I love paintmejudy's mystery quilts she does. They are here on the board and to me, they are awfully fun. I love seeing all the variations of the same theme and the end results are amazing I think. She will be doing another come January. Free, right price range, and she is very good at talking about color and color value's when telling you to pick your fabrics. Also.. I had trouble with Bonnie hunters last mystery as she showed such .. interesting colors, ie not my type at all, as her examples and I couldn't see how to change them to make it my type of quilt.. Moda is doing one with some pretty fabrics right now.. probably a bit more traditional?

I'm not much of a gambler. If I'm going to spend a lot of time, effort and money on something I have to know I'm going to like it before I make the commitment.

I use the mystery quilts for charity quilts. It is a challenge to see if you can come out with something you like but to see if you can keep up with the clues. I usually do one on NYE and NYD every year. Most are lap size just perfect for charity.

I NEED to do this mystery quilt to get me challenged and back on track with my quilting - last December I took a fall and wasn't able to work on my quilting for over 8 months, still recovering, but I'm able to get back to doing cutting and piecing - hope to be back on track totally when it comes time to making the quilt sandwich ( on the floor :( ) to be able to finish it! My last Bonnie mystery quilt top, and 2 others still need to be sandwiched & quilted.....
Bonnie does a great job on the instructions, and keeping one interested in the project. By encouraging us to post images as we complete the steps is an extra push to keep up with the group. I LOVE Bonnie Quilts!!!

I have done several MQs from several different sources. Our local LQS had a teacher who did an MQ each month. In the 2 years I attended, I finished one top a month except for 6 or 7 sessions. Many of those quilts were gifted to friends and family. I have done an MQ from http://www.persimmonquilts.com/ which is a Quilts of Valor pattern, and I have done a couple Debby Caffrey MQs, a Charlotte Angotti MQ, and a Doug Leko MQ at retreats. Planet Patchwork also has MQs once or twice a year. This is one that I did about 6 years ago. I loved the waterfall effect that kept if from being a same old rail fence.

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I have found that you just have to take a deep breath, exhale, and go for it. Most MQs will have suggestions for fabric selection, and they are a great way to step outside your box and try something new (never done a '30's, Thimbleberry, Civil War? Go ahead and try it now.). The picture I have included below is a New Year's Planet Patchwork MQ from 1/1/2012 that I have just gotten back to <LOL> When I got to the last border, I realized my fabric was too light, so I have gotten a couple purple batiks that look much better and will finish it "sometime".
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I've never done a Bonnie Hunter, and except for the QOV, don't plan to do another MQ for a while.

I'm like you. Scared to death I'll end up spending both time and money making a project I don't like. In 16 years of quilting I've never done a mystery quilt and don't feel I've missed out on anything. Glad there are people who enjoy making them. Nice. But it's just not for me.

I've only done mystery quilts when published in a magazine, and then I "cheated", and collected all the magazines for that mystery quilt, then decided if it was a quilt I would like to make. I know that's not the way to do it, but I have done block of the month quilts on line. Guess I like to see what I'm going to do before I do it.

I love the mystery of the mystery quilt. I always choose colors that I like or at the very least are interesting together and just dive in. Often the results are far better than you expect. If you are a traditionalist, then go with those colors. If you are modern, mod, bright color quilter then go with those. I have never finished a mystery that I did not like. I give them away in the end because I don't particularly need another quilt but I had the fun of the mystery! Yummy.

The very first quilt I ever actually finished was a mystery quilt. The fabrics were picked and she sent me cutting instructions, then sent me the beginnings of the assembly instructions then the final part and I love it and was proud to raffle it off at our last family reunion. Embrace the challenge, I would absolutely do it again. [ATTACH=CONFIG]445244[/ATTACH]

That is exactly what I do too...l
LoL - not a mystery then, but not a disappointment either