Windham Fabrics 2025 Challenge (2)

One of the top exhibits at the recent QuiltCon show was the Ruby+Bee fabric challenge. The featured speaker for this show, Tara Faughnan, selected six beautiful solids from the fabric collection. Quilters were instructed to use from 3 to 6 colors in the palette to create their quilt. It was so much fun to see this modern quilt show!

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Cicada Invasion - See ya in 17 years! by Dawn Nelson (Texas) @dawnnelsondowns 

We love insect quilts including bees and butterflies... but we've never seen a cicada quilt! This original concept and design by Dawn Nelson was inspired by the 2024 invasion of Cicadas which emerge every 17 years.  Dawn used variegated thread on the wings to create translucent effect, then darker thread to provide definition around each cell.  Beautiful!  The background quilting depicts the sound waves these creatures emit. 

Dawn Nelson says, "Cicada Invasion was submitted with the encouragement of the women in my family whose artistry and quilting skills far surpass mine."  It was machine pieced, and machine quilted on a longarm machine and a domestic machine.

Standing Tall by Maureen Logan (Pennsylvania)  

 A member of the Lancaster (PA) Modern Quilt Guild, Maureen Logan says: "My quilts are always inspired by small doodles I make. This one started with the red diamond and then repeating the shape below it.  Color, pattern and repetition make this an eye-catching visual."

Maureen added the triangle border to continue your eye traveling vertically through the quilt.  Machine pieced, machine quilted without a frame (domestic) using a walking foot.

Fibonacci in Fabric by Cathy Martin (Alabama) @thecatbird

Cathy Martin says, "The beauty of the Fibonacci Sequence (0,1,1,2,3,4,8...) in nature fascinates and intrigues me.  I wondered how a linear expression of the sequence would appear using "interwoven" fabric blocks --- imagine my delight when I discovered that if each color follows the sequence from left to right and also from top to bottom (or R-to-L, Bottom-to-top) it forms a simple-but-lovely plaid.  How cool is that?!"

Red/light blue-gray threads were chosen for the quliting to highlight the mathematic pattern.  It was machine pieced and quilted on a domestic machine.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.