Grand Illusion: not quite what i was hoping for...

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and be completely honest. hopefully I don't make any quilty enemies in bloggy land!

a few weeks ago I finally finished my Grand Illusion mystery quilt. (Bonnie Hunter from Quiltville does one every year.) this is my second year participating. I think she's done a mystery quilt every year for about 10 years now. don't even ask how I didn't find out about it until last year.

some of the quilts she's done have been AMAZING!!! I especially like Celtic Solstice, Easy Street and Orca Bay.

I choose to do Bonnie's mystery quilt for several reasons: it's a great stash buster. (hello! who wouldn't LOVE that?) I have a very large stash, so I am thrilled to make a quilt without having to go buy MORE fabric. I love mystery quilts, the bloggy camaraderie, and the pressure to get the piecing done and not fall behind in the weekly clues. but the biggest reason I love her quilts is: they are SO DIFFERENT than what I would normally do. I don't usually enjoy piecing quilts with many bajillions of fussy pieces. but I appreciate having a different style of quilt than I'd normally do.
 

 ok: here's the part where the total honesty comes in. *DEEP BREATH*
 

I'm really disappointed in this year's quilt. as you can see from the black and white picture above, the colors (with the exception of the black, obviously) are a big jumbled mess. it's nearly impossible, except for those familiar with what they're looking for, to pick out the pattern. the pink, greens and aquas just melt into one color. even the white is hard to pick out.

 

I followed the color suggestions exactly- hubby works at Lowe's and diligently brought me home the right color chips (and a few extra for some friends in my quilting group)

 

the border is also disappointing to me: if it was going to end up looking like rectangles and flying geese, I would much rather have just cut the rectangles and pieced the flying geese instead of the tedious (and many!) broken dishes blocks.

 

so: there you have it. I'm not whining, and I'm not criticizing Bonnie. Just saying that I'm a little disappointed, that's all. what do you think?

 

and for the record: yes, I will do the mystery quilt again next year.