Today is the day! 2017 Pantone Quilt Challenge: Greenery contest details!

Sarah, of no hats in the house, and I are so thrilled Anne and Adrianne entrusted us with the hefty (and, let’s be real, super exciting) responsibility of co-hosting the 2017 Pantone Quilt Challenge. We’re both huge fans of color, this community, and of course, a little friendly competition 🙂

To that end, we’ve got some inspiring posts lined up, a tremendous trifecta of guest judges, not to mention some incredible prizes up for grabs thanks to our wonderful sponsors.

So let’s get straight to it: judges, rules, prizes, everything you want to know…

THE JUDGES

We couldn’t be happier to announce our three guest judges: Carolyn Friedlander, Jennifer Sampou, and Christa Watson.

These women are such an inspiration on so many different levels. From fabric design to teaching to innovative quilting to book authorship—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) and 2015 (Marsala). 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 2017 to be eligible.

First of all, the feature color! Here’s the official Greenery 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 Greenery.

However, seeing as this is the Greenery pantone challenge, your project must contain at least some Greenery or similar green. (Just try to get as close as you can, and follow along with us here for some helpful suggestions of greenery-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 Greenery as the feature color of your quilt, and we will be asking the judges to take your use of Greenery into account when making their decisions.

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”).

The contest will run from March 14 until May 29, 2017, with the link party open during the last ten days (May 19 – May 29, 2017).

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 2017 to be eligible.

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

HOW TO ENTER:

A link party/gallery will be hosted at Bryan House Quilts and no hats in the house. Entries will be open from May 19 – May 29, 2017. Entries will close at on May 29, 2017 at 10pm PST.

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

Each entry should include the project title and quilt dimensions.

PRIZES!

Quilts (judged by Carolyn Friedlander)

First place — Robert Kaufman — Green Prize pack (Kona Color Card + 3 Green Kona FQ bundles)

Second place — Robert Kaufman — Kona Color Card + 1 Green Kona FQ bundle

Viewers’ choice — Robert Kaufman — Kona Color Card + 1 Green Kona FQ bundle

Minis (judged by Jennifer Sampou)

First place — Oakshott Fabrics — $100 gift certificate

Second place — Fat Quarter Shop — $50 gift certificate

Viewers’ choice — Love, Patchwork & Quilting Magazine — 1-year print subscription

Just the top (judged by Christa Watson)

First place — Aurifil — Large spool thread collection (Christa Watson’s Thread Box)

Second place — Lecien — Goodie Basket

Viewers’ choice — Crimson Tate — $50 gift certificate





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 Greenery, regardless of skill level, so a few entries that haven’t already won a prize will be drawn at random for one of our “door prizes”:

me+you — Brand-spankin’ new precut triangles and hexies

Robert Kaufman — Kona Color Card

Stash Fabrics — Gift certificate

And… maybe more… *wink!*

NON-JUDGED ENTRIES

We thought it would be fun to provide a place for people to share quilts that feature Greenery but don’t necessarily comply with all the challenge rules—e.g., because they were not finished in 2017, or were made by me or Sarah, etc. 😉 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 #pantonequilt2017.

And if your stash is a little light on Greenery, word on the street from the color guru (Anne of Play Crafts) is that Kona Kiwi and Fern are a great starting point (not to mention all those lush, pre-picked Kona palettes like Spring Meadow, Wondrous Woods, Pleasant Pastures, and Grasslands).

Oakshott Fabrics’ nearest color is Colourshott 41 (Passy), but they too have lots of gorgeous greens across the Colourshott range (including some great little bundles, like Moss, Asparagus and Kew). Plus, Oakshott has set up a Special Offer just for our readers: now through April 30, 2017, you can SAVE 10% on all Oakshott orders when you spend £25 or more using Promotion Code PQCGREEN.

Keep an eye out for more suggestions on where to find Greenery fabric. We can’t wait to see your progress over on Instagram!