thank you for all of the great comments...
the first one was a mystery quilt I did on years day with planetpatchwork. I used 2 1/2" strips that I received in a swap on this board. They do mystery quilts a few times a year. They let you know ahead of time what the fabric requirements are and then on the day of the mystery - they post a set of instructions every hour...for like 5 hours. I did do all of the piecing in one day...which is what they claim you should be able to do.