mhollifiel and others struggling with using colors other than those suggested by the mystery designer: Last year, although I was very excited about doing Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery, I immediately knew the colors she suggested were not ones I would enjoy using or having a quilt in that palette.
I started with a fat eighth bundle that I'd purchased (Collection for a Cause Friendship), which was mostly reds and browns (which I loved) and aqua, which I didn't love quite so much. I used the aqua as the color that the least fabric was needed for. I pulled lots of reds and browns from my stash.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...t-t229833.html
Another method would be to look at a print fabric and pull those colors out. If you look at the colors I pulled for this year, they are pretty much colors that are in a leaf print I recently purchased. Post 15 here:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/links-r...t233227-2.html