Delicious Dilemma

When I first entered the Utah State Fair Quilt Challenge in 2007 my piecing skills were pretty rudimentary. I’d finished a few quilt tops from kits, but I’d paid someone else to quilt them and I’d never bound a quilt before. I’d certainly never designed one. I still don’t know what made me think I could do this. One of the rules of the quilt challenge is that each entry – from start to finish – must be the work of one person. I picked up the challenge fabric; a novelty print full of chocolate bonbons. I stitched together sixteen simple paper-pieced pinwheel blocks. I added three borders (I didn’t know how to mitre corners) and added an original poem before I quilted and bound it. Right off the bat I won a red ribbon. Maybe there just weren’t very many entries that year. I’ve entered every year since then. My skills are improving, but not nearly as fast as my competition.