Kona Challenge--Pixelated Color Wheel

Our chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild just finished up the Kona Challenge.  Last night was our show and tell for the challenge.  We had some fabulous quilts and projects.  I was amazed at the diversity as well as the skill in our group.  I'm always inspired by those in our quilt guild.

For the challenge we were each able to use a Brights Kona charm pack from Robert Kauffman to make anything from a pillow to a large quilt.  The only rule was that you couldn't add any prints, although you could add as many different solids as you wanted.  I had the advantage of already having Kona charm packs on hand.  Part of my prize as a runner-up in the Fat Quarterly contest a while ago was a stack of charm packs--one in each Kona colorway.  For this quilt I used two Brights packs, one Darks, one Classic, and one Pastel.  Most of the Dusty palette didn't make the cut.

The color wheel was my inspiration with this project.  I was going for a gradual color change, but wasn't seeking to perfectly imitate the color wheel.  I learned a lot about color during the design process.  It was certainly a challenge to place some colors, but I loved the process. I would love to make another project like this after completing a few rounds of the Color Wheel Charm Swap.  I think it would be a great idea for prints as well.

The individual squares are 1.5" finished.  The quilt size is about 44" square.  I'll share my design process in another post next week.  I quilted this in a spiral beginning at the center four white squares, working my way from the center out.  The quilting is spaced about 1/2" apart (just the width of my walking foot from the needle to the edge). 

Because I designed this as a wall hanging, I chose not to do anything on the back.  This is an Ikea bed sheet I had on hand.

Although, I do love how the quilting looks on the solid sheet.

I played with the image size on this.  I love the look of it shrunk down.  Maybe I'll turn it into a new favicon for my blog.

We decided to have secret voting on our favorite quilts of the night.  Everyone brought their projects in bags, and then they were laid out and numbered for voting by a group member who didn't do the challenge.  I was super excited when mine received first place.  Surprisingly, no one guessed this was my quilt.  Several people agreed it isn't my normal style.  I'm just not sure yet what my normal style is.  In the meantime this quilt is hanging in my living room and has totally expanded the range of colors I can incorporate into my decorating.  I already have fabric for new throw pillow covers on the way. 

There were multiple winners for the night, and we were each able to choose a prize.  For some reason I decided to choose the FQ bundle of Habitat.  We're doing the Habitat fabric challenge for the next couple months.  Everyone received fat 1/8's, but there was leftover fabric that became one of the prizes.  The problem is this fabric isn't my style.  My challenge is turning it into something I love.  We'll see how I do.