Got my fabrics separated out and introduction ready to go.

(I'm only on Clue #4 of Years Mystery) Trailblazer that I am.

Love the color schemes people are coming up with!

Here's my floral alternative. I may just do the 5 fabrics, at least until I figure out how they'll go together. From left to right.
Framboise, Grass, Aqua, Light Blue, Dark Blue and of course, some representative neutrals.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]619672[/ATTACH]

About those hand-dyes... they are running like thieves in the night! LOL, actually it isn't so bad but I think I'm essentially going to end up with solids. Most of the dye is cast off with a dunk in boiling water and then a rinse, after that I can boil them with vinegar and they should be good to go. The fabrics were treated with something like a scented starch, I'm sure someone would recognize the scent but I don't, but not treated for proper color retention. Good thing I know to check and how to correct.

Still dealing with the water heater issues. Car is in shop today (2nd day) so is a good day to mess with these pieces of fabric. Dog was taken to vet for his yearly itchy dog visit, he's on Apoquel (expensive) and required yearly blood test (expensive).

I will be joining the mystery this year too. Can't wait to use up some (ha!ha!ha!) of my scraps! Won't put a dent in it, but I'm sure looking forward to it. This should be a blast. Haven't been in my sewing room in 3 months - depression is such a waste filled time and I will not give in to it! See you guys and gals more often I'm hoping!!! Susan

Glad you’re joining in Texas Sue. I’ve found quilting to be good therapy for my depression.

Nice photo ladies. How neat to meet up with virtual friends.

I have decided on my colors. I've used fuscia and aqua in my last two quilts so I wanted to change things.Instead of aqua I am going to use the very light green (pear grunge) that I already had in my stash. I found the darker green polka dot on the sale rack and it will be my green. Instead of fuscia I am going to use orange.. Bonnie's photos of Texas wildfllowers was her inspiration and when I think of the Bluebells I always thinking of the orange Indian Paintbrush flowers too.

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Peggy your colors are fabulous and your bluebells are sure to be gorgeous :)

I third the notion that quilting is therapeutic! Would love to see your fabrics Texas-Sue!

Well, the hand dyes have been quite a bit of work to stabilize but I'm getting there. Red is done, complete with ironing. Definitely lighter and brighter now than when I started.

I'm using more of dark/medium/light for the dark blue/medium blue/aqua, and my fabrics are ranging from green to blue to purple to black, stabilizing the dye is actually helping them go together a bit better as I'm deliberately blending the pieces in the first boiling water bath. Darks are taking two dunks (plus rinse) in boiling water, plus a salt/vinegar bath and rinse, and finally one last heat treat in the microwave before running in the washing machine with a color catcher just to see. I really find heat treating works best, or at least did with my usually natural dyes.

I'm out of vinegar and my car is in the shop so will need to go out before I can continue but hubby home soon. I'm thinking with the aqua/green I will prewash in the washing machine first but will still need to do the rest of the heat treating.

Haven't begun the yellow yet, that will be a day on it's own.

I'm jumping in on this mystery; I haven't done one since Easy Street which might have been in 2012! I really like this year's colors. I got the second batik group from Quilted Twins, and I'll be adding in some batiks from my collection too. I'm not having much in the way of patience!

Looking forward to sewing with you all!

Not too sure of the yellowish green (Parakeet). I have 2+ yards of a blue green paisley (more grass color) that has both blues, the aqua and white in it. Only missing the raspberry color in it, but this color will probably be the "pop" in the pattern. All my blues, aqua and raspberry are all scraps (no actual yardage, but "yards" of scraps). Will try to post a photo of my green.

As I've done in past, I will wait for all the clues before I commit to making the quilt. Call me a coward :) but one of the mystery quilts that I decided to do, I couldn't finish - made me dizzy (it was the one with aqua, hot pink, black, white. Can't remember the name now). Since then, I've gotten all the paint chips and downloaded the entire pattern. This is what I will do this year, too.

Love to see what everyone's fabrics look like. I do have a question - when Bonnie says a color is a "constant" (in this case the green), does she mean ONE fabric in that color or many fabrics in that exact color? I read it as one fabric. Can anyone shed some light on this? TIA

Can't wait to see Clue #1, but I will be without internet for that weekend. Oh well...

Lynda in OH, glad you are on board with us! I find the more there is the better. So many different ideas from everyone, makes it interesting and fun. I will have to go to the Quilted Twins website to see their batiks. Welcome!

I loved the third choice fo the quilted Twins had on their site, but I had already ordered so I decided on passing an another one. I will work out small quilts on each choices and see which I like the best. Or throw in some from my stash. So anxious to see what you all do on your blocks.

Peggy, I always watch for your color choices as I've admired your mystery quilts over the past years. I love your colors and know it will look very striking. I'm still working on my color choices and am considering going with yardage vs. scraps this time.

I’m enjoying the color choices posted so far.

I have all my fabric washed, just need to iron next week and I’m ready for 1st step. I went with all fabric posted earlier, except I did exchange my background fabric out. All but the background fabric is from stash.

Thanks Carol! I am anxious for the clues to start so we can see the fabrics coming together!

So happy to see several more people joining in!

Teresa, I'm quite excited to see your floral quilt take shape!

Pagzz, beautiful fabrics!

ILoveToQuilt, when Bonnie says 'constant,' it does mean one fabric. I believe she mentioned that she was going constant just because she had the perfect amount in the perfect color, rather than it being a recommendation for a constant fabric, as she sometimes does.

Poor misunderstood Grand Illusion, LOL. It really was disliked by many. It was my first mystery, and such a fun experience that nothing could have ruined it for me.

I have my fabrics all pressed and ready to go. I'm intrigued by the presence/function of the aqua in this quilt. I think it's the first time since I've been participating that we've had a light fabric in addition to light neutrals. I probably went a little too light with my aquas, so they may not all contrast well with my neutrals.

I love aqua. I've been using it a lot lately. I almost decided not to join because I heard it has a million pieces but I got all my fabrics pulled and now I want to start!
I don't have many scraps though. I'm using fat quarters and yardage from my stash.

Don't back out SusieQOH -- you can do it! Most of what I'm using is also more in the fat quarter to yardage range as well.

I'm on day two on fixing the hand dyes. Got red and dark yesterday, working on medium and aqua today. The rest of the Parakeet will be worked on with the yellows and get some yellow over dye. While some did become so mottled as to read almost solid, I was very happy with how most of them came out.

Sort of a mean thing to do, I think donating these untreated fabrics but at least I was the one who got the bag and knows what to do. Typically you do make a lot of fabric and then only use the best pieces, so I was figuring from the start that these were the left overs. The dyer did use nice yardage and it is washing well. Prewashing is taking out the starch or whatever was in them. Still losing color after the pre-wash and boiling water dip, but I don't think I need two dips like I did with the un-prewashed darks yesterday. Will still need the vinegar/salt boil and the microwave treatment before getting washed yet again! But my color catchers are barely turning color in that final wash.

I have my biggest kettle on the stove with boiling water and my biggest pyrex bowl. I dip out the boiling water and let the pieces sit in it until the refilled kettle comes to boiling again, and then I rinse until clear. Today's pieces are somewhat large and I'm only getting two per pyrex bowl. I'll probably have two batches for the vinegar bath.

Then with what is in the wash now, probably three more after that... it's a day's worth of boiling but at least it's cheap and I'm still home without a car so now is the perfect time for it.

And I still haven't touched yellow yet! Nor the other half/two-thirds of the bag that will also need treatment.

I didn't go through all of the posts to see if this was mentioned but it just came in my e-mail. Fort Worth Fabrics has bundles for sale.

https://fortworthfabricstudio.com/pr...-mystery-quilt

Iceblossom- I won't back out. But lately all I do is make things for my granddaughter. It's like I just can't stop! :D

Can someone tell me how to download my picture of my fabrics? I think I'm having a senior moment and I need a reminder. Thanks in advance. BTW the pic is on my phone.

The first place to start is pictures are under the "Go Advanced" options.

I have an old school camera, I think most people with a phone send the picture to themselves via email and then post it from there. The FAQs here are great, first two are about posting:
https://www.quiltingboard.com/qb-help-center-f27/

With my camera and browser etc., my file sizes are almost always too large so I go to this site to reduce them. It was easier to use but just got changed a week or so ago, is still easy just a couple more clicks than I'm used to, and it still doesn't set off my browser protections.
https://www.reduceimages.com/

Once downloaded from there to my system, I am ready to go advanced and post.

Thanks for the helpful link. I think it is safe to assume that the Texas Blue Bonnets are indeed blue and Indian Paint Brush are a red and so you are probably right.

Thanks again NZquilter, for the link as I have used it.
Karen

Dealing with stabilizing these hand dyes is a full time job! Once again I am out of vinegar and salt. I have at least two batches of medium left for the vinegar/salt boil.

Aqua is mostly done, some in the final wash now along with some of the medium.

For Parakeet, I'm mostly working with a solid. Here's an updated picture of treated fabrics made from the solid up top. I bleach treated the pieces in the middle, one is "natural" and the other I let sit in the boil dips with the darker fabrics. The green is slightly bluer than it was, but you can see how the bleached sections pulled in that excess blue dye! The other half I'll be putting in with the yellows. On the sides (can't see them well) are some of the tea dyed portions I did from the same original solid.

OK, I want to thank Iceblossom for the instructions for the directions to upload my photo, but I don't know what I'm doing wrong but it isn't happening. I have tried since 10:30 this morning and it is now 10 after 2:00 and all I get is a failure to upload message so I give up. I really wanted to post also as I wanted opinions of what I have so far. Oh, well. I'll try this one last time then I give up !

It's probably the file size Texas_Sue, it took me months here before I figured everything out and I'm somewhat techie, unfortunately I don't have a smart phone and can't help too directly.

Try putting your picture on the website below, reduce the file size, and chose the download option.
https://www.reduceimages.com/
Because of my vision issues, I have my default set in file manager to large icons, I reduce my windows screen to about half my monitor. My file manager is set to come up on top, I simply select and drag the picture from my camera/system to the spot on the website, then I re-maximize my screen.
In the picture above, I reduced the visual size to 60% and the Quality (File Size, that's the important one) to 80%.

Then, when you are in the advanced options here, when you get to the Browse option, go to your download folder (it's probably a pre-selected option even). If you are having problems getting to that advanced screen, try holding down the CTRL button on your keyboard while you are clicking the "Manage Attachments" button.

This is the constant green fabric that I have. It is more of a kelly green than the green that Bonnie is using.[ATTACH=CONFIG]619760[/ATTACH]

This is one of the Buttercream fabrics that JAF used to sell. Got it for $1 per yard on clearance with coupons.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]619762[/ATTACH]These are the fabrics I have chosen so far. I have ordered some pinks and aquas from Whittles and I should be good to go! Looking forward to all the fun with you gals!

Thanks Iceblossom. That did the trick. I really appreciate your help.

These are my fabrics. Mostly from scraps, a few purchased at Joanns last week. I’m also including the sheet I plan on using for my backing. I’m aiming for around 60”x90” then whatever blocks are left can be used for a table runner or baby quilt, or whatever.
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I’m really loving everyone’s choices for fabrics! I’m really looking forward to watching everyone’s progress. I was able to change out my neutrals to neutral batiks I was able to find in my stash after much digging!

Feathers n fur-- That's a darling sheet! I have a sheet I bought for a someday backing in similar Frolic colors, and it's sure tempting me to play along!

Lots of nice fabric posted. I like the floral set of fabrics! Wow, so cute.

I have never participated in a mystery quilt before. It sounds like a lot of fun. [ATTACH=CONFIG]619771[/ATTACH]
Would you mind giving me advice on my choice of fabrics? Are my aquas and light blues too close? I don't have many fabrics in the raspberry shades. I found one fabric that I have had for a long time because I really don't like it. I wonder if that will work? I'd rather not buy new fabric if possible, I am trying to use my stash as much as possible.

Thanks in advance for your help. I love the combinations so many of you have posted.

Colorado Quilter: I would take out your light blues, use your "dark" blues as the lighter ones and add in some very dark navy fabrics. The second blue down from the top of the pile reads as a "dark". Yes, I think your aqua and light blues are too close in value. To see the values, change your color photo to black and white. This way you can see how close or how different your values are.

I’m in! I usually pull from my own fabrics but I just didn’t have enough of the suggested colors and I really loved them! I ordered a bundle from Stitchin Heaven ... they came today and now I’m super excited! Everyone’s fabrics look very pretty:).

Hi Colorado Q! I do think your aqua and light blues are too close. I would see if I could change out those light blues for something that is a bit more medium in contrast. How fun to have you along with us to do this. Sandra

Everyone's fabrics are so great! I'm just getting so excited to get the first clue and get started. Hope to have all supplies together by next week. Ordered and Art Bin Satchel to keep fabrics and pieces as we go along and have baggies for cut pieces. Notebook and hole punch for printed material. I'm just all aflutter with excitement. It's been too long since I participated in a mystery quilt so I'm pedal to the metal.:)

Awesome fabric choices y'all! Love the way the colors play well together.