Sapphire Stars Clue #2

Salutations Sapphire Stars Mystery Quilters!
And a hearty welcome to all of my new followers!

Are you all ready for Clue #3?


JUUUUUUUUST KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did I get you?
You all KNOW we are only on Clue #2!

In Clue #2 for our Sapphire Stars Mystery.............

Get out your feather boas quilters........

because we are going to be.........

STRIPPING!!!!!!

Hold on!  Hold on!  Hold on!!!!!!

Not THAT type of stripping!!!!!!!

THIS TYPE OF STRIPPING!!!! 

I intentionally maneuvered this clue to the #2 spot

because it is going to require the most sewing of all 

of the mystery clues.

EASY SEWING though!

I promise you.....if you can get through this clue,

it is smooth sailing from here on out!

Also, remember, this mystery quilt will be using the 

Tri-Recs Tools in a future clue

that will be coming up before we know it!

I trust that you all will use whatever method of 

strip piecing that works for you.

You can alternate the directions of your seams if you desire.

I simply put the pedal to the metal and

my units turned out just fine.

Make SURE you are using an accurate

1/4" seam

allowance.

Also, please READ through the ENTIRE

post.  All points are covered.

Here are your instructions for Clue #2:

From your strings, pull any and all strings that measure at 

least 1.5" in width in the following colors.

Light Blues

Royal Blues

Reds (all shades)

Yellows (all shades)

We will need 2 different lengths of 1.5" strings/strips.

Here is the rundown:

Cut the following....

48: 1.5" x 4.5" yellow strips (all shades)

48:  1.5" x 4.5" red strips (all shades)

24:  1.5" x 4.5" light blue strips

24:  1.5" x 4.5" royal blue strips

You will also need.....

Cut the following......

44:  1.5" x 7.5" yellow strips (all shades)

44: 1.5" x 7.5" red strips (all shades)

22: 1.5" x 7.5" light blue strips

22:  1.5" x 7.5" royal blue strips

Here are all of my strips cut and ready

for some power sewing.

This is also the order we will be sewing our strip sets in.
It will help to keep these  strip sets in their own stacks.

royal blues,reds, and yellows

and,

light blues, reds, and yellows

just as in the photo above.

For both the 4.5" lengths, and the 7.5" lengths.

This clue is a testament to having your strings organized by color.

It helps so much!

I did pull from my strings to obtain almost all of my pieces for this clue.

Working from my smallest of scraps helps make my quilts

VERY scrappy which is what I am always striving for.

Some of you may be saying.....

"I don't save strings though????"

You can certainly cut the strips needed

from larger scraps and stash as well.

You can tell this is a smaller piece of scrap fabric.

I would suggest ironing scraps that will work for this clue....

then layer cutting several pieces at a time.

(Truth be told, this piece of fabric wasn't ironed before this photo!

But, as I said before, I pulled my pieces from my strings, so this is 

just an example shot! LOL)

STAY WITH ME FOLKS!

I know this sounds like a lot of 1.5" strips........

and it is......

once again,....if you get through this clue.....

you've got it made from here on out!

You can always duplicate fabrics as well.

So, if you have a longer 1.5" strip, you can cut as 

many 4.5" and 7.5" lengths you can from it.

An 18" length of fabric which is usually a fat quarter size

 will yield 4: 4.5" cuts if cut accurately.

  And you can also get

1: 7.5" cut as well as 2: 4.5" cuts from

an 18" length of fabric.

So don't let the numbers scare you.

I know you all have fat quarters and stash 

that will work for this clue.

I believe in you!

If you don't, ask fellow quilting friends

to borrow some fabric from them!

Here are my units all sewn together.

Strip sets should measure: 

3.5" x 4.5"

and

3.5" x 7.5"

PRESSING MATTERS!

Press all strips toward the yellow strip.

This goes for all of the strip sets made for both

4.5" and 7.5" strip sets.

Next..........

Take your 7.5" length strip sets and place them 

by your sewing machine like this.

Royal blues on the far left, and light blues on the right.

We are going to stitch these together.

NOTICE!

Make SURE you are sewing together the 7.5"

strip sets only!  NOT the 4.5"!!!!

Leave the 4.5" strip sets alone for now.

After sewing these together,

you will then have 22 units that look like this.
Press seams all in same direction toward yellow strip
on far right.

Strip sets should measure:

6.5" width by 7.5" length.

Notice the royal blues are on the far left.

I realize this photo doesn't show the truest of colors,

but, trust me, those royal blues need to be on the left side,

and the lighter blues need to be in the middle.

That's all folks!

At least for Clue #2

of 

Here is a link to

Sapphire Stars Intro

and 

CLUE #1

And many thanks to my friend Heather of 

Peachy Pages

Here are the PDF's for this mystery quilt:

PDF Intro to Sapphire Stars 

PDF to Clue #1

(As soon as the PDF for Clue #2 is done I will post it here.)

I also cannot thank my friend Ann of

Attic Threads and Quilts

enough for helping me with her EQ7 skills

in the designing of this quilt!

I can't wait to see your progress with this step!

Please share your progress on your blogs

and help spread the word about this free mystery!

Until next time,

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter