As for how many colors to use, it depends on the color scheme you choose to begin with. If you look at part 1 again, you’ll see that the version using solids has many colors. Laura’s Batik version has fewer colors (mostly blues and greens), and Kathy’s traditional version uses a narrow group of colors (reds, golds, creams, blacks, and blues) in reproduction prints. We are all adding more fabric as we go, keeping to the colors and themes we began with.

Lorrie - Since this is designed to be a mystery scrap quilt, plan on using lots of different fabrics. If you have a stash of fabric to pull from, you might select a few favorite, coordinated prints to use as a color recipe, or choose fabrics with a theme, as we showed in the first part of the series. Or you can begin with a classic color scheme, such as red, white, and blue, or pink, cream, and chocolate as a starting point. If you don’t have a large stash of fabrics, you may need to purchase some to complete the project. We suggest buying fat quarters to supplement your first choices, and adding more fabric, as you need it. Plan to make blocks one at a time, making each one different, yet coordinating with any blocks you’ve already made. Surprisingly, the values in the blocks can be switched around and the quilt design will still ”work.”