Guild Challenge
 

Our guild is taking suggestions for this year's challenge. I'm a new member (2 years) and by November's meeting, the quilt must be finished for it to take part of the judging for the Viewer's Choice Award (quilted & bound). Last year's challenge was to use a panel, the year before that it was a scavenger hunt on a quilt. They've done a star challenge, a scrappy look, a black and white quilt, and a single-shape no repeating fabric quilt. I'd really appreciate some feedback as our meeting is Tuesday and I'd love to present a winner! Thank you

how about a sun bonnet Sue where every member dresses her different. choose a theme like her doing chores, or traveling to different countries, or going to a prom, or celebrating holidays etc

Here are some of my group's past challenges:

Ugly Fabric Challenge - we picked a bolt of the ugliest fabric we could find. Picking out fabric was a challenge in itself, since we have such a wide variety of tastes and preferences in my group! But we finally found one that NONE of us liked. The only rules for the challenge were you couldn't cut it up so small that it was unrecognizable; the quilt was to have a perimeter of at least 48" and no more than 250"; and it had to be finished, i.e. quilted and bound. The goal was to force us out of our comfort zones. We had some awesome, awesome quilts that year, and not a single one was like any other! A very successful challenge. You can actually see the "ugly" fabric we used here: http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...c-t278770.html

Paint Chip Challenge - put several paint chips in a paper bag and each person draws one chip. Whatever color you pulled out of the bag was the color of fabric you had to work with, plus one other fabric of your choice. I got lucky - I drew a paint chip called "tobacco", which was a soft grayish-beige. At first I thought it was horrid, but then I realized it was a blessing because it was so neutral. And then I got smart with my secondary fabric, I paired it with a lovely purple ombre that went from dark purple to pale lavender.

Shape Challenge - We made a list of 8 shapes - circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval, hexagon, octagon, diamond. You had to use 3 of these shapes in the quilt, the shapes had to be identifiable. I appliqued squares onto the background in a circle, like numbers on a clock. Then I quilted triangles all over it. That one was a lot of fun, too!

Shape Challenge - We made a list of 8 shapes - circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval, hexagon, octagon, diamond. You had to use 3 of these shapes in the quilt, the shapes had to be identifiable. I appliqued squares onto the background in a circle, like numbers on a clock. Then I quilted triangles all over it. That one was a lot of fun, too![/QUOTE]

I'd love to see a picture!

Our guild had a challenge you might enjoy! They went and got paint chips - from the store - the ones that had several colors on each chip. The chips are placed in an envelope (2 copies of same chip) then passed out among the members. They are to then take one chip out without showing it to anybody else. The other chip stays in the envelope - seal the envelope and place your name on the outside of the envelope and turn them in. The challenge is to make something using the colors on your chip! You must match at least 3 colors on the chip and can only have 2 neutrals to go with!

We enjoyed it so much I went to my sisters quilt guild meeting and set them up for the same challenge! They loved it.

Hope this helps

Your favorite color (70% of fabrics must be that color) -- On arrival at a meeting, each person was asked her favorite color, without being told why. Then the challenge was limited to the recorded color, so you couldn't switch to something else that was one color.
President's favorite color -- my sister's guild president presented the challenge "something green". (I won, plus got third place in viewers' choice!)
Initials -- three fabrics only, the colors of which start with your initials. I have done this one twice, with different colors.

My guild picks a theme each year. Last year it was Gone with the Wind, this year the theme is Raining Cats and Dogs. The theme can be a movie, a book or a phrase. Everyone interprets it in their own way. I am suggesting for next year the theme be Rocking and Rolling.

Such creative ideas! Please keep them coming, I'm compiling a list!

Whole cloth quilt.

Dimension was "about 40inches square".
Design could be ANYTHING, just NO PIECING!!

Contrasting (or not) thread was OK.
Fabric painting was OK.
Thread painting was OK.

Just, NO PIECING!!

We ended up with some spectacular quilts and amazing sources of inspiration.

"Clue" challenge (from the board game "clue")

You will need the clue cards (or representatives - See below)
Each person picks one card from each of the three clue decks ("who", "what", and "where")

They will need to employ an element from all three of the cards. (Depending on the number of people in your guild that participate, they will be re-using at least some of the cards they draw - so have the members write their drawn cards down then replace the card in the hat for the next person. While it's possible for two quilters to have 3 identical cards, it's not likely given the number of possibilities, and even if there are duplicates, they will probably interpret them differently).

The quilter can be very creative with their interpretation of the who, the what and the where!! For example, Professor Plum can be the color purple, or fabric with plums on it. Mrs White can be the color white, or images of the White House. The Rope can be cowboy fabric with pictures of lasso's or a rope quilting motif. The billiard room can use the color billiard green or a block with circles.

If you want to make it easier ... have the quilters choose all three cards, but they only need to employ two of the cards in their quilt.

Some examples ...

* Mrs Peacock in the Conservatory with the Lead Pipe ... A Blue lattice quilt with a grey border (purple represents Mrs Peacock, Lattic represents the conservatory, and grey represents the grey in the lead pipe).

* Mrs White in the Study with the rope .... A bookshelf quilt (represents "study"), use book names that represent "white" (ie Moby Dick, White Fang - etc), and use a rope motif to quilt the line of the shelf.


The "Who"
Miss Scarlett
Colonel Mustard
Mrs White
Mr Green
Mrs Peacock
Professor Plum

The "What"
Revolver
Lead Pipe
Rope
Candle Stick
Wrench
Knife

The "Where"
Kitchen
Ballroom
Dining Room
Lounge
Hall
Conservatory
Billiard Room
Library
Study

We had one where you take a favorite book and describe it in an 8 1/2 x 11 mini quilt. You could not do the front of the book or the title in it. Everyone gave the name of the book to one person so there were no duplicates. It was a game at the quilt show to see who could match the quilt with the book title. No prizes awarded but the smart lady who thought of the idea put all of them in a large quilt and it tours the local libraries.

Our guild had a challenge to use up scraps. People would bag up scraps from a completed quilt in a large ziploc bag and bring it to guild. They would turn their bag in and receive another person's bag of scraps. You could add in other fabrics, but you needed to use scraps from the bag you got. When the quilts were shown at guild, first the original quilt was shown, then the one using scraps was shown. It was amazing how different the quilts were and also how beautiful!

At a quilt show I attended last year, the local guild had a mini quilt challenge that was fun to see.

This year our guild is celebrating its 35th anniversary so one of the members looked up the colors for this anniversary--they are jade, coral and emerald. We have to use two or three of these colors to make anything we want-- a quilt (no size specifics) table runner, jacket, bag etc. whatever we want so long as it's quilted. Other colors may be added as long as the anniversary colors are featured. I'm anxious to see what we all come up with. They will all be presented at our quilt show in April.

How about putting a bunch of gift bags in a larger bag and each member picks ( no peeking) one out and makes something matching the colors in the bag they picked out. Or put different songs that mention colors like "Pink Houses" , "Yellow Submarine" in hat and each member draws one and makes something with that color.

These ideas sound like such fun...I miss being in a guild :( .

Have everyone bring a magazine, have a few extras on hand for those who forget, and without telling them why, have them rip out one page. They can use either side of the page but must make a quilt of a size determined by guild using the colors on that page. For some it may be black and white and for others it may be a sunset or the Grand Cayon. Picture is to be kept and displayed with the finished quilt.

Similar to the paint chip idea, but a tad different. Our guild bought a large box of crayons. Each person who wanted to participate drew three crayons out of a bag. They then will have to make their challenge quilt with those colors. The paper on the crayons is a lighter shade than the tip of the crayon, so it was decided the fabric could match either the paper or tip of the crayon. Have fun choosing for your guild.

Past themes from our guild included making 25" squares or no larger than 25" in any one direction: With these hands, Winter,Spring, Summer, Fall, this is my favorite time of all. For our 25th anniversary, our pres. handed out a piece of silver sparkly fabric and we had to use it somewhere. Our guild page shows some examples. herringrunquiltguild.com scroll down to previous challenges. Some of these ladies have been together for over 25 years and have had some great ideas.

Our group was told to pick a quilt magazine out of their box and turn to page 47. Our challenge was to make something from that page. It sometimes was a large quilt and sometimes an advertisement. We've had some really creative ideas.

This has been a great thread...our guild is doing a mystery block quilt...has been fun, but downside is that the program committee has done a lot of planning and work before hand.

What wonderful ideas! How about something you wish your guild had done but they went in another direction?

Peckish, I remember seeing your ugly fabric. I love it. I like crazy fabrics like that. My former guild did an ugly fabric challenge. We had to use a certain amount of it in a wall hanging. You couldn't cut it too small. I used the back side of the fabric which was a weird green. It made great leaves. I also used a lot of the front. It won viewers choice.
I like the idea of the shape challenge. I will have to keep that in mind for next year for my guild.

The guild challenge has been one of my favorite things about going to quilt guild!

We did the magazine challenge. Everyone was given a magazine as they came into the room. Then someone drew a number out of a bag, and we had to make a quilt that represented whatever was on that page.

Another year, I did the "Master's Challenge." I let everyone choose a card with a famous painting. I used the game "Masterpiece," for most of the cards, but printed more from what I found on the internet. Some examples are The Monalisa, Starry Night, Pink Girl and Blue Boy, American Gothic, etc. Here's a link with some famous paintings. http://www.madisonartshop.com/20-mos...-all-time.html

Another year, we were given a bag with two coordinating fabrics and had to make a quilt that used both fabrics and contained at least 24 4-patches.

Hot air balloon. This theme should inspire creativity for both the background and balloons. Quilts can be used for children or hall hangings.

How about everyone put one yard of their personal "ugly" fabric (usually an impulse buy or gift) into a brown paper bag, tape closed, and put numbers on them as the members arrive at a meeting, and at the end of the same meeting draw numbers to take home and use in a lap quilt. You could set rules such as at least half of the yard must be used, may use only a certain number of additional fabric, all of the yard must be used but half must be used on the front and the rest used on the backing....etc.

Me too! I wonder if I can find one to join up. Is it too late to enjoy the games?

I compiled a list from all your wonderful ideas and presented it to my guild last night. They loved them! Thank you so much for your input. We will be voting next week but the "ugly" fabric ideas got the most nods I believe. It has been done at least 10 years before, but the few that participated in the past really seemed to enjoyed it, so thank you.

Peckish, I like the fabric that your group labeled ugly. Good thing there is room for all of us in the quilting world. :)

Dina