Yesterday was a day of fun and prizes for the members of the Memory Makers Quilt Guild.  At the first meeting in 2009, I gave the members of my guild a Challenge.  The Challenge was to make a quilt that fit all the requirement sets out in the rules of the challenge.  The challenge was issued at the first meeting in January 2009.

The rules:
Make a monochrome quilt.  You may use three or more values of only one color. You may also use one other fabric that has additional color in it, or you may use only values of one color.

Monochrome is the use of one color throughout the project.  It is one color in any or all of its values.  For instance, pure green through all values of green to total black. Or it can be a grayscale, all shades of gray, from pure white to total black.  This a grayscale value chart, but the same thing is true of any color.

Many questions came up in the past six months.  “Have you started your challenge?”  “What did you say the challenge is?”  “How big is the quilt supposed to be?”  Little did I know that those were the easiest questions. The guild members had much harder questions that they did not ask because of their secrecy.   The members had many more questions, answerable only on the day the quilts were revealed.  Almost half the guild members decided to make a quilt, just to see if it met all the requirements.  Prizes and awards were promised.

Just as the others, I had to figure out how to make a really fun quilt that would catch the judge’s eye.  I purchased the fabrics early, but because of other projects, trips and commitments, I didn’t start my quilt soon enough.  These photos show my blocks on a design wall while I arranged and tried different placements.  Maybe you can see the difference in the arrangement of the blocks.

In the last two weeks, I have spent nearly all my waking moments, making my quilt and quilting it.  I didn’t have time to do hand quilting, so I did some machine quilting, which I seldom do.  While making my quilt, I had to plan the “Reveal,” and make it “almost a party.”  I spent three days making the award ribbons, making my quilt, and  answering more questions from those guild members who, like me, were still trying to finish.  Two other people helped me make awards, and gave me their opinions and planning ideas.

The day had come, the refreshment treats were baked, the quilt was finished, the quilt label made and sewn on the back. I even had time to rest and read a book.  At the meeting, it seemed like everyone was just a little on edge.  It’s pretty special to see that there were nine people who cared to put many hours into a project for nothing more than the recognition of their quilting friends.  I felt anticipation the moment I arrived at our meeting place.   I also felt the anticipation of the other guild members who made quilts and those who did not.

Our judge, a member of another guild, was wonderful, taking it as seriously as if it were a State Fair contest.    What fun!  Brenda had traveled more than an hour and a half, just to help us out as our Judge.

The time arrived, the judging and the awards were given.  It was all a grand success.  NOISE!  There was lots of noise, laughter, and shouts of satisfaction, surprise and happiness.  It was a fun day.

Because of space and the fact that I didn’t manage to get photos of all the quilts, here are some examples of the talent in this small guild.

This quilt was named the “Most Likely To Be Copied.”

There were eight prizes.  These are photos of a few, including the best label.  I am showing a photo of the winning label, because it was a big surprise and made us all laugh.

Viewers Choice is another of the special awards because it is the award given by the votes of the Guild members for their favorite entry.

This quilt was named the “Most Likely To Be Copied.”

AND THE WINNER IS . . .

LaRue

I was surprised beyond words.  My machine quilting leaves MUCH to be desired.  I was really upset at the results of my machine quilting, but the front of the quilt  was good enough to win the “Best of challenge and Best Use of Color” award.

We all enjoyed the day and it was worth the effort for all of us.

Stitches to you,

LaRue

One more thing, I said last time that I would start the Block of the Month this time.  However, I’ve been so busy, that I haven’t done the final plans for it.  I promise that it will come next time.