"Did it come in any other colours?"

I have always been obsessed with colour and choices -- as evinced by my trademark childhood refrain (which I reputedly asked each and every time I received a gift): "Did it come in any other colours?"  I'm amazed I didn't discover quilting earlier in my life!

I recently joined a very fun and funny flickr group of quilters in a Mystery Quiltalong hosted by Sheila, aka bluepatch quilter.  Sheila is leading her blindfolded group through the making of a quilt, with block instructions posted fortnightly/biweekly.  At heart I'm still that little kid obsessed with colour and variety and possibility -- and I'm having a blast seeing the range of fabric choices and how they come together to create very different effects in the same block design.

MY CHOICES: I really wanted to participate, but I knew I couldn't justify any fabric purchases...so I shopped my stash for the required amounts of fabric.  3+ yards of "background" fabric were required, and that limited my choices considerably: I have a lot of fabric (!), but very few of my cuts are over 1 yard.  I also found it very challenging to select fabrics without a sense of how I was going to use them -- but that's the challenge and the fun of this quiltalong, so I plunged ahead.

I settled on this Anna Maria Horner brown and pink polka dot fabric for the background (I have exactly enough, and took that as a good omen), paired with some retro-looking fabrics from a line called "Miss Modd" which I bought recently from the 1/2 price Z & S Fabrics sale.  I also have some pink Alexander Henry "Heath" in there, from my pal Brenda aka Pink Castle Fabrics.  I may mix in some solids just to calm the whole thing down...we'll see.

The colours in this photo -- taken under artificial light -- are quite distorted.  The palette is actually much more riotous, as you'll see in the photo of my first block, below. 

The first block was a biggie: 18.5" square, and I wasn't at all sure that my fabric choices were working...but I like the effect from a distance and my fellow quiltalong-ers have been very encouraging, so I'm just going to roll with it!

It is fascinating to see how different each quilter's block looks, based on individual fabric choices. I can hardly wait to see what Sheila will have us do next....