Modern Quilt Challenge

Every year my quilt guild has a challenge category. This year's challenge is to make a modern quilt. The specifications are that the quilt needs to use only solid colors, be at least 5 feet by 7 feet, and use white. My husband loves modern art and was very excited by this challenge so he dragged me kicking and screaming helped me stretch outside my quilting box. I ended up cutting my fabric into 6" or 3" strips and then randomly cutting those into pieces. I threw everything into a bag, drew out pieces, sewed them into a long strip, and then cut the strips into 7 foot sections and sewed my quilt top together.

It's very different from the quilts I've made in the past, but it has a quirky kind of charm. My husband really loves it. He says it reminds him of the DNA tests, perhaps there's a name floating in that idea. The back has been giving me a few challenges. My plan is to have a large four patch (each block is 12") in the lower left corner with asymmetrical white sashing surrounded by blue. Sounds simple, but I can't seem to get enough of the same shade of blue to finish this quilt. I had it half done with one shade of blue, went to my LQS to get more of it only to get home and discover the blue I bought at the LQS was not the same blue I bought online. I ripped out the old blue thinking I'd just use the new stuff and learned that I didn't buy enough to do an entire quilt back.

I think this weekend the modern quilt is going to be put on hold and I'm going to focus on finishing my Penguin quilt top. Earlier this morning I was thinking how much I hate modern quilting compared to the penguin quilt. Then I remembered that the Penguin quilt is a queen size quilt done completely with solids and my finished block size is 13" square. According to the guild's guidelines Penguin is a modern quilt too. There's just no escape.

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