Well stated Sewbizgirl. This is my first BH MQ and have really enjoyed the experience. I had viewed many of Bonnie's quilts and patterns prior to committing to the MQ so I knew going in that it would probably be busy. When I first saw the reveal I thought OMG, but the more I work on it and look at it the more I love it. I will finish putting the last border on tomorrow. Like others, I am already looking forward to the next MQ. Thanks Bonnie! :)

Thank you Sewbizgirl, totally agree with you. I wonder if anyone would call great grannies
totally make do scrap pies a mess.

I finally cleared off my design wall and got my Grand Illusion pieces up. Here is about 1/2 of what I made (I don't have a lot of patience for putting up all those little block segments :) ). I really like it! Despite all the conversations about changes, I'm happy with my results. I think the single black & neutral helped in my case. I did try out a couple of changes - making the block centers a single colour, and changing the colour of the cornerstones. But the result was not nearly as interesting as Bonnie's design.

Looking at it now, I think my less favourite aqua would have been a better choice (it was a softer colour, and would have blended more with the yellows and greens). But I'm not up to replacing anything, so this is what I have and what I am going with. I have enough pieces (almost) for a 4x3 layout, so I'll whip up a couple more broken dishes and put together my lap quilt. I expect to need more border segments when I get there, but I'll wait and see what happens.

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Krista ... looks very nice!!

I stopped my DJ for a while to get back to the MQ. Got four blocks put together and squared up last night, and all of my green/white/black sashing strips sewn together into pairs. Was happy to see that I hardly had to square them up at all. Unfortunately I had to go back to work yesterday after a wonderful 2 week holiday shutdown. This working for a living is cutting into my quilting time!!

Krista, that is so pretty!

Krista very pretty love your aquas.

I fell in love with the second block. I know it isn't always fun to piece but it is a very versatile block. Thought you might like to look it as the background on a scrappy quilt. It is the lime green and white background on the quilt on this website blog; Simply Pieced

thank-you for the compliment JeannieG :)

Krista- I love your quilt so far!! I'm doing the centers as a solid (most likely pink) and possibly using green cornerstones. Well- that is what I plan for.

I am in home decorating mode and haven't done any sewing on the MQ in a while. I need to make a whole lotta extra week 2 and week one blocks. My energy seems to be gone. This weekend we have visitors for the day.

I was planning on painting my childrens bathroom. I bought a gallon of the exact color yellow from the mystery quilt paint swatch- grand hotel awning. Right now it's a bright yellow/ gold (I love yellow). The exterior of our house is even yellow. Their bathroom needed to be re painted bad the last couple of years. So that is what I plan on doing between the visit.... Fingers crossed. I need my quilting therapy too so I hope I can at least cut some fabric for the blocks I need.

Krista, that is very pretty. Your colors are so good and using the blue instead of the aqua really makes the pattern stand out. Great job.

I am really stuck on the border. I'm doing the 1/4 size and the border as planned by Bonnie is just too big (IMHO) for that size. I've tried taking the border apart and using half but it just doesn't work. Guess I'll just use plain borders but that doesn't work with my fabrics either. I'm waiting for some other 1/4 sizes to be posted for further ideas. :)

SusanSusan, Happy painting. My walls need painting too. I don't want to spring for paying for it but can't find the gumption to start.

Really? It's only a 6" border I think, and your quilt must be about 50x50. I saw a single block done up with the border and thought it looked great, so I can't imagine it being too big for any size quilt :)

Hmmmm. Thanks Krista, I'll take another look at it.

Your layout looks great, Krista. It will be beautiful sewed up.

Don't know if anyone remembers but back at clue 1 had misread the instructions (or not read far enough!) and mistakenly put matching pairs of blues and pinks in my blocks. The concensus was to wait til the reveal and see if it mattered. Well, it matters. I don't like it at all. So before I can put the big blocks together I need to go take out all these center seams and switch the left and right halves around so none of my broken dishes has matching pieces in it. Five steps forward and one step back... but I know it will be worth it. :)

I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I did finish putting together my GI. I love it. My DH says he doesn't know if he will be able to sleep under it as it is too busy for him! The longer I worked on it the more I liked it. Can't wait to get the backing and quilt it.

Krista, your blocks are fabulous! I think, that after a while, you won't have any reservations with the aqua.

Your blocks really bring out the movement of the pattern and I can really see the secondary pattern easily.

:thumbup:

Sophie2, I hope you can take some pictures soon!

sewbizgirl, I'm sorry you have to take out the stitches, but you are so right -- it will be worth it if it makes you happy.

Got all those little seams apart last night and I've pressed and resewn about half of the blocks. I'll finish up today. Can't wait to start building my quilt!

Krista your top looks great!

I finally finished my GI. I made one throw using bonnie's pattern but no outer border. The second one I wanted to look different so I added some sashing and cornerstones. I am really happy with both types and can't wait to quilt them to put in my camper this summer.

Brooke: I saw your pictures on FB. Loved it there but the photos are so much nicer here. Your colors and modifications are great.

Okay, finally finished mine. Hope I can get it to post. I make mistakes I didn't go back and redo and I don't like my colors but I am thankful this feeble mind was able to put it together.[ATTACH=CONFIG]505202[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]505203[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]505204[/ATTACH]

Brookmarie, how wide are your black sashings? I think your idea will work best for me. I've been playing with the pieces all week and have yet to come up with something I like. Your changes tone things down but still keep the integrity of the original idea nicely.

Joy, I love your colors. I find them beautiful together.

brookemarie, you really got a different effect by giving your 'blue' the darkest value. Very interesting! I think that second version works really well.

Brooke- I love BOTH your quilts!! Grea color combinations!!

Joy- Gorgeous quilt!! I keep coming back here even though I doubt I'll be sewing for a little while. :(

Oh my I do love both of these. Great job. And the models are precious!!!!!

Thanks everyone for the lovely comments on my blocks. I'm in the process of webbing the 12 blocks together now (and losing some slanted diamond points in the process. Oh well, I knew that would happen)

Brooke, I love both your quilts.

I fell head over heels in love with a backing fabric the other day and impulsively ordered 10 yds. of it, most of what they had left. Now I'm on tenterhooks wondering if I'll get it, or if another order got in before mine. I can't find it anywhere else on line.

Joy and Brookemarie, your quilts all turned out wonderful. Brooke you managed to get two completely different 'looks'!

Joe'smom, I hope you got the fabric you wanted. Can you call and find out if you got it? I found the perfect geranium print for my backing, but there was only about 1.5 yards left on the piece... so I'll be having to do something creative with that backing, like put it in the middle surrounded by other fabrics from the front. Should be interesting.

Brookemarie, I think I'm going to steal your sashing and cornerstone idea. I really like how that looks and tones it down slightly! Great job!

Brookmarie, looks great. Two totally different quilts.

Joy, I like the black border. I think it emphasizes the 'swirl.'

Joe'smom, Be sure to post your new backing when you get it.

Love both your versions. Very cute holders and doggie too!

I got my blocks pieced together last night and tonight will try to figure out the calculations for the width of the inner borders since I did a 3 x 4 block version. I have left over blocks that I will make into a quilt for charity. I may use Brooks sashing idea as I don't have extra border blocks made but do have a whole bunch of the 2x4 green and white ones.

Joy - absolutely beautiful!

My interpretation of Bonnie Hunter's "Grand Illusion" mystery quilt.

I made two quilt tops from the arts that she told us about. One is a mini version of her quilt and the other is a variation of the theme.

Here are the pictures I have.

The original version with just the middles changed into a solid square and a bit of the borders changed:

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and this one which is changed quite dramatically.

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Here's a closeup of the square:
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and

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Here is the EQ drawing of it.
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So far they are just the tops.

I am getting my top together slowly but surely. I meant to try the webbing thing but just started sewing the sashing pieces on. Probably would have needed my design wall for that but I don't want to take down what is on there. I think I have 2 more seams and it will be together. Then I can figure out my borders. I'm just doing 3x4. I had to make quite a few more of the diagonal blocks but was pretty good with the rest. We'll see if I need more border blocks when the time comes. I really like the way her border finishes it.

Wow, justfly! Those are amazing!

Both of yours are beautiful, justfly

justflyingin, it's amazing how those yellow and black cornerstones stand out in your alternate quilt. I think your border design on that one is very complementary, too. Well done!

Wow, justflyingin. That is an awesome second quilt. Good Job!