Kitty Cat

 

Quilt Etc. in Sandy did a block-of-the-month class the first Saturday every month. They started in 2003, but I didn’t join until the following year. I made every block, even while we lived overseas. I’d still be at it, if COVID hadn’t killed it in 2020. I was happy to find the Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge in 2001. There were free downloadable patterns for 16 blocks per year, all of them ten inches finished. There was a pattern for completing each sixteen-block quilt, but I was usually happier to design my own settings. The sampler quilts I made over the past five years were beautiful. The block challenge didn’t quite replace Quilt Etc.’s monthly classes, but almost. Until this year. I’ve been unhappy with all the blocks in the 2026 challenge. They’re uninspired and uninspiring. They’re unnecessarily busy, and the colors bicker with each other. They lack elegance, and I don’t know how to fix this.