2018 Pantone Quilt Challenge: ULTRA VIOLET EDITION

Hey folks!

The Pantone Quilt Challenge is upon us, and this year we're celebrating the color purple!(!!!) We may be slightly biased... ;) Today, Rebecca of Bryan House Quilts and I are pleased to announce the details for the 2018 Pantone Quilt Challenge: Ultra Violet contest.

SO, straight to the good stuff.

THE JUDGES

We couldn't be happier to announce our three guest judges: Sandi Hazelwood, Nicole Daksiewicz, and Alison Glass. These women are such an inspiration on so many different levels. And we're pretty sure they appreciate a good purple (ahem... Sandi). From fabric design to entertaining audio to innovative quilting—you name it, they’ve done it. We have so much love and respect for their work, and have full confidence they'll do a wonderful job considering your entries.

THE RULES:

For those of you familiar with the challenge, the rules are pretty much the same as (recent) years past, including 2014 (Radiant Orchid), 2015 (Marsala), and 2017 (Greenery). In the interest of keeping things fair, we’ll be keeping an eye on entries and enforcing the rules by removing any entries that don’t meet the requirements. Please let us know if you have any questions or need clarifications! All items must be finished in 2018 to be eligible.

1. First of all, the feature color! Here’s the official Ultra Violet swatch:

Finding this exact color won’t be necessary (…or perhaps even possible), so don’t sweat it—the fabric in your quilt doesn’t have to be a perfect match to Ultra Violet. However, seeing as this is the Ultra Violet pantone challenge, your project must contain at least some Ultra Violet or similar purple. (Just try to get as close as you can, and follow along with us here for some helpful suggestions of purpley-inspired fabrics throughout the challenge!) You can also use any other colors or neutrals you like, and as many (and as much) as you like. That said, we would like to see Ultra Violet as the feature color of your quilt, and we will be asking the judges to take your use of Ultra Violet into account when making their decisions.

2. There will be three categories: minis, quilts, and just-the-top.

• Minis: Shortest side under 30". (Pillows, table runners, place mats, mug rugs, etc. all count as minis!)
• Quilts: Any size from baby to bed (shortest side must be at least 30'').
• Just-the-Top: Any size from baby to bed (shortest side must be at least 30'').

3. The contest will run from February 28 until May 11, 2018 with the link party open during the last 10 days (May 2 - May 11). Winners announced the following week (or thereabouts).

4. You can submit one entry per category (i.e., up to three entries). Entries for quilts and minis should be completed projects, including quilting and binding. Again, all items must have been finished in 2018 to be eligible.

5. By entering the contest, you agree that your project picture may be used in follow-up posts about the Pantone Challenge.

 

HOW TO ENTER:

1. A link party/gallery will be hosted at Bryan House Quilts and no hats in the house. Entries will be open from May 2 - May 11, 2018. Entries will close at on May 11, 2018 at 10pm PST.

2. Each entry should link to a blog post, Flickr page, or Instagram post.

3. Each entry should include the project title, quilt dimensions, and (psssst pay attention because this is NEW this year!) your country of residence.  (Don't worry, we'll remind you again when we officially open up the link.)

 

PRIZES!

One quick note up front... we've made a slight change to the prize line up this year after encountering some, shall we say, surprising (raises eyebrows) shipping expenses on last year's booty.  In the interest of keeping things open to everyone (from everywhere), here's what we came up with. Thanks in advance for understanding.  Okay, here goes:  we're asking our judges to pick their top U.S. and global (non-U.S.) pick (TWO #1s!).  That means regardless of where you live, you can enter in any category and be eligible for the respective prize at the 1st level (U.S. or Global), and any prize at the 2nd and Viewer's Choice levels.  Make sense? Phew. Now, on to the prizes, because OMG can we please talk about how wonderful and generous our sponsors are for a sec?!? Scroll down to see what we mean...

QUILTS (Sandi @craftyplanner)

• Judge's 1st:
  • Global: 1 Large Collection Aurifil ($140)
  • US: Slimline Table Lamp ($190.00)
• Judge's 2nd: 1 Small Collection Aurifil ($50) and Crimson Tate Liberty extravaganza ($100 worth of delectable pre-cuts!)
• Viewer's Choice: 1 Aurifil Cone ($50) and digital LP&Q subscription

MINIS  (Nicole @modernhandcraft)

• Judge's 1st:
  • Global: 1 Large Collection Aurifil ($140)
  • US: D40 Smart Travel Lamp ($120.00) + LP&Q Print subscription
• Judge's 2nd: 1 Small Collection Aurifil ($50) and Oakshott fabric stacks
• Viewer's Choice: 1 Aurifil Cone ($50) and digital LP&Q subscription

JUST-THE-TOP (Alison @alisonglass)

• Judge's 1st -
  • Global: 1 Large Collection Aurifil ($140)
  • U.S.: Wafer 1 Lightbox and Wafer 1 Cutting Mat ($174.00)
• Judge's 2nd: 1 Small Collection Aurifil ($50) and Me+You fabric bundle
• Viewer's Choice: 1 Aurifil Cone ($50) and digital LP&Q subscription

Just as in previous years, we've kept the viewer participation element of this challenge so that there is a viewer's choice award for each category. We know you'll have fun looking at all the entries and voting for your favorite in each one (we will!)

Door Prizes

Finally, we would really (really) love to see an entry from absolutely everyone who feels the slightest bit inspired by Ultra Violet, regardless of skill level, so several entries that haven’t already won a prize will be drawn at random for one of our “door prizes” — brought to you by your hosts, judges, and more! *wink!*

NON-JUDGED ENTRIES

We thought it would be fun to provide a place for people to share quilts that feature Ultra Violet but don’t necessarily comply with all the challenge rules—e.g., because they were not finished in 2018. We will be providing a separate link-up for people to share these quilts. However, they will not be eligible for judging, voting, or to win prizes.  

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

We would love to see your creations while you’re working on them, so be sure to tag them on Instagram using the hashtags #pantonequilt and #pantonequilt2018. We can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!