This quilt is the second entry I've submitted to the Blogger's Quilt Festival organized by Amy Ellis. Visit Amy's website amyscreativeside.com for details on how you can submit a photo of your quilt and enter to win prizes.
You will be delightfully amazed at all of the beautiful quilts that have been entered in the festival.
This quilt was my introduction to the world of "mystery quilts". What fun!
Not knowing how the finished quilt would look was part of the interest in making this. It was also a great learning opportunity for me as I was fairly new to quilting at that time.
Here at the fabrics I chose. Notice the two yellows?
The instructions said to choose a light that contrasts just slightly with the background fabric. Had I known where the fabric placement would be, I'd have chosen a slightly darker "light" than I did. They look different here, but when cut into smaller pieces, nope.
Can you distinguish the two yellows in this quilt block? It's a bit too subtle for me to see, and I'm the one who made it!
You can see the two fabrics a little better on this close up here, but, if you just look at the quilt, it appears to bee just one fabric. And, the pattern that was supposed to emerge with the "slightly different" yellow, is virtually non-existent.
I used the "slightly contrasting" yellow in the first border, but, it too, looks just like the background fabric. Oh, well. I still love the combination of fabrics together!
As I saw the block pattern developing, I realized I would have just a large green star in the middle of the block, so I decided to change it up and make a square-in-a-square in the center, just to break up the green a bit.
My friend, Shirley Bailey, machine quilted it for me. She did a great job!
Have you participated in a "Mystery Quilt" project? What did you like about the process? What didn't you like? Were you happy with the finished quilt? Would you have changed the color placements if you had it to do over? What "tip" would have been helpful to you for choosing fabrics for your Mystery Quilt?
Leave me a comment and let me know your answers to any of these questions. It would be helpful for me as I design future patterns.
I hope you check out the Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side. You'll be glad you did!
Diane
Your choices worked out well for this Mystery Quilt!!
Thanks! It was fun to make!
Great looking quilt. I haven’t been brave enough yet to do a mystery quilt yet. Your fabrics worked well together.
Thanks! I updated this post with a few more thoughts and photos that my be helpful to you if/when you decide to try a Mystery quilt. I chose the floral fabric as my “focus fabric” first, and then chose the other colors from that.
Diane
What a great result from a mystery quilt. The quilting is beautiful. A lovely quilt!
Thanks, Karen! I’ll pass the compliment on to Shirley as well.
Beautiful! I really like how you used the same print in one of the borders as the star, it really pulls the design together.
Thanks so much, Cheryl,
Every quilt is a learning experience. I love the entire process!
It’s a beautiful quilt even with the two similar yellows. Reading your explanation and seeing photos, though, helps me to imagine how it might have looked with more contrast. Either way, a wonderful quilt.
Thanks, Nancy,
I love the pattern! Some day I’m going to try it in Christmas fabrics. Ooh, I have EQ7. Oh, the possibilities!
Diane