Podunk P., I love your muted colors, too. Last year I toned things down, so this year will do the brights. I am thinking about doing the neutrals in one fabric and noticed the white with the black pin dots you had. Is that from Hobby Lobby? They have one that's very similar I've used before and really liked. :-)

I'm second guessing my yellow but since it's washed, dried, folded, and waiting for me I'm just going to stick with it. It's fine, just thinking maybe I should have held out a little longer for that "perfect" piece. :) Last year I did the mystery completely from my stash, so it was fun looking for some new fabrics this year.

Thanks Laura. I've changed it up this year but only because I went with her colors for last year's mystery and muted colors are really more my style. I'm not sure where the pin dot fabric came from. I found 4 yards of it on a shelf in my sewing room and couldn't remember where I got it or why I got it. Guess you could say I have a fabric-holic problem (LOL). It's possible that it came from Hobby Lobby because that place and Marshall's Dry Goods are the nearest fabric sources for me.

Princess: You live close to Marshalls Dry Goods? I would be in so much trouble. If you can believe it, if I traveled that would be one of my destinations. I shop on line but would love to see the store, best place I know for blenders.

Like many of you, the longer the wait the more time to second guess my choices. It's the yellow. Mine is much softer then BH's but yellow is such a strong statement that I think it will be fine. Plus the fabric is all from stash and I like that. I will stick with my first choices, I will..............

Hi SueSew I'll probably use the multicolor fabric for sashing or borders if the quilt has any. I happened to have it in my stash and it has all of the colors....

I have returned to my first favored yellow, which I rejected after seeing my fabrics together for the first time, and thinking they looked awful. I then removed several toned down fabrics, but I think I might have placed blame on the yellow, too, as it does have some darker shading. It looks good to me now, though, so I'm going with it. I'm still trying to decide on a neutral.

All set with my fabric. Here's a photo. Hope it works. Really testing my photo upload skills because I'm pretty sure I'll need some help after the clues begin.

Got my fabrics all in a humongeous baggie, it just sits there and stares at me. Time usually goes so fast but it has really slowed down these last few weeks while awaiting the start on the MQ. They are so much fun.!!!! Nancysp love your colors..

borntoquilt said: just checked in after a few days away.. my my my you ladies are RABID for this new Mystery Quilt. Can I just say CALM DOWN... I want to enjoy Thanksgiving/Christmas with my kids and g-kids.
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It will probably only take about 3 hours to do clue one, no one is setting aside their life for three months.

LOL... that's what I was thinking to but didn't trust myself to reply!

nancysp, your fabrics look perfect for the quilt.

What I am starting to think is, 'Will I like this quilt after seeing so many the same?' I downloaded all the clues for the Celtic Solstice but after seeing SO MANY I am thoroughly sick of it. Every one of Bonnie's 'show and tell' sessions has one or two or more of that quilt being shown, so now I am totally disinterested in it. Good thing I didn't start it. So with the Grand Illusion I just hope I don't get sick of it, too. Maybe I shouldn't look at so many pictures! ;P

With the grand illusion try to look for the differences. Did someone change the pink to red? Black to purple?
Color of the constant. Yellow or something else? The same color for the blue, pink or green instead of a variety? Change the brights to lights? Solids or patterns? Add a border or take away a border? Try to see what people are doing to make it their own. Think of Bonnie's color pallet as only a suggestion and not mandatory. If that doesn't work quit looking at pictures! :)

Six days left! This is the first year I'm not dreading Thanksgiving. It's just my husband, son and me and I usually spend all day cooking and then am too tired to eat. This year I asked what the most important components of the meal are. My husband? turkey and cranberry sauce. My son? Turkey and stuffing. So, I'll add crock pot sweet potatoes and green beans for me, then will have lots of time that day to iron/starch my fabrics. I have a friend that is insisting I go shopping with her, but she won't be ready until after 10 on friday morning, so I should be able to get a lot done that morning! I'm so excited to hear/see what people are working on, answers to questions that I'm sure I'll have, etc.

would be great to spend all my time with my Children, Grandchildren, and GreatGrandDaughter.....but (sigh) since that is not going to happen I am really glad to have this new mystery......and the other thing is when I am tired and want to rest my fabric is just fine with resting also. When I am really into a project my fabric is right there ready to play !

This is why I do the majority of my cooking prep the day before. I take off work that day so I can prepare all the casseroles (sweet potato, stuffing, green bean, squash) the day before. Then Thanksgiving morning I put the turkey in to roast at around 9 or 10, and go watch the parades on tv! When the turkey comes out I put all those casseroles in to cook for an hour, and make only mashed potatoes and gravy while they are cooking. Last 15 minutes in the oven is for rolls. I have a system! Work hard the day before and you can cruise on the day "of". I love having the work done beforehand. AND leftovers for the rest of the weekend!

Yes, Emma, I live fairly close to Marshall's. In fact, it's the nearest "big" town to us for shopping so I have a great excuse to go there whenever I want to. Add to that the fact that I have a wholesale buying account there and it's big trouble for me if I don't control myself!

Same with my final pick.............:)

I wonder what quilt historians in a 100 years will think of BH's designs. I would bet that they earn a whole category unto themselves. Just as the newspaper patterns earned a special place in quilters hearts I think Bonnie's have already done that and in years to come will become part of quilting history lore.

Thanksgiving is going to be quiet for us too this year. For health reasons, our usual group of friends will not be able to join in. I guess it goes with being 'a certain age' that it starts to happen but it has hit us hard this year. The mysteries and quilting in general are a quiet place for me where I can focus on something that takes my whole attention, and I'm thankful I have that. So, for us it's turkey & stuffing, cranberry sauce and some sort of veggie just to say I did. Pretty simple.

I'm not second guessing my choices, still going with just one fabric for each color, but I'm so envious of all the beautiful shades you folks are showing. I love these colors.

This is the first Thanksgiving that won't be hosted at our house, and I have to say I'm kind of relieved. I have a couple of assignments to bring, familiar dishes, and that will be so much easier than orchestrating the whole schlemiel. I'm kind of envious when I read about organized people like you, sewbizgirl; I could never seem to avoid everything devolving into chaos as mealtime approached, no matter how well I organized things ahead of time. Ah, well.

I am also loving the colors we're working with, and it's so much fun to see everyone's fabrics.

Me? An organized person? Aha ha haha ha ha ha!!!

And I just read on WebMD this morning that everything I make is in the "foods to be avoided during the holidays" list, due to high calorie count! WHATEVER. It's Thanksgiving.

Enjoy your 'easy' Thanksgiving, joe'smom, and everyone else too!

I'm excited about using my new roasting pan to cook my turkey this year. The oven will be free for the other dishes. Guess I'd better hurry and buy my turkey or it won't be thawed by thursday!
I'm going to use some different colors for the mystery. I've changed out blue for the aqua and red for the pink. I'm thinking about using orange for the yellow. Will wait and see on that one.
Does everyone wash and starch their fabric? I don't....but I might consider it if everyone thinks it is worthwhile.

I usually wash and press my fabrics when I first get them. Starch? Never!

We are going out of state for Thanksgiving this year to my DH's sister's home. Then for a few extra days in the mountains of NC. I will not be able to even start the mystery until 12/2 or so. Hope I can keep up with this. I have never made one of her quilts before but I now have my "eye" on one or two of them. My fabrics are ready!

I always wanted to brine, but the brines all seem to include sugar, and DH is severely hypoglycemic.

Pam H, I pre-wash everything; after reading several threads here about the wonders of starch (but still being leery of attracting critters), I've started to Best Press my fabrics when ironing before cutting. It does a much better job of getting out wrinkles than steam did, and adds stability when cutting (although I understand it adds nowhere near the stability that starch does). They that starch, do rave about how it improves their cutting accuracy. So I still intend to try it . . . someday. (As others have pointed out, the Best Press is rather pricey compared to the starch.)

Wow - 10 pages had to read to catch up with everyone! If this much is posted before the games begin, what in the world will be here after it begins!?! Maybe everyone will be too busy sewing to post! Looking forward to the first clue.

Thanks for the tip on the Bottom Line, I'll be sure to use it on this mystery too!

Michelleoc, you just reminded me of a Thanksgiving with my 11 year old son and me. He wanted turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing. "None of that salad crap." We had a great meal.

Sorry, I don't agree about ignoring our health because it is a holiday. Over the years, I have modified our traditional holiday meals to accommodate the health requirements of my family and friends and will continue to do this. With the ever increasing problems due to be overweight, I also have altered the dishes to be lower in calories for everyone's benefit. My view is, it's only day but if it makes a difference to the health of someone I love, it is worth it.

HouseDragon, No, I made this block as part of a birthday block swap on another forum a number of years ago. The recipient wanted Sunbonnet Sue blocks and her birthday was in Dec. so I used this design for her. I have the book The Ultimate Sunbonnet Sue Collection (printed by Leisure Arts) and used a block from there. I love Sunbonnet Sue as well and hope to one day make a quilt for myself using these blocks.

Love Bonnie's quilt and am grateful that she does this huge mystery, with such detailed instructions, every year at no cost to us!

This year will be the first since Carolina Christmas that I am using her suggested colors, and they are tough ones for me, lol. I lean towards Civil War repros, earthtones... Bright is not me! I might have taken it down a notch, but it's pretty close to the pink, yellow, green, aqua and black.

The downside: I will be away @ Thanksgiving, so no sewing until a WHOLE WEEK LATER! BOOOOO!!!!

It took 2 weeks for my local Lowes store to have all the color chips. I'd really like to see what it looks like finished before I try it, then decide if I want to actually make it. I'll follow along, collect all the parts before I deciding on this project.

Well, that kind of takes out the mystery doesn't it? You will have to change the name to "not a mystery" quilt!
:D

Peace: Will you at least get to look at the clue?
I am having my kids and their families over the weekend, so no sewing, but I hope I can sneak a peak.

Whatever, right? For one peaceful day I challenge those people complaining about Thanksgiving not being healthy, to just enjoy themselves.

We even let our dogs enjoy by giving them a dogfood free dinner. I invite anyone I know who has no place to go. Last year my 23 year old son's friend didn't have anywhere to go. I felt extremely happy having the guy for dinner, and thankful he didn't spend the holiday alone. I cook so my mother doesn't have to. I eat more in one day than I do in a week. Turkey, green bean casserole, this year, potato Anna (from the Vegetarian Times website). stuffing, pecan pie, chocolate pie. Salad is a waste of time. I was going to make rolls but I bought rolls that taste exactly like mine. I'm so happy to do it every year. I can't wait.

I will be away for the first week too, so already 1 step behind with no chance of catching up over the holidays. I am a slow piecer anyway, so will just plug along at my own pace. this will be my first mystery but have been a Bonnie follower for years, although have only actually made a few of her quilts. I work full time so am not able to spend much time on my sewing,as much as I'd love to. it will be fun to watch everyone's version of Bonnie's quilt. I have actually changed up my colours partly because I wanted to use stash and partly because I could not find the nice aqua shade I wanted. if I come across some before we start I may change out my blues. I don't think I have enough yardage in most colours, but am going to start with these and ad more if required. I am looking forward to doing this mystery with you folks.
I will try to post a pic of fabrics....not sure it will work.

Fatquarters: I think your colors will work very well together as they are, would be interesting to see the aqua if you can find some.