The Backstory
I have recently realized that I have been keeping myself in a self imposed quilting box because I was scared to try new quilting techniques on quilt tops because I ‘might ruin them’. Once I realized this, I was immediately taken aback by how unacceptable and out of character this is for me. I set out to prove myself wrong. I quilted my Pumpkin Quilt (blog post to come) with a new technique ‘echoed curves’ from the book Walk.
I finished and was like ‘Go me’ & ‘look at me and my bad self’. Then I stepped back and realized that it wasn’t enough. One quilt top wasn’t enough to banish the ‘fear’ or really grow my skill set. Both of which I think are two major reasons why my ‘to be quilted’ quilt stack keeps getting taller. So I came up with the idea for a quilting challenge.
While I was quilting this every small mistake felt massive, but once finished, it was hard to find any of them (and there are a lot).
The Boldly Quilted Challenge
The challenge is pretty simple and is based on a few main rules
- The technique or design used has to be NEW to you
- No repeating designs. (The design has to be new to you for EACH quilt)
- You have to do the quilting.
- Five quilts is the magic number for the official challenge
Other items of note:
- Quilts can be free motion quilted (FMQ), walker foot quiled, hand quilted, quilted with stencils, yarn tie quilted, all the quilting types count as long as it is new (or a new version) to you.
- You can use books, blog posts, you tube videos, etc. In fact I seriously encourage you to utilize the resources amazing quilters have made. I will be.
- You do not have to quilt them in any particular order or time frame, nor do they have to be a certain size to qualify.
- You can do more or less than 5 quilts, if you really want. The challenge is supposed to be five quilts. I feel like that is a good number to achieve the goal of confidence and skill growth.
This is a super chill challenge. It is all about personal growth and finding confidence and taking risks. Don’t get caught up in the details, get caught in a wave of self growth.
There is no formal sign up. I will make blog posts for each of my five quilts (the pumpkin quilt doesn’t count as my first) and I will also post the quilts to Instagram. To participate use the #boldlyquiltedchallenge hashtag so we can see your growth, offer support, & be awed. I hope you feel inspired and to see you challenging yourself.
