyDeleteI do hope we start putting this thing together soon as I am going to be like the Taco Bell doggie years ago and "I think I need a BIGGER box!" Oh, well, is such fun I can suffer with finding a bigger box if necessary-just means my quilt will be full sized! Love, love, love the clues and colors and am anxiously awaiting the next installment!!
ReplyDeleteBonnie...all done with part 6- This is so much fun and the colorwasy is just awesome. I am so happy I joined in this year.
ReplyDeleteYou've got me hooked!
I have your Jamestown quilt on my 2013 list to finish.....
Peggy in NJ
I think I'm naming this quilt , "What was I thinking?" LOL! I picked my own colors, so it is really all my doing. However, my kids and I get a good laugh each week when I add the new additions to the box. My fabric stash is really getting smaller with this mystery, and that is all that matters!
ReplyDeleteJust finished this clue. I am so excited to see how this is going to come together!
ReplyDeleteI spent all week playing catch up. This is a piece of cake.
ReplyDeleteJust finished clue 5 these strips are sew just ave to iron and cut !
ReplyDeleteKeeping up so far,tried arranging some of the blocks to figure out the mystery
ReplyDeleteI'm catching up on the EXTRA things from prev steps, on part 2, you had us cute 3 1/2" x 2" pieces are those part of this step #6 or for something else?
ReplyDeleteBonnie, the PDF file isn't found? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteFinally got step Six done today, January 4th.
ReplyDelete