Try a Quilting Challenge
September 4, 2024
Hi!
This week I was looking for a pattern in an old Online Quilt Magazine issue, and I came across this short article on some quilting challenge ideas for your quilt group. It’s always fun to be involved with some kind of quilt guild challenge (especially on retreats), so we’re reprinting the article here to give you some more ideas. Jump in and give some a go…
Try a Quilting Challenge
“Joining a quilting challenge can be a fantastic way to hone your skills, gain new techniques and have fun with others who share your passion for quilting.
As with any challenge, the main goal is to encourage you to try new things and branch out from your normal routine.
With that being said, feel free to create your own challenge rules with your quilting group or follow a guideline similar to the ones listed below for a month’s worth of quilting challenges.
Use an Ugly Fabric
Have everyone in your group bring in one yard of ugly fabric. Trade among the members of the group, or exchange pieces Yankee-Swap style and then create a quilt centered around the ugly piece of fabric.
Remember what they say – ‘one (wo)man’s trash is another (wo)man’s treasure…’
Incorporate Blocks
Choose from dozens of block patterns and challenge each member of your group to use one in a repeating fashion in their quilt.
Use Designer Fabrics
If your quilting group ever meets with fabric designers, plan this month accordingly so you can all have quilts made with the designer’s fabric ready for his or her visit.
Not only is it a fun way to use different fabrics, but it also makes great gifts for your guests.
Choose a Color
When the paint color of the year is announced, have each member of your group create a quilt featuring that color or one done in several hues of that color. These make perfect quilts for marking a year.
This year’s Pantone Color is Peach Fuzz.
New Technique
Challenge each member of your quilt group to try a technique they haven’t used before. This encourages everyone to learn a new skill and it’s a good way to get ideas from others.
Old Projects
All quilters have some quilting project tucked away somewhere that was started but never finished.
Challenge members to bring in those projects and finish them, or swap projects and have someone else finish yours while you finish theirs.
Non-Quilt Challenge
Use your quilting skills to create anything other than a quilt.
Think garments, bags or pillowcases. This is a great way to give your brain a break from a traditional quilt while still honing your stitching skills.
Inspired Image
Have every member of the group choose one inspirational image and craft a quilt based on the picture. The image could be incorporated into the final quilt or just used as a muse of sorts.
Scraps
Have all your members bring in scraps from other projects. Lay them out and use your own scraps to create a quilt or trade to start with something new. (Imagine the possibilities – you could swap for a bunch of color-themed scraps, or collect selvedges, or orphan blocks.)
This is a good challenge to announce at the start of the year so everyone can save their scraps!
There are plenty of fantastic ways to get your quilting group into a challenge, or you could just do different variations on the suggestions above with people you know.
Embarking on a quilting challenge is not only fun but allows you to explore new techniques, start new projects and make the most of your scraps and unfinished quilts!”
(About the Author: Jillynn Stevens is a writer and researcher. She is the Director of Digital Content Marketing for Be Locally SEO where she enjoys helping clients expand and improve their businesses through articles, blogs, website content and more. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jillynn_Stevens,_Ph.D.,_MSW)
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It’s been a while since I’ve done a guild challenge, but we’ve had a few fun ones over the years. There’s always the Jelly Roll race – spend a day in teams of two, and see who’s fastest at whipping up one (or two) of these quilts. Finish them and donate them to your favourite cause.
We did a Mystery Quilt one retreat, and that was fun to see friends making their blocks, and we all put them together to make our quilts at the end of the weekend.
My favourite challenge was one based on a magazine. We were each randomly given a page ripped from a (non-quilting) magazine. We could use either side, and had to use something from that page to make a mini quilt to bring to the retreat for Show and Tell.
After some careful reading, I found the words “New York” and “beauty”, and came up with the little quilt above. It’s the first one I hand quilted, and it’s still up on my studio wall today.
I’d love to hear some of your quilting challenge ideas – what worked well (and what didn’t)? Please comment below and we can all share some ideas and try some different quilty challenges.
Enjoy your week!
4 responses to “Try a Quilting Challenge”
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I don’t have a ‘local guild’ to sew with – but, every quilt I start is a ‘new challenge’ for me. I don’t make the same quilt twice. I discovered that I enjoy English Paper Piecing by trying out new techniques each time! My biggest ‘challenge’ now is to USE up fabrics I already *have*! 🙂
I think the challenges of trying new ideas and techniques in quilting really keeps it exciting!
Whet times were tough our group did an Op Shop shirt challenge. 6 of us bought a mens good cotton shirt from Op Shop and cut it into 6 pieces (2 fronts, 2 backs and 2 sleeves) Then we traded so we all had a piece from 6 different shirts. We had 3 months to make a project using all pieces. As little or all of each piece. Show and Tell for Christmas Breakup party was a thrill as we were amazed and inspired by the different interpretations of the fabrics.
A very low cost challenge that had some quilters out of their depth but all were on an equal of affordability. Not all loved it but all admitted it was a good “challenge “!
That’s a fun idea Gill! Well worth a try.