The Challenge

My friend Alice told me that her sister-in-law likes only neutrals. Like many of us, Alice likes bright colors--but she wanted to make her sister-in-law something. I thought that a quilt of all neutrals could be beautiful. One thing led to another, and soon Alice and I had set up a challenge for ourselves: We would use exactly the same fabrics, but make different quilts. The challenge is that we're not allowed to show the quilts to each other until they are done. It is a mystery for each other.

We're using a palette of creams...




A darker khaki for a bit of contrast...


Light grays....






Pure white (you can't see this)...


And a few dark grays for some contrast....



And of course, a beautiful, neutral focal fabric that has all the colors in it....


We have already designed our projects using EQ, but the sewing is not allowed to begin until October 31. This gives us time to work through a few other things. Our end projects may or may not look good, but if you never try something new, you never learn anything. Part of the fun of quilting is having a little risk.

What do you challenge yourself with to keep your life fun and interesting?