If at first you don't succeed....

I dug this out of my UFO box and threw it up on my design wall this week to try to think about how to salvage the project. This quilt started as mystery quilt class at a retreat. I had never done a mystery quilt (and doubt I will do it again), since some friends were taking the class, I thought I would too. I choose batik fabrics in gradations of colors and went to town on the prep work of cutting and sewing. It was great fun to chit chat in class and sew late into the evening. As my blocks came together I could see the disaster beginning to emerge, the color variations just did not work.

This is the quilt, up on my design wall as it was supposed to be finished. Now I know why I kept it in a bag for over 2 years, it is awful, it looks muddy.... but if at first you don't succeed.......

Try a different layout. Now this is working a little better. I took away part of the blocks and arranged what I had left. I will need to find a fabric to fill in the "holes"

Then I started messing around with the blocks I removed, a block of fabric sewn to blue a gradation.....First attempt was not too exciting...



And came up with this arrangement. First I tried it horizontal......and then vertical and it reminded me of a waterfall.
I added some more scraps to the bottom of each "waterfall". I think I may be able to salvage this project......

I also had a whole stack of gradated triangle scraps so I played around with those as well...... Now to get down to some sewing. The same retreat is coming up in October and I think it would be fun to have my Mystry Quilt remix for show and tell.