I love how you solved your problem with the fabric. Guild challenges really can be challenging....makes you wonder "what the heck they were drinking LOL".
Our guild does a challenge for the christmas meeting, this year the fat quarter that was handed out looked like a pale wood grain of some sort, not christmasy at all. It took me a while to figure out that the gal who chaired this year, works in a shop that must have bought too much of this fabric for the Thimbleberries BOM and she was trying to get brownie points from her boss.....only explanation that I could come up with. Needless to say hardly anyone came with a challenge project.