I had a similar experience. The fabric I really liked was lost in the colors of the rest of the project. Learned a little about light medium and dark, how important it is to select according to the shading of each piece involved. Everyone else really liked the result, but of course I was disappointed.

The nature of Mystery Quilts and why I don't do them until I know what they will look like.....kind of looking at the end of the book before you read it.

I've seen many quilts made with the same Mystery Quilt pattern, some just look faded because the fabric chosen just blended in too much and the pattern was lost, others a bold fabric in the wrong place wrecked it. All of them call out lights, mediums and darks....but some of that can be a matter of what you think are enough contrast between them...and the inability to make a sample block so you can see if you like the look or if a different fabric choice would work better can make or break a quilt. That being said, I've seen people who knew what the pattern was and would have chosen the same fabrics regardless.

I've only done one Mystery Quilt, and the one teaching it used our small group (she was a member of it) to test out the pattern to see if we would have any problems with it at the retreat. She looked at my fabric choices before hand and suggested I might want to replace one or two of them....I did and the quilt turned out fantastic.

Very mean spirited of the instructor to just smile and turn away. I think that I would never take another class or do a project with that kind of a teacher. The aim is so that you have a successful project, not to give her ammunition to point out where you could have made a better choice for fabrics.

I'd like to see all Mystery Quilt instructions suggest that you might want to save your "favorite or featured fabric" to use for the #____ (fill in the blank here) fabric to showcase it best.

Sometimes we aren't throwing away the quilt - or whatever it is. We're throwing away the feelings. Good for you.

I never threw away a quilt:: OHHH MY - NEVER: I might not like some of things that I do but I just take it out and start over. If the colors do not Blend - So Be It: This is something I made and I used patience and tried my best. I'm sure some homeless family would be so gratful for a warm quilt - no matter how it looked. Donate these un-loved items::::

I sent off a quilt to a quilter I had used before. When it came back it looked a mess. Called her and she explained she had been ill and her husband was quilting for her. Told her how I felt and how upsetting it was. She apologized!!!! Whoe cares about her apology my quilt was ruined for life. Tried taking out stiches but got fed up and donated to a thrift store. Nice faberic down the drain. I felt bad and disappointed after I put work into making my quilt. Know how u feell :thumbdown:

I never have thrown a quilt away.....I drape it on the arm of the sofa and I give it to who ever comments they like it when they visit.......

It's not my nature to be happy when a quilt gets tossed out but I'm glad you did it!
The aggravation just wasn't worth it. Glad you have peace of mind now :D

I took beginner lessons at one of the local quilt shops and was very excited to begin. First the teach cancelled the first day due to snow. Ok I get that but then she cancelled another lesson due to a quilt shop hop. I don't know why, she has plenty of room and knew that there was a possible schedule conflict anyway.

So that was two lessons cancelled. I thought we would make them up but she refused to. In addition when I signed up for the classes I paid in advance, received the list of supplies needed so we bought material then. You guessed it, the list was from the previous class so I did not have enough material and of course it was all gone by then. Nope they did not accept responsibility for giving me the wrong list of supplies so I was out that money and had to buy some different fabric to make it work.

That quilt is still not finished due to the memories of being screwed. I will never go back to that shop for anything again and I spent lots of money there prior.

It took a long time (2 years) decide what to do with them!
I can not pull fabric ... for many reasons!
But if it was good for you ... okay!
A hug! :thumbup:

Color in quilts is tricky! I have learned a lot from Ginny Beyer. She shows a trick for picking coordinating fabric. What I was doing wrong was to match other fabrics exactly by color. She goes tones up and down, then adds a darker and a brighter and it is like magic what happens to the quilt. I believe you can find her at GinnyBeyer.com

No, No, No, No, No. Police! Quilting Police!? :shock: :cry: :oops: :roll: Well... They don't seem to be showing up. I guess it was a perfect crime. LOL Honestly, they are our quilts I think we are free to do with them whatever we choose.

I have never thrown one away. I have ended up with a few that I didn't like when finished but I figure one person's ugly is another person's beauty and I donate the ones that I don't like. There have been many happy posts about the treasures found in Goodwill or garage sales. "Misfit" quilts always find someone to love them.

Sometimes it's better to go on and finish the offending quilt, then give it to an organization that will use it...I've given the shelter pups some that I wouldn't have kept...but you know what? They loved them! And what's more important is that I didn't feel so bad giving it away...just sayin'... ;)

I did a D9P which turned out awful. Luckily I discovered how ugly is was before I cut the 9 patch. Makes great pieces for experimenting with or cutting for piecing.

I don't like doing mystery quilts for this very reason. It is too bad your instructor wasn't more gracious and gave you some clue.

Yes, this is what happened....Today there was a quilt sale.
and this -shall I say "unloved" quilt was in it!
The story is this....I have a friend who just loves to sit at her machine and sew and sew and sew just humming away!
This uses up a lot of fabric, so I used to give her boxes of all my scraps. Once in a while she would give me a top. Recently I found one of those random scrappy out of the bag quilt tops that she had made, and that I had forgotten I had. It was a well sewed log cabin. I confess log cabins are not my favorite pattern, and although it had bright scraps in it, the combination of mostly dark colors -greens and browns with off whites and random muddy pastel light prints, with a light yellow centers and other random shades of yellows seemed to me to say "EEEEEuuuuuu!" "Ugly"! I decided to give it a chance, and threw it over the sofa to allow me to contemplate it - and the longer it was there, the more I hated it. So I resolved to give it away and took it to the next guild sew day, and and every one there said - "You are wrong! It is beautiful!!!" But I still tried to give it away to a long arm quilter friend. She said to me - If you will give me the backing, I will longarm it, and if you will sew the binding on, we will put it in the upcoming quilt sale together and split the money equally.... So the quilt sale was today!!!
I do not know if the quilt was sold or not.
I will tell you this, though, if it didn't (and it was a good bargain) the quilt is going to HER HOUSE!!!!

I hope you laughed too!
Jeannie

Only one that I actually threw away, a bargello. I don't think I will ever do one again. Nothing matched up, it was all wonky no matter what I did.

I also have a mystery that I hate, but haven't thrown it out. I keep hoping I will think of a way to save it. Should probably just toss it.

I like to do mystery quilts. One thing I learned is look at the amount of yardage that is required. If you have a fabric you love and want to use a lot of it in your quilt, then when you look at the list of yardage amounts, you will need to use it for the largest amount of fabric required. Does this make sense? Usually when a good teacher sends out yardage requirements for a mystery, they will suggest a fabric type, i.e. "a small print with not too much open space," or "your accent fabric should be across the color wheel from your fabric A," etc. If they give you clues, you will usually be more successful with your quilt.

I would have a hard time throwing it out. Why not donated to a children hospital . I think any thing would brighten their day & it may make you feel better also.

I think you were wise to not spend precious time on something you did not like. I gave away a mystery quilt in pieces to another quilt friend who loved it and finished it. At least it went to a good home.

I have a kit I call the Quilt from hell. Bad pattern direction and they changed the fabrics and yardage don't add up right Still setting in a bag My sister said to give it to her and she will try do it.....

I agree. You did the right thing by me. That quilt ended up with bad karma.

For me the lesson to be learned is choose an instructor who will be more honest with you. If she knew how much you wanted that fabric focused, she could have guided you on your choices. If she smiled, she KNEW you would be surprised. What a disappointment. I'm so sorry this happened to you. One of these days, you will find a fabric that you really like and then you can make something totally of your choices.

I never like anything I finish right away. Have to walk by it for a couple of weeks first.

really got a good laugh: Thank you - Anyway, u have to let us know if it SOLD: !!!!

I, too, have learned to never use a favorite fabric or not to invest a lot of money in a mystery project. A lot of the time I really don't like how they come out. But, never, never, throw away a quilt. Just donate it as is to a charity project. Someone who has nothing will just love it.

I just made a baby quilt and hated it when completed, I finshed the binding and put it in a chair. The cat decided she liked it and so now it is a blanket for the cat to lay on.

Well I can understand throwing it away if every time you looked at it you were remined of how upset you were.

Never throw fabrics out even if you hate the quilt. Donate it to a thrift store because someone will love the combination even if you don't. Just my thoughts. :)

I don't blame you. I'm glad you feel better.