Pantone Quilt Challenge 2024: Peach Fuzz
I really enjoy working with challenge prompts as part of my artistic practice. The challenge narrows down the universe of potential in one or two dimensions, and then I get to experiment in all the other dimensions, which gets my brain moving in really fun ways.
I participated in the Pantone Quilt Challenge hosted by Sarah Ruiz & Elizabeth Ray for the first time last year, when the color of the year was Viva Magenta. I went big and bold, and the design I created for that challenge ultimately morphed into Use Your Illusion 2, the quilt that hung in QuiltCon this year (as part of yet another challenge!).
This year, I was frankly underwhelmed by the Pantone color. Between Pantone’s Peach Fuzz and Kona’s color of the year being Mint Julep…it was a little too Miami Vice for this Gen Xer! I had decided I would skip this challenge and enjoy everyone else’s entries.
Then…I started working on a concept that I’d been mulling over for a while: incorporating prairie points into modern blocks. I’m having a lot of fun with this theme - more on that in a future blog post! - and am currently working with points pieced into quarter circle square blocks. I finished piecing a small multicolor version, but needed some time and ideally some practice to determine how to quilt it. And so, All Signs Point to Peach was born!
This 12.5” x 12.5” improv wall hanging features organic prairie points tucked into the curved seams of quarter circle square blocks, all in peach or peach-adjacent hues.
You can see all the submissions and the winners online - I’m thrilled to have won a door prize from Aurifil!
I’m thankful to Sarah & Elizabeth for hosting, to the talented quilters who served as judges, and to the generous sponsors who add to the fun!