An Ugly Quilt

In February (2011), the quilt shop Quiltique in Henderson, NV had it's 3rd annual "Ugly Fabric Challenge." I convinced my mom that we should both participate for something different and fun!

On February 14, my husband and I drove to the quilt shop and purchased a brown paper sack of the challenge fabrics - one for my mom and one for me. It was $25 for the ugly fabric and three coordinating prints. The coordinating prints were different in each bag.

I decided to use a One-Block Wonder pattern. I matched up the print in six layers of fabric and cut equilateral triangles through all six layers.

I was excited by the patterns created depending on how the triangles were placed! All three of these were made with the same six triangles! I just rotated them differently to see the different options.

I started by sewing three triangles together to make a half hexagon, then arranged them into the desired pattern. To sew the quilt top, I sewed the half hexagons into rows, then sewed the rows together. (I used the bottom of the spare bedroom box springs as a quilt design wall!)

In an effort to do things the "right way," I wanted to use mitered corners for the borders. I used the three coordinating prints as the borders.

For quilting, I stitched in the ditch of each triangle. I used my 1/4" foot on my Bernina Record 930. There were a couple puckers in the backing fabric, but I was pleased with how the front looked!

I wanted to do the binding differently than I had on my first quilt. I spent some time reading and watching a few more tutorials. This time, after stitching the binding to the front, I used a straight stitch to sew again on the front side just barely onto the binding. I liked the look much better than my first quilt. However, after seeing other quilts at the quilt shop, I realized I could just stitch in the ditch from the front!

My mom and I entered our quilts into the contest. There were only four entries. However, the fourth entry was a much larger quilt than the other three. It was also a One-Block Wonder type quilt, but used twelve triangles per "hexagon" instead of six. It was obvious the fourth entry was an experienced quilter, and my mom and I were much more novice.

Here are the four entries. Quilt 1 was made by Cindi Secrist. Quilt 2 was made by Linda Reschke (my mom!). Quilt 3 was made by Laura Piland (me!). Quilt 4 was made by Judy Young.



There was a voting period at the quilt shop where customers could vote for their favorite. My husband and I drove to the shop to see the entries (and vote!). While I wasn't looking, my husband stuffed the ballot box with votes for mine!

There were two prizes - one for "Best Use of Fabric" and one for "Viewer's Choice." Needless to say, we didn't win. Quilt 4 won both prizes. We did each get a $5 gift card for participating. The quilt shop has not had any more ugly fabric challenges since!

My mom didn't care for her quilt. She actually sold it at a garage sale!

My quilt hangs in our spare bedroom. I love seeing it. It reminds me of how far I've come, to always challenge myself, and always try new things!

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