CPQG Challenge/Mystery Quilts

2024 Challenge Click for pdf

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”: 

• 15 blocks or more

• 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 CPQG

Here are the rules in PDF.

1) 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!