Centre Pieces Quilt Guild
Challenge 2024 - January to June Picnic
“Not Your Ordinary Quilt - Build Your Own (with a few suggestions)
Take this opportunity to become a quilt designer/creator. No overall pattern to follow just a few
guidelines below. The idea is based on 100 blocks in 100 days BUT NO PANIC - check the
guidelines below and you will find the task much less daunting; only a minimum of 15 blocks.
That comes out to one block a week until the end of April, giving time for finishing touches
before the reveal at the June picnic.
You are not in this alone… any time you need help or consultation there are many to help. Feel
free to contact Challenge Committee members, or attend Tuesday QBs, or Friday UFO gettogethers. Any of those times including the 3rd Wednesday of the month Guild meetings you
can show and tell what you have, ask questions, or consult others.
Challenge Committee: Peggy Terry, Fran Hrenko, Lynn Springer, Bunny Shockley, Becky Trunzo
QBs - Tuesdays, drop in 9:30-noon, St. John’s United Church of Christ (Boalsburg)
UFO’s - Fridays, drop in 10-noon, Blue Course Community Church (back door - State College)
In this Challenge you can work with traditional blocks and arrangements, blocks that are
wonky or “outside the box”, or a combination. Ideally it would be fun to stretch yourself and
go where “no quilter has gone before” (ha ha or find a good website to guide you).
You are encouraged to comb through your stash and buy nothing or else very little. As in all
creative endeavors this is not set in stone… after all, this quilt should follow your imagination.
However, a few guidelines need to be followed to make the quilt a challenge.
Project “Musts”:
• 2 or more block sizes (you pick the sizes) *Filler material is allowed and encouraged!!
• A border created from “crumbs” - scraps of your choosing (more info to come on this)
• No more than 3 repeated block patterns or designs
• At least 3 fabrics that you have in your stash or you borrow from someone else (if necessary)
Project Blocks Must Include: (although remaining blocks are up to you) • A variation of a Log Cabin block
• A block having more that one Flying Geese (Goose?) in it
• A Square in a Square block - can even have multiple squares in squares if you choose
• A variation of a Patch Block (4-patch, 9-patch, etc. - any size multiple patch)
• Either your very Favorite Block OR a Block “You Have Never Tried Before”
There are many RESOURCES to help. This is an opportunity to explore and get
inspiration. Internet website searches include (look to coming newsletter for more sites):
The Quilter’s Cache - Quilt Blocks Galore
Quilting Daily (all 12” finished blocks)
Quilting Magic - Tricks for Disappearing Blocks (Eileen Fowler)
Create Whimsy Tutorials (link in Jan. Guild newsletter)
See link for the PDF at the top of this section for a worksheet to help you get organized and started.
2022-23 Challenge Celebrating 40 years of CPQG1) You will make a red and white quilted piece, it can be a table topper,
runner, wall hanging, placemat, or whatever you come up with.
2) All fabrics must be red, white, or red and white (a small amount of black to
outline motifs is OK). Red should be red to celebrate the ruby jubilee – not
maroon, not pink. Red.
3) You will be given your choice of a 4.5” (4” finished) or 6.5” (6“ finished)
square printed with the logo above. It must be incorporated into your
project. (note if we run out of your preferred size, you may have to settle
for the other size, so better to request early.)
4) Your piece can be any size, but must have three layers, and be quilted,
bound and labeled to count.
5) Your piece must contain exactly 40-41 pieces (either 40 including the logo
square or 40 pieces plus the logo square.
6) The challenge part must be contained in a single shape delineated by
borders, binding, etc. In other words ,if you make a tote bag, the challenge
part would be in a single panel on the bag, but handles, sides, etc. would
not count in the 40/41 pieces. If you make it into a jacket, you can’t put a
few of the pieces on a pocket and the rest on the yoke, and have the total
count as 40.
7) If you choose to use applique, the background counts as a piece (if it is a
single piece, or pieces (if it is pieced). Every cut applique shape counts as
one. (If you cut five separate petals for a flower, that is five pieces, but if
the five petals are cut out as one unit, that is a single piece)
8) Non-fabric embellishments (buttons, beads, etc.) do not count, but fabric
embellishments (like folded flowers) do.
Challenge pieces will be displayed at our celebration party in June. To count as
finished, the piece must include a label.
Questions? Contact Cindy Alley (4alleys@comcast.net)
or Suzanne Kerlin (suziekerlin@gmail.com
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2022 Challenge led by Barb Zeger
Part 1 Stay tuned for more Zoom and in person. Plan to learn some new techniques and have a lot of fun. Introduction
| You can see how important contrasting fabrics are here. This wedge is narrow. Barb started her blades halfway up the template to make a large inner circle. |
This set used a wider template and she started her blades at the narrowest part of the template to make a small inner circle. We recommend using one constant fabric if you want to go scrappy. We will learn to insert the yellow points in February. Do not sew your blades together in January. |
This template was wider still. It's a good size to use if you have fabric you want to highlight.
This year’s CPQG challenge is a sew-along. We’ll all be making the same pattern in our
own colorway, and size. Each month Barb Zeger will present a new border to go
around the Dresden Plate we are making to start. Choose to go with her suggestion or modify or
omit a month. It’s up to you.
The presentation or reveal will be approximately September
2022 depending on COVID’s cooperation.
All CPQG members are invited to sew along. You may join the group at any time. You may declare your project finished at any
time. If you sign-up with Barb Zeger, you will be notified of any Zoom meetings
we might have due to COVID or weather or just general need. Barb and others
will be available at QBs and the Friday Quilters to talk over
instructions and progress.
We can’t tell you how much fabric you will need because it
depends on the size of your initial wedge and subsequent borders. Anything
goes. Join us for organized and
controlled chaos and end with a beautiful, creative quilt. Come back here often
for updates.
Materials needed
Basic sewing supplies
For part 1 (January) Split Dresden
Fan Blades/Wedge
Watch Donna Jordan’s Blooming
Dresden to learn how to make the split fan blade with jelly rolls. NOTE:
We aren’t making her whole quilt, just her center Dresden.
Find a Dresden Plate wedge of any size. Determine the degrees of the wedge. Divide
360/degrees to tell you how many wedges or fan blades you need. Sometimes going to the company's website will have this information. Or if you don't want to do the math or research, make enough to make a complete circle.
If the template doesn’t have lengthwise center marked, place
painter’s tape to make the center line.
Choose 2 contrasting fabrics. Label them A and B. Keep A ALWAYS on top.
Right sides together, cut rectangle as long as your fan
wedge. Sew around 1 long and 1 short
side.
Place template center line on stitched
line. Cut wedge. Open; flip and poke
point sharply. Line up stitching lines. Press long seam allowance to one side; press short seam
allowance to opposite side.
Repeat as
many times as you need to make circle.
For example, a 30-degree wedge, (360/30 = 12) needs 12 complete wedges. Or a 15 degree wedge (360/15=24) needs 24 wedges.
Alternate method using yardage, not jelly rolls.
Add length of top and bottom of wedge together. Cut rectangle t + b +½” from both fabrics A
and B. Sew right sides together all the
way around rectangle. Place template
center line on stitching line as above. Cut. Rotate template so it fits on remaining
fabric keeping fabric A on top.
Cut. Pick open bottom (small)
side. Continue as above. This method
might have less waste. Do NOT sew wedges together. That’s February’s task with a twist.
Part 2 February
All right, you have made your blades. Admire them and pick a nice contrasting fabric to insert between the blades.
First you will need to make the template for the inserted piece.
The easiest way to make the insert template is to find a strong card board or template plastic and make a rectangle that is 2.5 inches by 4.75 inches. Draw a line down the center of the rectangle at the 1.25 inch point. Mark 1/4 inch from each side of bisected line. Connect the two 1/4 inch marks with the upper points of the rectangle.
Cut out your template and cut the number of inserts equal to the number of blades in your Dresden plate.
Also. If you have a big blade and want to use a longer pointy bit, just keep the ends 2 ½ and ½” but lengthen the rectangles as you think fits best.
Use a ruler to cut against your cardboard or plastic template to prevent dangerous cutting.
OR if you want to use a jelly roll for your pointy bit:
Fold your insert in half and press. All of your inserts should go in the
same direction so be aware of placement. Line up the bottom corner of
the raw edge of the folded insert with the corner of a blade.
There are two things to be aware of when sewing the insert in. First, the top of the insert should
measure 1/4 when folded. Make sure that the entire upper edge is in the seam allowance. This may require a technical term I call fudging. Pin the insert in place. Secondly, make sure your pin is not in the way of a seam. (Did you know that my Bernina sews right through the head of pins!)
Line up the next blade on top of the insert and stitch a 1/4 inch seam. Continue around your Dresden plate until you have a completed circle.
Measure your completed Dresden’s diameter. You will now need a square of fabric slightly larger than your completed circle. The Dresden made with the Darlene Zimmerman ez quilter template measured 18 inches when completed. I cut a 22 inch square for that particular piece. You may need to adjust depending on the size you made.
The easiest way to attach the Dresden plate to the fabric square is to fold your square of fabric in half, both ways. I pressed mine to get a good crease that I could see.
If you line up your blades on the folded lines, it should be centered. Pin it very, very well. I pinned each blade at the top and center. You now have options. You can straight stitch the Dresden onto the square, you can use one of the decorative stitches on your machine or if you are truly motivated, you can hand applique it down. I straight stitched using my edge foot so that I could get it close to the edge.
Start thinking about your first border. Next time we will add at least a 6 inch border around your work.
Part 3 March
Alright, the blades have been made, the inserts have been added and the beautiful Dresden Plate has been attached to a background fabric.
Now it is time to add the first border. We are going to do a piano key border that is itself bordered with strips of fabric. Piano key borders can take many forms and they are basically just vertical pieces of fabric, sewn side to side, and attached to a quilt. The samples below have three different styles of piano key borders. I took the piano key border literally in the first example.
The second quilt has a pieced piano key border and the third quilt has a very traditional piano key
border. Each example has both the quilt and the border, bordered with a solid fabric. The size of your border will depend on the size of your quilt and the look you are going for.
A thin 1.5 inch border in a solid color stops the eye and gets your quilt ready for the piano key
border. By adding another thin border to the bottom of the piano key border, you have now prepared your quilt for the next round. Have fun!
Part 4 - April
This month we are making life easy. All you need to do is make a three strata (strips, layers, bands, levels, sections) border but the corners need to be mitered. The strata can be the same width for all three or you can make them different widths. Don’t fret, there is a great video on YouTube entitled “How to miter corners on a quilt-Fat Quarter Shop”. Just type that title into the search on the YouTube site. There are formulas for length and excellent directions. Be aware that borders need to be made longer when they are to be mitered. When I return from California I will make a sample and show you. Have fun!
Part 5 - May
The Half Square Triangle Border
We have put on our pretty triple border all nicely mitered. Stand back and go oooh and aahh and get ready for the next round.
Half square triangles, HSTs, are easy and versatile. I would like this border to be made up of them going in a “mountain” formation along each side individually. See diagram.
To achieve this look you must take the length of the side and divide it by a number that divides EVENly into it.
This will determine the number of blocks per side. This number of blocks is also the height of the finished block. To create the blocks you will need to add 1/2 inch to the dimensions.
For example, if the side of the quilt is 55 inches, divide by 10 and you get 5.5 inches finished. You will need a 6 inch square block. You will need to make 44 blocks for this example. EVERY QUILT WILL BE DIFFERENT MEASUREMENTS!
Since you need so many blocks, a great way to make them is 8 at a time. Check out this website for a tutorial and the math chart for making different sized HSTs. https://www.rachelrossi.design/magic-8-method-half-square-triangles/
Have fun! 🪡
Part 6 - June
It is time for the next round of our challenge quilt. You should have your half square triangles on and in a “ mountain” orientation. You might want to add a thin solid border so your eye has a place to rest before starting the next round, but this is totally optional. French braids are strips of fabric sewn onto a base and oriented in a zig-zag fashion. They are very easy to make but difficult to describe. If you go to Pinterest and put in French braid quilt borders, you will see all the options. Make sure you add quilt borders to your search or you will get pages of hairdos! You can go scrappy, have darks and lights on opposite sides or keep to two colors. They will all look great. Here is a list of decent YouTube tutorials on the different French braid techniques: Remember that these videos are for technique only and their measurements are for their projects. You can alter yours to fit your project.
The Easiest Quilt Pattern for a Beginner/ Learn to Sew French braid quilts
Jordan Fabrics One for you, One for me. Friendship braid table runner
French Braid table runner- Christmas Edition
And if you really want to get wild and crazy: French Brad Frenzy
I think this quilt would look great with a French braid border that has a corner stone on each round. If you happen to have any fabric left from the inserts of the original Dresden plate, they would really pull the quilt together as we are nearing the end. As you are making this border it will look very unkempt. Do not worry. This will be trimmed to quilt perfection and all of the ragged edges will disappear.
Option 1. Start with a small square and add pieces on either side
Since there is no center square to worry about lost points, this method can be cut to whatever width you like.
Option 2
Center a large square on each side of your quilt. Start with the two short sides and then do the math to center the two longer sides. If you use a center square , the strips will go off in both directions on each side of the quilt. You can use the good old Pythagorean theorem to determine the width of your border. Conversely, you can simply measure the diagonal from edge to edge of your center square to get your measurement. Don’t forget to add the quarter inch to both sides of the strip before cutting if you do not want to lose the points.
Start with your center square and sew on one strip of fabric to one side. In the photo I sewed the green floral to the pink square.
Next add your corner stone to the next strip of fabric.
Sew that piece to the opposite side of the right angle.
Repeat the process on the other side of the block until you have a long chain of strips.
Cut the braided strip to the desired length of your border and sew it on.
Option 3
Tell yourself that you like your quilt top just fine and wait for next months last border. Have fun🪡
Part 7 - July
This month is simple and the last border. Put on any width of border but it must have an applique that incorporates the Dresden blades. You can put a few together in a corner, shape them like a butterfly or go off the grid and make up your own design. I have seen on Pinterest sun rays, umbrellas, caterpillars, exploding Dresdens. You can make every Dresden blade a different
size. It is an interesting effect to finish off both ends of the blades; like little arrows. You can put just one or fill your border with them. Your imagination is the limit!
You have until the September meeting to complete your challenge. It would be wonderful to see quilted and completed versions but quilt tops will be well received. You may have decided to make a table topper or coaster. The choice is and was yours.
We hope you enjoyed this challenge, and we can’t wait to see all of the different versions!
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2020-2021 Challenge led by Karen Powers
My
Town
Recently, the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show held their annual
show virtually. One of the collections shown was a guild challenge where
members were asked to create a “My Town” quilt. When you think of “My Town”,
what comes to mind? My town can be somewhere in the Centre region. But it can
also be reminiscent of:
-where you grew up
-where you went to college
-where you worked your first job
-your favorite vacation spot
-where you lived when you got
married
-the town where your grandparents
lived when you visited them at Thanksgiving or in the summer
-the town where your children
were born
The list could go on and on. So
again, where does your imagination go when you think of “My Town”?
For this challenge there are no
requirements other than your piece must have a label on the back (or inside)
that references the challenge, what town or area you picked, and why you chose
the town or area. Your quilt or quilted item can be pieced or appliquéd,
traditional or modern, realistic or abstract, embellished or not!
Hopefully, we’ll have a June
picnic in 2021 where your creations will be revealed.
2019-2020 Challenge Results (See below for the two fabric options we were to use,)
Claire Amick--I absolutely fell in love with the flower fabric in the challenge and as you can see from the pic I really did not want to cut any of it!
Carrie Fala--Machine quilted by Tracey Kennedy. Approx. 50 X 60 Grandson has claimed it as his.
Lynn Springer--I can say that challenge was a good name for this activity. The end result is probably Plan E or F... didn’t know where I was going with it until I got there. And of course I didn’t start working on it until I was unable to get more of the focus fabric. The rest of the piece came from my trusty stash, and the math needed to get everything to fit was sketchy, lots of trimming🥴, But I can say that I am pleased with the end result!
Nancy Silverman--THE BIG BANG
As I look back on all the challenges that I have done for Centre Pieces over the years some of them are my favorite wall hangings. Why, I always tried to challenge myself to try something different. This time I used the 9 degree wedge and small scrap pieces in random sizes not a pre planned pattern and off set the center. Naming it THE BIG BANG (37 by 37 inches) I then realized that the first stars didn't form until 400 million years after the big bang but I already had the label sewn on so I kept the name.
SPIRAL
To wanted to challenge myself during these stay at home times and I took an online class using Collage with Susan Carlson. I had fun making SPIRAL (23 x 23 inches) using both of the challenge fabrics and many other scraps.
Tina Aumiller--Well, I finished my challenge during the beginning of the quarantine! I used the Chrysanthemum fabric and cut it up small! I made 3" finished log cabin blocks for this table runner. It's quite 'spring-y' and I am very happy with how it turned out. I love the purple polka dot material and I think it really sets off the challenge fabric.
Karen Powers--The wall hanging is an adaptation/scaled-down version of a RaNae Merrill pattern called “Beyond Horizons”. It is about 26” x 38”.
The circles in the body of the wall hanging are machine appliqués (not my favorite thing to do). And the smaller circles trailing into the top and bottom borders are covered buttons (very fun to make!).
Fran Hrenko--Called “Plan B”; Size 36x38 inches
The vision was “tumbling blocks”. Found pattern “non-Y” on internet....
Cut all the challenge fabric and coordinating fabric, sewed sections together.... wrong measurements.... Found a similar celestial at Joanne’s (as Cynthia was out...).... cut and sewed half of fabric.
Ya Da... looking good. Cut remaining fabric, somehow reversed the angle... now nothing worked and we are out of all 3 fabrics🤦🏻♀️....
Assembly was a “challenge “....
And using all that was left: Ta Da....
Tumbling and reverse tumbling blocks.....
This reinforced my belief to buy more yardage than u think u need!
Leslie Demmert--Neither fabric was in my usual colorway so I really had to work at this challenge. Luckily Scraps and Skeins had fabric in just the right colors so go with the Chrysanthemum. I had done a large (6" finished blocks) blue Patches of life and enjoyed it so I decided to do a 4" variation with 4-patch center instead of 9-patch. Bonnie Hunter says if you still don't like the fabric, cut it smaller, so I did. The triangle in a square is the chrysanthemum fabric that the challenge required. I like it now.
I outlined each white triangle to quilt it on my home machine. It's 44"x52".
2019-2020 Challenge Requirements:
Must be an average of 30" or more per side (NOTE: The size requirement has been dropped from the 2019-2020 Quilt Challenge. You do not need to make your project an average of 30" on a side. This opens up the tote bag or wall hanging (among many) option.)- Must show obvious use of the challenge fabric
- Must have top, batting, and backing, and be quilted
- Must have a finished edge
You may:
- Use any technique, style, or design
- Purchase more fabric from StitchYour Art Out. Cynthia has put the 2 Challenge fabric selections away for us until Sept 30. The dark selection is called "atmosphere" by Robert Kaufman in the Stargazer line of fabrics.
Mona Hill is our leader on this. Judy Ray will assist. She will have our fat quarters that we ordered and paid for at the September Meeting, or you may make arrangements to pick up your order on a Tuesday at QBs. If you did not order the Challenge fabric at the June meeting but would like to join the Challenge, please mail Mona your $3 per fat quarter and your choice of colors.
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The 2019 Orphan Block Challenge was introduced at the September 2018 evening meeting. If you participate by providing an orphan block for the exchange, you will receive your assigned orphan block at the December Holiday Party.
This year's challenge is to make a quilt (wall hanging, pillow, tote, etc) incorporating the orphan block you received and show it at our Guild picnic in June 2019.
Introduction and Pre-Challenge Step Details
The Results of the 2018-2019 Challenge
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| Polly covered a premade shopping bag and finished it in September. |
Jill |
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