vadalia

It's that time of year again!

No, not Thanksgiving. Or the winter-related holiday of your preference. Or even Bonnie Hunter's annual mystery quilt (no shade, BH does good work!) Instead it's the thing I've been eagerly anticipating and checking the website every day of November for:

Merry Mayhem's New Year's Day Mystery Quilt! This year it's #146: Ups and Downs

https://www.merrymayhem.com/new-years-day-mystery-quilt

Or you can follow along at the Merry Mayhem's Mystery Quilts FB page (not linked here b/c I'm not sure of the rules on FB linking)

Part 1 has been released already, which gives the fabric requirements to make several different sized versions of this quilt. Part 2 will be released in late December & going by past mysteries will probably provide cutting/sewing directions to get some of the time-intense foundational sewing done before New Year's Day. Because that's when this mystery turns from a marathon into a sprint!

On New Year's Days past, Merry Mayhem has released 1 clue per hour to allow Mystery Quilters to complete the quilt top on that day (although you can certainly save the clues that day & complete the quilt top at a slower pace... I usually get off track somewhere around clue #5)

Due to the time constraints and probably also just the pattern maker's personal style, these quilts tend to be less complex and have a lot less tiny pieces than Bonnie Hunter's quilts. Just a tip for anyone who, like me, might be a little intimidated to take on a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt... not that plenty of people don't complete both, of course!

This will be my 3rd year in a row participating and I've been looking forward to this for a while! Now to meticulously go through my stash with those Part 1 fabric requirements in mind

Queenbarbiej

Vadalia thanks for the heads up. I saved the instructions. I will be doing this one. This will make my third Merry Mayhem mystery quilt.

Barb in Louisiana

Thanks for posting the info. I always look forward to these days of sewing.

happylab

Thank you for hosting this. I too look forward to this every year. Have printed out the fabric requirements. I plan to sew along with you.

cjsews

Thanks for posting. I was just looking for this a few days ago.

Fabric Galore

Thanks for the Heads Up on this Mystery Quilt. This will be the first time I participated in the Merry Mayhem and I'm looking forward to it.

joe'smom

Thank you, vadalia! I printed out the instructions, but found them quite confusing (I often need to read things several times). I did the last two Mayhems and thought the patterns were really nice, so I will plan on printing the clues even if I don't sew along.

vadalia

Welcome to everyone, from first timers to veterans!

joe'smom, I don't think it would be a problem to ask about anything in the instructions you found confusing. Sometimes the instructions do include errors or something worded not super clearly. I already had to do some math to figure out if the cutting directions for the light fabric meant to cut 8.5 in x WoF strips in addition to the 8.5 in squares or if we were sub-cutting the WoF strips into the squares. For anyone also wondering about that, I believe we are sub-cutting the strips into the squares but if anyone thinks differently please let me know!

givio

So nice to have something scrappy this year. It makes fabric selection so easy!

Watson

Thanks, Vadalia!
Am I understanding that we are to cut 18-8 1/2" squares each from both scrappy and from background to end up with 36 blocks? (For lap size).

Watson