A mystery created by Diane Lapacek for the 2011 Quilts by Barb Quilt Retreat Getaway Weekend held in Belmont, WI.

Just days before I planned on heading out to the Quilt Retreat I decided that I would do the Mystery Quilt. Diane was over and she helped me pick out my fabrics!. Lucky for you – you now get to follow along in the fun!

Step 1: Fabric Selection

Fabric A and B: This mystery is designed as a scrap quilt. Choose 2 different colors for A and B. Complimentary colors will created lots of zing.

I chose some muted to lime green for my Fabric A.

• CUTTING for A: 44 strips: 2 1/2” x 10 1/2”

This piece of Bryant Park Orange Faded Floral from Anthology fabric from FabricFascination was actually my inspiration to even do this quilt. I’m sure you all know that I just finished up with a crazy busy apple season and I really need to get inventory created for my two big sales coming up (the 5th Annual Handcrafted Hoedown for the Holidays and the 7th Annual Holiday Craftacular). I had just planned on going to the retreat for a weekend away but once I even thought about doing the mystery project, I glanced through my stash and saw this piece. It was just ‘calling’ to me to be made into a quilt.

• CUTTING FABRIC B: 28 strips – 2 1/2” x 10 1/2”, 43 squares – 4 1/2” x 4 1/2”, 8 squares – 6” x 6”, 2 squares – 4” x 4”

Fabric C. Should be more neutral in tone and medium light in value. Don’t get too wild here. Pick one fabric (1 3/4 yards) or several that are closely related in tone and value and not too busy.

I chose some hand-dyed fabric for my fabric C. The main portion of the fabric is actually my piece of from Barbs ‘Yard that Keeps on Giving’. For the life of me I could NOT find the piece she had given me. Of course, I had put somewhere special so I wouldn’t get it confused with my other hand-dyes..and of course, I couldn’t find it. So, as I was packing for the retreat and searching for a pattern (that I still can’t find) I FOUND MY YARD THAT KEEPS ON GIVING! Woo Hoo! There’s no way I would get it made into something before Saturday night’s show and tell but it happened to be perfect for my Mystery Quilt!

• CUTTING Fabric C: 14 strips: 4 1/2” x 42” (or shorter strips to equal this)

Fabric D. Lights. Mix lots of different ones. Variety is a big plus here.

My Fabric D are some yellow/oranges. I think it will be a fun addition!

• CUTTING Fabric D: 16 strips: 2 1/2” x 10 1/2”, 20 squares: 4 1/2” x 4 1/2”

Fabric E. Darks. A darker version of either A or B or pick another color. Use lots of fabrics or just one (1/2 yard)

I chose a fun orange/brown/gold fabric for this.

• CUTTING Fabric E: 6 Strips: 1 1/2” x 42” (Or shorter strips to equal this)

Step 1 is complete! All my fabrics are cut and ready to be made into a beautiful MYSTERY Quilt.