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Sunday, January 11, 2015

The Reveal - Grand Illusion

So the final clue has been given, the mystery has been revealed.  One of the risks you run when you participate in a mystery quilt is that you might not like it.  And that's kind of a big deal as you have invested a lot of time and fabric.  Well, I'm really on the fence with this one.  While the colors have grown on me, I'm not a big fan of "twirly" blocks so I'm not sure where that leaves me.
One of the things I had to fix was to rip out all the center 4-patch blocks.  I was very intrigued by where and how these blocks would fit in.  Since we had to do 25 I kind of figured they would be the centers of the blocks.  But they should have been 2 aqua and 2 yellow blocks - no black.  No wonder I was intrigued, the blocks were wrong!!  So I had to rip these apart, cut more aqua squares and re-do the blocks.  Didn't take too long.
So this is what the center of the block looks like - I do like these colors.
In the picture below it's interesing to me to see the difference the green makes.  The blocks on the left look much more pink and black and not nearly as blended as the others.  I like the blocks better with the green sashings.
So I made enough units to make 16 blocks which will be plenty big for me. Bonnie's quilts are always so big I never make the total number of units for each clue.
 I'm still not sure about the border, it just doesn't do anything for me.  I've had to put this away for now, but I will play aournd with the border blocks when I get back to this.  As I've said before, this is my 5th mystery.  For the first few years I waited until the reveal to see if I wanted to make it.  But the last 2 years I've jumped in and played along not knowing if I would like the quilt or not.  

I'm glad I played along even if I'm kind of under-whelmed at this point.  I know a lot of people really love the way this quilt turned out.  It is a happy quilt and I promise I will finish it - the blocks are all done and pressed.  Thanks Bonnie for another fun project.
Happy Stitching,
Karen

13 comments:

Vivian said...

My feelings are mixed as well re: this mystery quilt from Bonnie. Definitely a busy design, a lot more than her usual. I was very close to starting one, as I liked the colors so much, but I deferred. Maybe sashing around the individual blocks to calm it down a bit? I'm sure you'll do something with it and finish. You're a finisher and should be proud of it :)

Terry said...

I've never done one of Bonnie's mysteries, but I always love how they turn out...until I saw this one. I'm kind of on the fence about it too.

tealeafquilts said...

I replaced my center blocks with solid purples. They look like purple hydrangeas! Making lots of mistakes as I get to the end. Sewed y borders together wrong. Not sure I will take apart and I need a few more anyway. Maybe I'll mix in the 4 patches I"m not using. It's been fun!

Kathy said...

I'm in the same boat as you - I made my blocks but I'm not sure about putting it all together. This quilt is a lot busier than I normally make. The colors were out of my comfort zone, but I've enjoyed working with the bright colors. Just not sure I want all this action in one quilt! Some of the Facebook entries have had sashing, and that seemed to calm things down a lot. I may go that route when I get back to it. That being said, I've quilted a long time, but I still learned a lot from Bonnie during the mystery, so I'm really glad I did it.

Heather said...

I am still working on getting mine together. I enjoyed the process more than the finished quilt but for me quilting is always more about the process so it is all good! Good luck with your finish, it looks great!

Diane said...

I'm with you, I'm on the fence about this one too. It is a little busy for me and it really bothers me the way the checkerboard seams don't match up with the blocks. That's probably a personal issue. LOL
I do love your fabric choices and I am having so much fun seeing all the different options folks are choosing for their settings.
Thanks for sharing!

Kate said...

I'm rethinking those border blocks too, I haven't made many of those. It seems a lot of us were on the fence with this one. It was a good way to use up some stash fabrics, so that counts for something.

Carla said...

Hi karen. Bonnie does like her small piecing doesn't she! Good for you to keep going. You probably remember that I have done 4 of Bonnie's mystery quilts (without seeing the final quilt first). I decided to retire from that after not being very excited about a finish that I'd spent a bunch of time on. But, you know, sometimes that happens to a quilt that I think up myself! Your colors are great...were they the ones suggested by Bonnie?

MamaT said...

I like it, but I love bright colors. I'm glad you got to see your quilt in the magazine.

Janan Doster said...

Oh my goodness! These colors! Lots of colors. better take a second look and make sure each piece is in its place.
This is a stunning quilt!

QuiltSue said...

Well done on finishing it to this stage. It is certainly a busy quilt, and maybe if you were to give it a lie down in a dark room (cupboard) for a while, it might calm down to the point that you like it again?

FlourishingPalms said...

Whoo-ee! That's sure striking! Busy too, but I like the swirly effect. It's sort of an illusion. I can see how you'd be on the fence about it though. Still, aren't you glad you used up stash? Hope you see this through to a finish.

SandyPA said...

I agree sometimes a mystery quilt isn't quite as exciting once you see the design. But this one pulls us out of our comfort zone and makes us try something a bit different. You chose nice medium greens which is working better with Bonnie's design than the darker greens I selected. Now I'm having to rip apart all my sashings and redo them, but it will be worth it to finish the quilt and make it likeable.