OK, I've never done a mystery quilt before, but I thought I'd give it a go. I didn't have a jelly roll, either, but I had some diff colors of the same small print, so I used strips of them. And I had some yardage of ecru with small white flowers, so I made that the background.
I washed, dried, starched & pressed all fabrics prior to cutting. I cut everything on Thurs & Friday - yeah, took me a couple of days. And apparently, I didn't cut right, either. Luckily, I had a few half-strips left over, so I was able to cut some more small squares to fill in where they needed to go, based on my random-color "pattern."
After I got going, even as novice a quilter as I am, I realized there are much better (EASIER) ways to piece this puppy. Too bad - I'd already cut everything. I'm sure it was done to make it easy to follow along & increase the "mystery" aspect of it.
And now that everything's all put together, I have confirmed my original feelings on scrappy (not my fave). But, I'd already planned it for a charity quilt, so I won't have any problems giving it away! BUT, and this is a biggie - I don't know how I'm gonna quilt it!
I can do straight-line & stitch in the ditch, but (spoiler alert!!!!) there are large patches of ecru with 2 seams running thru 'em!! Seems like a logical place to put some sort of stencil, but won't those seams get in the way??
Oh, and I don't mean to get all holy or preachy, but I did find sewing a gazillion short & straight seams rather tedious. Just my humble opinion!