I like what you did with that. It gives your quilt a fresh look and gets more of the blue into the interior of the quilt.

I often scout out Goodwill for quilting possibilities. We have a couple of those "outlet" Goodwills where you dig through the bins in the back and pay by the pound. I've found some lovely, perfect vintage cotton sheets and vintage cotton clothing to recycle. Not to mention all the great cotton shirts I've bought to quilt with... I put a beautiful pink daisies sheet on the back of my Grand Illusion quilt, in fact. It's my favorite part of the quilt!

Cathy I Love your borders/setting triangles. I've been trying to figure something else to do rather than the large hunks of aqua - thought about doing what someone on FB did and make string pieces but your idea is really clever.

Kele - your pieced sashing looks great! What a lot of work but it would be wonderful when finished.

Bluebonnets - I really like your darker reddish fabrics. I think once all the blocks are together it will look great.

So fun to see everyone's color combos (next mystery I really need to do purple & blue - love them together). I think we are so critical of our work because we see each block close up rather than stepping back and seeing the whole thing. I haven't seen any color combos that I thought didn't look good - I like the high contrast blocks as well as the lower contrast blocks - different looks but just as pretty.

I have 6 days off work to get my brown & coral geese sewn together, assemble blocks, & ruminate over the layout. I contemplated repressing all my shaded 9-patches away from the coral so they nest with the geese but decided I will just flip as I sew and press/schmoosh later. I only did half the Clues so only have enough for 25 blocks or about a 62" square quilt. I'm not a fan of square quilts but am ready to move on to another project (2 baby quilts that I *should* get done by Feb) so I'm not sure I want to make enough pieces for 7 more blocks. Next time I'll do 2/3rds I think. I guess I'd rather end up with too many units than have to go back and make extra.

I like Bonnie's layout and I agree I was expecting a more aqua/neutral quilt based on yardages, but then went back & looked at her inspiration photo - the only aqua was that blue boat, just a hint of aqua in a sunrise with browns & pinks on the water.

This is my 3rd Bonnie mystery and I've liked them all. I kept Allietare and gave away 3 En Provence - not sure what I'm doing with Ringo yet. Hopefully with 6 days to play by next week I'll have a top assembled. Meanwhile, here is one block:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]586558[/ATTACH]

AmyBible, please take a break now and then from your sewing and your ruminations...how funny...and send us a pic of what you have come up with.

Macybaby, what do you call that color of cheddar/gold/? Is that the real color or did posting it change it some?

I'm lacking something this a.m. Motivation, stamina, ? I need to hire someone to stand behind me and keep me going. Might be Vit D. We have not seen the sun since I don't remember when.

Marcia

Agree. I adore Bonnie's ability to design such intricate quilts with brilliant secondary designs - pure genius. But in the end, it is art. Some people will like it, some will not. It is our prerogative. This is my second MQ, my first was Grand Illusion and I think most of you will remember the outrage when that one was revealed ... I was one of few who loved it and finished it just the way it was. There are other MQ's of Bonnies that I wish I had made ... Orca Bay, Alletaire, and En Provence, just to name a few. I will always be grateful to Bonnie for sharing these wonderful designs, and I am grateful that she does them as a mystery and not just a "here's a pattern to buy".

The MQ makes it a group endeavor to bond quilters in a journey. I believe that is Bonnie's intention. If we all wound up at the same place in the end without exploring - and sharing - some other places in that journey, I think Bonnie would be disappointed. If she is disappointed in others "massaging" her designs, I don't think she would continue. Grand Illusion is a great example of Bonnie's willingness to continue after widespread criticism. I for one am thankful.

But I will always reserve my right to admit that my tastes might be different and make alterations where appropriate. I wouldn't call it whining, rather an expression of my artistic emotions.

Make your own sunshine Marcia :) - have some orange juice (or a big glass of chocolate milk for the D?), do some stretching, and sew! Just think how great your quilt will look when finished (this is me trying to motivate you :o.

I love taking pictures of the cut pieces, long chains of units, then finished & trimmed blocks... the visual of the progress motivates me. If I think about all the tiny pieces too much I'd never finish. :D

I am glad too everyone's quilts will look different even with the same color scheme.... I saw a quote once, something like, "If no one ever experimented we'd all still be making 4-patches." Everyone has their own style and even if someone else's style isn't my style I can still admire and appreciate their handiwork.

Kass .... that is a cool pattern you came up with!

Pagzz ... I love those colors.

Rob ... I don't see a problem with the mix of colors as you show the layout (without sashing). I agree, use the sashing in a border to pull everything together.

Macy ... love that layout/border and I applaud your math skills at putting that border together, especially with the alternating diamonds. When it comes to designing pieced borders, my math always looks good on paper then when assembling everything goes ~flop~.

I am still sewing my gaggle of geese ... doing the coral and brown at the same time so 400 units is taking time, I'm about half way. Still need to make the aqua/brown/coral shaded 4 patch, which I might make in only aqua and brown to reduce the abundance of coral in the quilt. After that I can start my layout.

I only noticed the secondary pattern in a photo yesterday for the first time. I was trying to figure out why it doesn't show in most of the quilts. I thought it might be a combination of the uncluttered, very white neutrals with the darker sashing. I can't see the secondary pattern in Bonnie's quilt -- all of her rows/blocks look the same to me, and I probably won't see it in mine since mine will look pretty much like hers. I agree, the quilt is more interesting when that effect is seen. I hope your new sashing will do the trick!

Marcia, the gold is a mottled gold fabric, so it has tones from a lighter gold to a very deep gold. I would not consider it "chedder" in person.

I love doing these mysteries for the fun of the process that we go through on this thread. I love the critique and analysis, as I learn a lot going through that process. It's a great learning experience to get a better understanding of "why" something appeals to us or not. That process should not be considered "negativity" because it is not about right or wrong.


My Mini is a study in mistakes. I got my colors messed up after doing the 9 patch centers - then I turned the shaded 4 patch, and after doing some decided I preferred a different color. I also got some of the FG pairs going different (Dark on top) but that was deliberate. I also accidentally sewed the gold triangle to all of the shaded nine patch and did not want to rip all the setting triangle ones, so used them as squares. And like I said before, I had about 100 misscut green triangles that I really wanted to not have laying around in my scrap, so I cut more burgundy triangles and sewed them together and it happened that they fit the size they were cut - no math involved.

the Mini has blocks in 3 different configurations - as I was first going to alternate between two, but after doing the center decided I didn't like the heavier green circle that was formed.

That is one reason I'm looking forward to messing with the next group - I shouldn't end up dealing wit so many mistakes!

Your block is beautiful, AmyBible!

The MQ makes it a group endeavor to bond quilters in a journey. I believe that is Bonnie's intention. If we all wound up at the same place in the end without exploring - and sharing - some other places in that journey, I think Bonnie would be disappointed. If she is disappointed in others "massaging" her designs, I don't think she would continue. Grand Illusion is a great example of Bonnie's willingness to continue after widespread criticism. I for one am thankful.

I will agree on that!
I love seeing everyones ideas and color choices.
I know that I enjoy the MQs.
Kirsten