Grand Illusion - Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt 2014
 

It's that time of year again....in fact, it's a few days earlier than expected. Bonnie Hunter has posted her new mystery quilt introduction and fabric requirements. Since a separate thread was not yet posted, here's a place for us to talk about it and compare notes. The link to her website for the instructions is here:

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/gra...n-mystery.html

Looking forward to lots of fun and sharing again this year.

Thanks for posting this--I think I'm going to try this one. Not yet sure about colors--I'm not much of a yellow fan. But, we have time to think and plan. :)

I just got the color card numbers and will look for them next time I can get to a Lowes. JeanieG, you don't necessarily have to use the brightest shades. You can go with the lighter colors on the color cards.

Yes, Bonnie has the advantage of tons of people sending her scraps all the time. The rest of us... not so much. Maybe we can set up some sort of swap of these colors? 12" squares?

I got the paint chips on my way home yesterday. Holy intense colors! I love the yellow: soft and buttery. The others, not so much. Then I picked out chips that are the same color, but not as bright. I will definitely have to do some shopping as I don't have those colors - bright or not - in my stash!

Thank you for the link. I will pick up the cards today. Will wait to buy fabric though. I am having hand surgery for terrible arthritis on Monday. Was told no sewing for three months. New fabric would be tooooo tempting. Lol

Wow, those brights will pop. I actually have most of the colors but the black/whites. May have to do this one.

Within a few of hours of receiving an email from an online quilting friend telling me that Bonnie surprised everyone by the early announcement, I was out picking up paint chips for myself and a few to mail to friends who don't live near a Lowe's. I got the paint chips in the mail to them right away. Yesterday I pulled all of the recommended colors from my stash. Now, to decide if I want to stay with those colors or change some of them out... I want to get the binding sewn on and hand-stitched down on my Celtic Solstice before Grand Illusion begins.

Princess: Thanks for starting this thread. Always so much fun to follow everyone's progress, especially the brave souls that choose their own color ways. All my fabric is chosen and waiting. The end of November seems like a long ways off.

I've never done a mystery quilt but am looking forward to this one. I love the colors, love that it was inspired by the grand hotel in Michigan.... since I live in Michigan. But I probably won't be able to keep up because of the LBB (Little Brown Bird) quilt that I'm working on. That one is intense. I'll probably print off the instructions and see how it's going before I can get dug in too far. But, I'm looking forward to seeing all your great pics as this goes along.

The yellow is a buttery gold but remember Bonnie does scrappy so she will have many different fabrics of the same color family in her quilt. If it looks like aqua, it goes. If it looks med to dark pink it goes. If it looks grassy green it goes. As she said black is black and neutrals are anything lighter then a brown paper bag. It's fun so don't stress over fabric. When you are done you will have a quilt top made out of your stash. Isn't that better then having the fabric stuck on a shelf or stuffed in a bin? Yes!

Jean: BH has said many times that even if you don't finish each step, just make a few so when the reveal comes you can make your block. I think it's a great way to participate if your time is limited.

I love the bright yellow, pink, green and blues but I do not like using black in quilts. I'm not sure there is a way to make this without it. Maybe a navy?? Anyone else thinking of switching out the black to something else?

Just picked up the colors, I love them. I haven't done one but I may have to do it this time. I love how she said, if you want a smaller quilt make half the blocks. I think it's a clue for those that don't want an 88 x 88. Perfect.

I'm in on this one too! I've done the last 3 mystery quilts and it was so fun watching everyone's progress and comments along the way. I haven't started pulling my fabrics yet, I'm wondering what I could use to replace the green - - - I've always followed her colors in the past, but seeing how some of the quilters have changed up the colors in the past, I've thought of trying something different too!

I'm betting her next Quilt Cam session will provide lots of information/clarification regarding this new mystery. It will probably be the main topic of conversation that night. She said she would be back home on the 17th and would try to fit one in when she got back so we could all talk about it. I think I'll wait to make my decision on fabric until after Quilt Cam. I went with her colors for Celtic Solstice but am thinking of changing this one up a bit.

Can you tell me a little about what the "Quilt Cam" session is? I haven't followed a mystery quilt before but would like to do this one.

Not sure I have enough of scraps for this. I do want my quilt to be scrappy and short on funds. Would purchasing charm squares work or are these just too small to use.

Glad you asked, I'm in the same boat. I've done MQ's before but not with Bonnie, excited to do one with her.

Bonnie occasionally does a video session as she sews on her projects. It is not a class but you can work on something while she does and it's a lot of fun. here is one example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COItF4Eu81Q

I picked up the cards last night and what beautiful colors. I am not a pink fan. Just leaving them out for a few days to let them grow on me.

Quilt Cam sessions are a lot of fun to watch and participate in. Bonnie works on a project and explains what she is doing and how to do it. Even though it's not a class/lesson, you can pick up lots of tips on sewing and some of the products (i.e., rulers, scissor, lighting, etc.) that she uses in her basement studio. If you are watching it live, you can send her emails and make comments on her blog and she responds to them during the sessions. Some people send her photos of what they are working on or quilts from her patterns that they have made. I always learn something new while watching Quilt Cam. She will post the date and time on her blog at Quiltville.com so you can plan to watch it live or you can watch an archived copy of it on Goggle and/or YouTube any time afterwards. When she posts the next session date/time, I'll post it here on this thread.

I hope Bonnie does a Craftsy workshop!

All except the yellow... she said the yellow would be only one fabric, a "constant" in the quilt. All the other colors will be scrappy. So choose your yellow wisely! :)

Thank you so much for posting the link. I have always wanted to do one of her mystery quilts but never seemed to get the information on it until it was over. I definitely want to try this one!

I went and got my color cards yesterday. This will be a first for me and I'm going to try to make it out of just my stash. God knows, I have enough stash for each of us to make a quilt! Now the wait. . . hummm

Thanks Pagzz, just watched 20 minutes of it and I got that Bonnie wants you to watch, listen while your doing something in your quilt room. Will watch the rest later, going to see "Nunsense"with my Red Hat group so have to get ready. Text later. Marie

Nice fabrics, Caroline. Don't have my chips yet so can't go through my vast amount of fabrics, but soon. I'm in the process of moving my sewing room so will find much that I don't even know I have, should be fun.

If you can find 100% cotton men's dress or sports shirts or women's shirts at resale shops, thrift shops or yard sales, they work excellent as well. I also look for 100% cotton women's dresses or skirts, curtains, pajamas, etc. I have two huge tubs full of "de-boned" articles of clothing!

Here are the fabrics out of my stash. The pinks are more pink then they appear in the photo.

I've noticed that the photos that people have posted here, their blues look more aqua than the color strip. The color strip runs more teal than aqua it seems. I was hoping it was more aqua because I have loads of that color and not very much that matches the color card.

Are you picking fabrics more aqua or are they teal and just photograph as aqua?? Just wondering. Thanks.

Yahoo! Let the games begin! These are so much fun, and thank you for getting this thread started. I haven't looked in my stash for the colors yet, since I've GOT to get a couple burning hot UFO's done. I'm enjoying everyone's fabrics, and probably will go with Bonnie's colors.

It should be fun :) I think I might try this one too - Thanks for starting the discussion :) I will be following along

I will not be doing the mystery, but found it amusing that she is doing a mystery with the same colors I will be putting into my quilt that I am making for me this winter (minus the black, and neutrals, I will be using hot pink for my main color.) I can't wait to compare notes to see how close our quilts end up. This is my idea of fun. Seeing what others do with the same color ideas. Mine will have a flannel back. I can't wait to see all the different quilts!

Can someone tell me WHERE and HOW to sign up for Quiltville newsletter? I have looked all over her site and can't find where to sign up. This is one site I want to keep up on...... lots of fun and interesting things happening... thanks!

You go to her blog: http://quiltville.blogspot.com. About a third to halfway down on the right side of the page (as you're looking at the screen) is the email box for signing up.

Use your aqua! It doesn't have to match Bonnie's colors. I'm using black as my constant fabric, Aqua, coral and purple as my other main fabrics, and yellow and white as my black and neutral. I decided to be wild and daring this year!