Madrona Road Challenge Quilt

As part of the national Modern Quilt Guild, the Triad Modern Quilt Guild received fat eighths of several prints from the Madrona Road blue colorway.  The challenge was to add only other fabrics from the line or solids.  Our branch decided to all make wheelchair quilts, or basically smaller lap quilts.  I actually purchased a fat quarter bundle of the entire line a few months ago, so I was excited to get more scraps.

I was initially drawn to this line because of the great colors, and also because it has black in it - which rarely seems to be used these days.  So I decided I would definitely be using black as my starting off point.  I chose this block from a Sew Mama Sew! block of the month.  (Note: Sorry for the stupid date stamps! I added them since I take so many baby pictures and forgot to take it off - oops! Also, why does blogger like to flip pics? Annoying.)

I like it...mostly.  The prints don't really pop unless you are up close, and it ended up being too much black for my taste.

In an attempt to brighten it up a bit, I used light blue thread for the quilting in an overall meander.  The back is a light blue solid and a strip of black.

I do like the quilt, but it's a little dark.  My husband, however, LOVES it and doesn't want me to give it away.  I have to admit that I'm having a hard time picturing someone elderly using this (maybe a really hip older man?) as this quilt is going to Senior Services, one of the charities for our guild.

The block is great, and I can definitely picture a large quilt made from this block with solids with a brighter background.  It was easy and fun to piece.