I don't mean to complain, I think Bonnie is very generous with her time and talent. I just don't like this quilt, it is too busy for my taste. I like the blocks that many of you have posted, I guess it's just the layout. I am going to use the components to make other quilts. This was my first mystery quilt, I was able to keep up and it was fun to see everyone's progress. I just can't see taking the time to finish a quilt that I am not happy with. Good luck to all of you with your quilts.

Colorado, I totally understand and commend you that you were able to keep up on this and figure out her clues with this quilt, especially since this was your first time doing a BHMQ. Absolutely, if you dont love it dont do it. Thankfully, there are other quilts these units can go into and you can make something you will love. This is my 5th year for doing her mystery quilt and has been the most confusing to me, but I do love it and will do it a little at a time. Maybe the reason her instructions were not so scrappy this time is because it is such a busy quilt. I am not really loving the FG borders on it, not sure what I will do. I think next year I will wait to do the clues to be sure I really like it.

Colorado- you're not complaining. It is a busy quilt !
Whatever you end up doing with your blocks/units will work out fine I'm sure.
I'm going to lay mine out and make it into something I like.
That's the name of the game afterall.
I agree that Bonnie is very generous in her Mystery quilts and I'm sure she'd want you to make
something that works for you.

This was also my first one and I felt that it was confusing too, but I had nothing to compare it to.

Sometimes we get all we want out of a project before it is completed, we can never get back time.

I'm still plugging away at my subunits, and although yes, I've had some problems with the reds that turned into yellow/my neutral I was worried about, those are really minor compared to the light yellows and the Parakeet/light green which was always light for me. I am definitely going to have to cut the sashing rectangles from the darker/brighter tones. I'll be doing all the subunits before I start putting the blocks together.

Yesterday at group I pinned until I ran out of pins, just a few more sets. I did have to sort through the neutrals a bit to make sure they contrasted at least a little with those Parakeets. I'm up early, hubby just left for work and I'm about to start sewing!

Design-wise, mostly I make my own quilts and I have a different style in both design and construction. It is actually very rare that I follow someone else's pattern and although I have finished UFOs, I've never bought a kit even. So part of the point of this for me was that I was doing something different. I've learned a lot about working with my fabric. I'm working with units of scale quite a bit smaller than I usually do, I rarely cut anything smaller than 2.5". I am prepared that someone may just absolutely gush over this top because it isn't what I usually do, and if that happens I will gladly quilt it down for them.

I still can't visualize how my blocks are going to look next to each other -- one step at a time and I will post pictures when I have actual blocks.

Irish, your blocks are just fantastic!

SandraP, I say every year that I will wait until the reveal to decide if I will make the quilt, LOL. It's just too much fun to be part of the hubbub!

I'm not saying how long it took me to make a quarter block yesterday, LOL.

My new iron lasted just four days, but it was a $4.00 iron i found on clearance at work. I have ordered one with a retractable cord that will be here tomorrow. Without an iron, I am stalled on progress. Yesterday I cut all of the extra pieces from the reveal except the inner border. Today I have been working on sewing together the rows in the four patch corners, and the flying geese.

I am a little burnt out, so I am going to take the next few days off. I pushed through steps to get them done on time and it has lost the fun factor at the moment. I always get a little discouraged at this stage, but this is why I like making blocks one at a time. It's not the most efficient way of piecing a quilt, but I get so bored with all of the chain piecing of units.

Lovely blocks, everyone. Irish - it looks like you are our overachiever - 9 blocks? Wow! I'm taking a break to get the Cuts and Bolts NYE quilt done. I have all the sub-units sewn, but need to assemble the rest of the blocks and then put the top together.
As to those who think this quilt is very busy, I agree. With several of Bonnie's mysteries I've ended up just sashing the blocks with solid rather than the pieced way. Not sure what I will do with this one.

Colorado, have you tried setting some straight rather than on point?

There is a picture on FB that was done smaller (16 squares, so 4 x 4) with a straight set and that strobing motion that I see in the on-point setting does not appear. Someone else left out the sashing strips, and even that made a significant difference.

I managed to get one block sewn and I probably won’t even start another till next week, and if I don’t get it done till summer I’m good! This is the first time I have done one of her mysteries and I will probably do another despite some of the issues encountered. I appreciate the time and effort she puts into presenting us with these wonderful quilts and the effort it takes to put it all together for the general public, who’s skills are as wide and varied as the universe is endless. I have printed out and laminated each clue and made notes on each one for future reference should I decide to make the quilt again, thankfully my dates with Jack were minimal! I love the colors and the all out quiltyness of the pattern, and will actually start On Ringo Lake in the next month.