front 
I started this quilt an embarrassingly long time ago at a Guild mystery quilt workshop led by Arlene MacKenzie and Kelly English. We were to bring a bunch of coordinating fat quarters plus one metre of another fabric. I had enough batiks on hand that all I had to do was buy a metre of the dark green inner border and set aside a pile of other batik (mostly yardage).
Biggest challenge before the workshop? Not cutting into the dark green for other projects.
The great thing about an Arlene and Kelly workshop is that they really give individual attention. Even before we made the disappearing 9-patch in the centre medallion, Kelly was going round the tables, asking each of us which of our fabrics we really wanted to show off and advising which ones to set aside for later blocks where larger pieces would be needed.
So everyone got to make a unique quilt, (except one enthusiastic over-achiever who went home and started a second mystery quilt using different fabrics in the week between the two classes) and I don’t think anyone was left with the feeling they would have made vastly different design decisions than they did.
So, what do you think? Have you done a mystery quilt and were you happy with it? Would you do it again?
FABRIC NOTES:
We are so blessed that Bib N’Tucker has the biggest batik selection in western Canada — and is poised to open in more spacious premises very soon.
The back is home to fabric that’s just too gorgeous to ever think of cutting, with a few batik leftovers making up the difference. 
This is a hand-dyed print from Africa which I bought from Pippa Moore of Kitambaa
detail of the back
shows the African design with Zentangle-esque pattern elements, which has been overdyed with a low-immersion technique. and showing Arlene’s beautiful long-arm quilting too. This was too gorgeous to attempt to do on my home sewing machine.
Text/Isle 