Crayon Challenge Mini Quilt

The upside to having pneumonia is the copious amount of couch time that accompanies the exhaustion. Before I got sick I was on track to finish the mini quilt that I made for my quilt guild's Crayon Challenge that started in June. We blindly chose three crayons and were tasked with making a quilt using only those colors and a neutral if we wanted. I'm glad I didn't push to finish before our September meeting since I was in the hospital instead of ogling my guild mates' beautiful quilts!

At first I was a little concerned with only using four colors but then I remembered the Summer Sampler blocks that I've been receiving every Monday for the past few months. Have I mentioned my love for classic quilt blocks? Perfect for only using four colors!

I admit that I totally lucked out with my colors. I probably wouldn't have put this quilt together on my own, but I love how it turned out and the colors are totally fun and go perfectly together. I used Kona solids Ash, Berry, Cerise, Peacock to make the Parallel, Deck of Cards, Summer Slice, Corner Canyon blocks.

For the back I used some of the prints that I got in a black and white fabric swap at our last guild meeting. How much fun is this guild?! I'm so glad I found them last year.

I've stuck to straight line quilting on all of the quilts I've made so far, either diagonal, stitch in the ditch, or a grid across the entire quilt. I really wanted to go outside of my comfort zone for the quilting on this one, especially since I finished piecing it in July and theoretically had plenty of time to figure out my quilting plan. But of course I procrastinated and chickened out and ended up sticking with more straight line quilting. HOWEVER, I got a little adventurous and instead of straight line quilting across the entire mini, I highlighted the gray sections of the quilt blocks. Even though I wimped out, I love the effect that the quilting added.

And then I straight line quilted in the sashing and the borders. I couldn't resist! Plus I love the grids that the quilting created in the corners and in the middle of the quilt.

Here are some more detail shots because I couldn't resist.

And this is where my couch time came in handy. So many threads to bury!

Check out the quilts that my guild mates made for the challenge. There is such a wide range of quilts, I wish I could have seen them in person!