The challenge:
Use the Kona Color of the Year, Splash in combination with the Pantone Color of the Year, Living Coral to create a mini quilt that highlights at least two modern elements and is no larger than 12 inches on any side.
The details:
Use at least one of the two colors. Backgrounds/neutrals can also be added. Tints and shades (lighter and darker versions) of the colors are also okay to use. Solids or prints may be used.
These colors can be found in comparable Moda Bella Solids as Turquoise or Lagoon (in lieu of Splash) and Geranium (as Living Coral)
Minis must incorporate at least two modern elements (see below).
Minis must not be larger than 12 inches on any side but it's even better if it's 8x12 or smaller. Larger items may be created but may not be able to be fully displayed.
Happy creating!
-Your Events Committee
Modern Elements:
Modern quilting design elements are design tools quilters use to modernize the traditional quilt-making process. You can think of these elements like a salad bar: You don’t want to use every design element in one quilt, (you’ll have an overloaded salad), but using 2–4 elements at a time creates that perfect quilt!
Alternate Gridwork – traditional quilts are commonly laid out in columns and rows in a predictable brick structure.
- Modern quilts can still follow traditional grid structures — for example, using graphic color palettes or an unpredictable orientation of the blocks makes this quilt more modern while maintaining a traditional structure.
- Modern quilts often use alternate gridwork to incorporate asymmetry, negative space and scale within a different layout other than traditional columns and rows.
Asymmetry – When the focal point of a quilt is off-center or does not match on both sides.
Block Based – Quilts based on a similar block throughout the quilt.
Non-Block Based – Quilts that do not have a repeating block pattern.
Graphic Colors – Modern quilters often use graphic color palettes.
- The combination of colors and where they are placed can modify traditional designs into modern quilts.
- Color is less important if the other modern quilting design elements are strong.
Cropping – When a block or focal point has been cut from the edge to end the motif. Often, this looks like the partial block or focal point is running off the edge of the quilt.
Improvisation – Putting fabric together without following a pattern.
- This can be more like following a recipe from your head rather reading it from a cookbook.
- Rules of construction are thrown out the window, and scraps are combined to create organic movement in the quilt.
- Improvised, pieced sections can be recut and combined with more precise piecing to bring more order to improv quilts.
Minimalism – Often, the more negative space a quilt has, the more minimal it becomes.
- Distilling down the most basic parts of quilt construction to their fundamental aspects.
Modern Traditionalism – Updating a traditional block or quilt layout with modern quilting elements like scale, negative space, modern color palettes or alternate gridwork.- Modern traditional quilts apply other modern quilt design elements to traditional blocks in a restrained, impactful way.
Negative space – The area between design elements that modern quilters often use to draw focus to different areas of a quilt.
- Modern quilters often use expansive negative space to organize the subject and capture attention
Lack of borders - There are rarely borders in modern quilting unless the borders are part of the negative space.
- When borders DO occur, they are usually part of the negative space.
Scale – Increasing or decreasing the size of a classic quilt block.
- Scale can also be used by mixing scales — jumbo, large or small scales. Often, modern quilters exaggerate scale.