Mystery Quilts and Control Issues

  There are two categories of quilters.  Those who will take a chance on making a mystery quilt, and those who won't.  I have always been of the first group.  The problem is that lack of control is quite scary for me.  I want to know that the time, effort, and money that I am spending on this project are going to be worth it.  Adding to my aversion to mystery quilts was that several times I had customers bring me quilts with the following statement: "This was a mystery quilt.  If I had only known what it would look like, I would never have placed fabric X in that spot."  They weren't totally happy with their quilt, and I was thinking, "Why would anyone ever do a mystery quilt?"
  Enter Bonnie Hunter from Quiltville.com.  I was invited to attend a Bonnie Hunter workshop with some friends last spring.  It sounded like a lot of fun, so I signed up.  Then, I went online and started researching the woman and her style of quilting.  I discovered stunning photos of her past mystery quilts. I met others who had made lots of her mystery quilts and loved them. At the same time, I had signed up to do my first mystery quilt, mainly to support my friends in my Central City guild, and had recently discovered that it was, what else, a former Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt called "Double Delight" found free on her blog.  I also noticed that my all time favorite Bonnie Hunter pattern, Celtic Solstice had been a mystery quilt.  I made a "Pineapple Blossom" and saw how easy and user friendly Bonnie's patterns were.  I bought several of her books.  I watched last year's mystery quilt, "Allietare" pass me by.  Cue this year's mystery quilt:  "En Provence",
  So, here I am, a tentative mystery quilt convert.  I am planning to start on this year's mystery quilt this coming weekend.  The clues come out on Fridays, and the information can all be found on Bonnie's website.  In order to do this, I had to trust Bonnie.  (It helps that I have met her, and she is a fabulous person, as well as a great quilter.)  It also helps that I didn't have to purchase anything to do the quilt.  I went into my stash and gleaned all the yardage that I will need to make the blocks for the 87 x 87 quilt.  I did decide to sub in turquoise for the yellow in the quilt. I love purple, pink, and turquoise together, so how can I go wrong?  I can't wait to see how this quilt turns out.  Sometimes a little mystery is just what we need to step outside the comfort zone and be inspired!  Thanks, Bonnie!