Near Wild Heaven: My Two-Color Challenge Quilt

I designed my two-color challenge quilt in EQ7. This shows the final color
placement (although I chose to construct some sections of the quilt differently
than depicted here).

Over the summer, the Modern Quilt Guild announced that American Patchwork and Quilting would be sponsoring a challenge at QuiltCon 2019, in Nashville. The premise was simple: design and make a quilt using two colors. Any fabric and thread used in the quilt top had to be one of those two colors.

As far as challenges go, I found those parameters to be overwhelming. There were too many possibilities. So I approached the creation of my quilt as a value study. I chose two colors—yellow and white—and decided to use a combination of prints and solids to create the effect I was aiming for.

This picture makes the quilt look more mustard than yellow, but it shows the three
different prints up against each other. I think this combination of fabrics works!

The biggest obstacle was finding fabric. I needed multiple prints that all had the same exact color of yellow but that would read as different values. Buying fabric online wasn’t an option; I would have ended up buying yellows that weren’t close enough to include. Instead, I scoured quilt shops in person, taking bolt after bolt to the window to evaluate the color in natural light. I ended up with three prints—one high volume, one mid, and one low—from two different manufacturers (Free Spirit and Art Gallery).

I thought a chunky design would best show the contrast between these prints, so I designed a lapsize quilt with a background that placed the three yellow prints up against each other.

Here she is in all of her yellow-hued glory!

I finished binding my quilt, which I’m calling Near Wild Heaven, two days before the submission deadline. It was too close for comfort for my liking, but I am really pleased with how this project turned out! To see what other quilters are doing for the same challenge, check out #twocolorchallenge on Instagram.

Here is a shot of the back. According to the challenge rules, the back could
depart from the colors on the top. I used a beautiful blue-purple floral from
Joel Dewberry and yellows that didn’t make the cut for the top.

Do you participate in challenges (through your guild, among your friends, or in more structured settings like QuiltCon)? What do those projects do for you as a maker? I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have designed and made Near Wild Heaven without the kick in the pants provided by the challenge!

Linking up to Let’s Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday, and Finish It Up Friday ...