One of the benefits of belonging to a quilt guild or quilting bee is participating in a challenge where someone else sets the guidelines for a project. Here are a few of the challenges I have participated in:
2007 – Arizona Longarm Quilters. We had to use five fabrics and the square-in-a-square pattern. I did not mark the pineapple, but I did mark grids in the blue section for continuous curves. I think I just used a ruler to stitch straight lines in the outer border then added some fillers between the lines. I won “Rookie of the Year” for this quilt.
The 2008 Challenge was black and white. I named this “Night Blossoms.” I love picking a gradient of fabrics for the Blooming Nine Patch pattern. It was my first time quilting with stencils, and most of my free motion designs are invisible against the busy, dark fabrics. Lesson learned!
Fast forward to the 2015 Modern Quilt Guild Riley Blake fabric challenge. Participants were given six fat-eighths and could add more yardage if desired. I tried some free form piecing for the nest, machine applique for the eggs, embellished with thread play, and had lots of fun with the free motion quilting.
I wonder what Challenges 2016 will bring?
Happy Quilting!
~ Andi
True Blue Quilts 