Windham Fabrics 2025 Challenge Quilts

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 what quilters came up with!

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Folk Bloom No. 2 by Jenn McMillan (Ontario, Canada) @jennmcmillan

Jenn McMillan says, "Based on an original drawing, and inspired by symmetrical folk floral motifs, the design was created as an ode to my love and obsession with the Evil Eye.  A charm to protect oneself from evil, ill intentions or inadvertent curses, I also see it as a reminder to be kind lest I unintentionally curse someone with my RBF." [We had to look up RBF to see what the acronym stands for... LOL!]

In this closeup photo you can see the blue stitching lines that make up the iris of the eye! This quilt was machine pieced and hand appliqued with needle-turn applique. The heart was foundation paper pieced and tied with matching thread.  Other areas were machine quilted without a frame, using a domestic machine with a walking foot. p.s.  Jenn made great use of the 6 fabrics offered in the challenge, shown below:

 

Reverb by Michaela Romesburg (California) @Michaela_G_Romesburg.  

Winner of 1st Place in the quilt challenge, this stunner is a modern twist on a classic log cabin design. Michaela Romesburg says: "My hope was to create movement through the utilization of color and pattern.  The combination of warm and cool colors create the illusion of space and depth. The added hand applique ring adds to the illusion of reverberation."

Michaela explains that Reverb was designed with harmony, balance and depth in mind. The exceptionally straight fabric lines were foundation paper pieced (FPP).  The final product was machine quilted without a frame using a domestic machine. 

Petal Blossom Fabric Challenge by Jenn Smith (Washington, USA) @Jenn B Quilts

Petal Blossom is a quilt pattern which Jenn Smith designed in the fall of 2024.  At first glance it looks familiar - an orange peel block.  But then you notice it's also a Drunkard's Path* block, with the orange peel sitting inside the Drunkard's path, creating a new block.  We love the way in which Jenn Smith used the challenge fabrics to maximize contrasts. This piece was machine pieced and longarm machine quilted.

 *If you enjoyed this post, you might also be interested in our Free Pattern Day for Drunkard's Path Quilts (CLICK HERE!)

 

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