Ha! I would love to see that! If that happened to me I would name it "Black Hole Quilt", and pretend it was intentional.

I have one!!! I finished the top and put it away so I wouldn't have to think about it. Funny thing is that a young girl loved it and I just gag when I look at it. Too dark and not enough contrast for me, maybe it will help if I ever get it quilted---then I could put it back side up.

i have never seen a ugly quilt!!!

I saw the ugly quilt site referred to and the one I most remember is that it was quilted with large open areas and the batting was not secured so it managed to bunch up in the open areas. UGLY!!!

Well, I actually started hand-quilting it (it was a queen size!) and stuck it away 1/2 done so I could start on another-which, actually turned out beautiful-maybe because someone else picked out the fabric!! Then 10 years later, after not picking up a needle or even thinking about quilting, (they were made in a class taught as a fundraiser at the little school my kids were in-really wasn't interested in quilting then), I found that UGLY quilt and decided I needed something relaxing to do, so I borrowed a couple betweens and got out my one spool of old hand-quilting thread and actually finished it!! It NEVER helped it look better, but my son, who was about 10 at the time, loved it and used it to death (the housegirl washing it about every 2 weeks and hanging it to dry in the sun didn't help it's life-cycle!). Ok, description-it was bright pink solid 12"squares, with tiny roses on black alternating, and a chain alternating those two fabrics. Then the backing, was make with that black with tiny red roses. Can't remember the pattern, but it was an easy pattern-sort of like a basic Irish Chain. In my defense, it was in Vanuatu, and hot having any shops there to buy good fabric, I had to buy what limited cheap Chinese fabric I could get. The second one that turned out great, a quilt shop in Australia picked out the fabric in the colors I wanted for the particular pattern we were making, and sent it over. Good fabric makes such a difference. My piecing was always pretty good, and so was the hand-quilting.

I was in a charity quilt group years ago and 2 of the ladies seem to be competing for best quilt. They had more time and money than the rest of us and it turned into a bigger and better contest....whatever. I personally would make 2 smaller quilts than 1 big one. Most of my fabric came from the Daisy Kingdom sale floor and their were always cute and/or bright. These were going to kids at risk at a safe house so we were never to go to the actual drop off location. Instead, we took them to a local, well established business that is supposed to be aimed for women who need help. Guess which quilts were disappearing...probably by the employees at that center. Hard telling how many were gone before we caught them just stacking them all up. We found another way to get them to the safe house after that but took some of the fun out of it.

Lynn - The cynic in me often wondered about dropping off quilts to be "delivered". Not anymore. I donate to a group in Pacific City, Oregon that makes quilts for a place called the Caring Cabin. It is a beautiful home that families who are dealing with cancer can come to for several days for a break from everyday life. Each cancer patient is allowed to pick a quilt to take home with them.

I like to donate four or five quilts a year to the group, but always make sure it is a quilt worthy of giving to my very best friend. I want them to have a beautiful quilt, not something I just threw together. I had to pay to have them longarm quilted, but it was worth it to me so it would look its very best. Now, I own a longarm (very new to it) and the group sends me quilts to longarm for them so I can get more practice. I don't charge them anything and each quilts looks better than the last.

Some quilts that I have put together that I thought were pretty ugly have been snatched up by family members and loved for many years - one made from orphan blocks that had absolutely nothing in common went to Minnesota with my niece when she moved. I couldn't believe she chose it out of all the "beautiful" quilts that were there. Another was from blocks that I had won - none of them were the same size, some were pretty poorly constructed. I fought with it for a couple of months trying to make it work right, finally gave up and just put it together - my son loved it - everyone has a different view of beautiful - thank goodness!

We have several, actually MANY homeless in the Portland, OR area. and the downtown resources are always asking for blankets in the winter. Maybe somebody on QB wants to start an ugly quilt "show" instead of contest and then we donate the quilts.

"Ugly Quilts" or "My Brothers Keeper" is an excellent organization. They had a chapter in New Hampshire when I lived there but do not have one near me here in Virginia (that I'm aware of). It was fun and certainly not difficult (large 72"x72" quilts were tied, then someone put them together to make a sleeping bag. I loved it knowing what we did was going to keep a homeless person warm.

Oh, I have. The technique may be fine, but what were they thinking about the colors?! It's like people who knit or crochet afghans in hideous color combinations but the workmanship is terrific. Fortunately, I have never received one of those as a gift. LOL