I started a quilt, ran out of fabric that I was using as a background fabric, no longer available in stores, and put it aside for 11 years. One day I saw it again in the stores and bought it not noticing that there was a slight change in dye lot. After I got the blocks together and was arranging them on the carpet, I noticed that some were darker than the others. At first I was upset, but then I scattered them around and finished the quilt. Having that variation in color actually added to the quilt. Instead of having a flat looking background, it added life to it. Finally had to through that quilt out, it got so threadbare and so many holes that it was no longer repairable.