Saturday, March 31, 2012

Charm Square Challenge

I'm in two sewing bees.  Every year each of the bees has a challenge.  Both bees decided on a charm square challenge!  A charm square is a 5-inch square of fabric.  You can buy them pre-cut in quilt shops or cut your own.  They are very versatile! 

The Boa Bee challenge is all about color.  Each bee member picked a crayon out of a bowl and that was your color.  We had a listing of each bee member's color; we then had to cut five, 5-inch charm squares in all of those colors.  A good scrap buster!  We used one of the meetings to exchange the squares, so everybody ended up with a bag of charm squares in their challenge color.  Everyone has a different stash so it's a great variety of fabrics, the colors vary in value from light to dark and vary in saturation, muted to bright and in scale!

Our challenge is to make a quilted item using each of our charm squares, in part or in whole.  We can add a coordinating color and/or a neutral.  We are to reveal our masterpiece at the year-end Xmas party.  It'll be fun! 

Here are my squares - my color was Aqua!
 
 
 

The Wanna Bees also have a charm square challenge in "style" of fabrics.  This time each bee member wrote down a style they wanted, for example: civil war, 30's, brights, retro prints, blues & yellows, XMas, etc.  We cut five, 5-inch charm squares in each of the "styles".  We are meeting this weekend to exchange squares.  We will put them into a brown paper bag and then having a secret swap!  You won't know what bag you'll get, but it shouldn't be your own!  The challenge is to make a quilted item, using all or a part of every charm square plus you can add a neutral and/or coordinating color.  We will exchange our quilted gifts and reveal who made them at the XMas party.  This one can be really challenging!  Can't wait to see which bag I get!

There are so many blocks and pattern you can make from 5-inch squares.  We can cut them up into smaller squares as well.  It sure will be fun to see all the imaginative things these bee members create!

No comments: