2024 Color Challenge

It's time for the 2024 

Monthly Color Challenge. 

Jen over at Patterns by Jen, always a great way to start a new year and 2024 is no different! 

Jen is the "hostess with the mostest" of the Monthly Color Challenge, and I'm thrilled to join her again for my 6th year. 

Each month, Jen will pick a color and a quilt block featuring that color. Not only does she choose a block, she provides instruction on how to make that block. The instructions are FREE during the featured month, but can be purchased for $1 after that. 

Jen always finds a fun way to introduce each month's color and she's done it again for 2024. Each month will be introduced via a fish, and I don't mean a simple, basic fish. Just take a look at this list! What fun!!    

January - Green Tiger Barb (Green)

February - Discus (Orange)

March - Cherry Barb (Red)

April - Electric Blue Hap (Blue)

May - Electric Yellow Lab (Yellow)

June - Harlequin Rasboras (Raspberry)

July - Duboisi Cichlid (Silver)

August - Purple Dottyback (Purple)

September - Kuhli Loach (Brown)

October - Wrought Iron Butterfly (Black)

November - Gourami (Teal)

December - Marigold Wag Swordtail (Gold) 

Jen's has lots more information on her blog, so why not jump over and read more about. 

2024 Monthly Color Challenge Introduction

Let's get started! 

January - The Green Tiger Barb

January's Block Pattern

I have to be honest and say that I have never heard of the Green Tiger Barb. I did a quick internet search and found some lovely pictures; and I must say, this is quite a pretty fish. 

Thanks to its fluorescent green body, this fish will not be overlooked in any tank! While there are variations, the green body, with silver and gold blotches are topped off with really cool orange fins, making these fish a beautiful sight.

The Green Tiger Barb is know for being quite active and they like to have lots of plants in their aquariums. 

They also like their friends! Like most quilters I know, the Green Tiger Barbs don't particularly like being alone and should be put in schools of six or more.   

While Jen has made her blocks with two different greens, I chose to make mine with a single green and a white/silver dot background. The general rule is a fat quarter of light and a fat quarter of dark will be enough for each block.

The finished size of each month's block will be 12".

I will be keeping my background consistent all year. If you would like to do the same, Jen has all the information on how to do that, and even has information on how to cut the background for all 12 months most efficiently. WooHoo!

Use this link and scroll down the page a bit to find where to get the pdf for that. 

Here are the fabrics I've chosen. Don't you think the green texture kind of looks like fish scales? I do and am going to attempt to have each month's color print have a similar texture. 

This month's block is one of my all-time favorite blocks - Square in a Square.

Jen's instructions are very well written and one of the things I like is that block units are oversized and will be trimmed to the actual size needed. Doing this also helps keep all those beautiful points. No cut off tips here. I LOVE that!

This unit looks a bit untidy and rough... 

but once it's trimmed, it looks great! 

You will be making some flying geese units and those are oversized as well. 

Click HERE for my tutorial on how I like to trim those unit and get perfect flying geese every time. 

 

Jen provides pressing instructions for all of her blocks. While she likes to press seams to one side; lately, I've found that I am more successful with accurate points when I press my seams open. 

But...honestly, I don't think there really is a right or wrong way to press seams or do most of anything sewing-related. Generally, I say that as long as it's safe, whatever method is easiest for you and provides you with the results that make you happy, then that's the method you should follow. :-) 

I had a lot of fun making this block and I'm looking forward to making the remaining eleven. Who's going to join me?

Patterns by Jen - January Monthly Color Challenge

Don't you think that my background in this picture looks like the bottom of a stream? I think so. It's actually our back patio, but I like it and plan to take pictures of each of my finished blocks there. We'll see if that happens, especially if there is snow when I finish the block.  LOL

September Color Challenge

 It's the first, and that means that it's time for the new 

Monthly Color Challenge Block

It's Color Challenge Time again!

This month's color is Cinnamon,

and the bird is the Cinnamon Teal

For the pattern and block instructions, 

head on over to 

Jen's Blog - Patterns by Jen

Male (left) and Female (right) Cinnamon Teal

The Cinnamon Teal is a species of duck found in western North and South America. It is a small dabbling duck, with bright reddish plumage on the male and duller brown plumage on the female. It lives in marshes and ponds, and feeds mostly on plants. Both the male and female have a pretty sizeable head and a long bill.

As you can see in the picture above, the adult male has a cinnamon-red head and body and a brown back. His bill is long and black, and he has striking red eyes.  

The adult female has a mottled brown body, pale brown head, brown eyes, and a grey bill. Interestingly, young and non-breeding males have similar coloring as the female, but their eyes are red. All adults have a sky-blue patch visible when their wing is open.

 

Cinnamon Teal dabble on aquatic plants in shallow water areas, especially rush seeds, pondweed seeds and leaves and salt grass seeds. They also feed on animal food, especially aquatic insects and mollusks. So basically, they are vegetarian with an occasional insect or two eaten.

Much like I'd like to do, nearly all Cinnamon Teal winter in Mexico and Central America.

Click HERE to listen the the Cinnamon Teal. 

Be sure to listen to both the male and female sounds. They are quite different.

What symbolism is associated with the color Cinnamon? 

That is quite interesting because throughout much of history there has been a bit of a contradiction regarding the color. Because the color is associated with the spice of the same name (a spice that was highly prized in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome and often given as a gift for monarchs), the color cinnamon was looked upon with high regard. But if the color was separated from the spice, it was often associated with poverty and humility because of the brown clothing worn by the lower class in ancient Rome and Catholic monks during the Middle Ages. 

In recent years, the various shades of brown have been associated with nature and thus represent strength, stability, sincerity, loyalty, and honesty.  While brown and most of its shades are often listed as a "least favorite color" by many people, it is often considered to be a neutral in the art and decorating work. Cinnamon can be paired with most shades of brown, and looks fresh next to cream or crisp white. It looks amazing when paired with other earthy shades like burnt orange, deep red, maroon, soft blue, and olive green. 

Searching the internet for these colors has made me want to do some redecorating/repainting. I know myself enough to realize that will most likely not happen anytime soon, so I'll do what I do best. I'll use them in a quilt or two. If nothing else, this color challenge has made me become smitten with some new color ideas! :-) 

Speaking of quilts, I have used various shades of brown over the years, including cinnamon.

Prism, pattern my Tammy Silvers made by Joanne Hubbard

Bethlehem, pattern by Doug Leko, made by Joanne Hubbard

Uptown Girl, pattern by Creative Sewlutions, made by Joanne Hubbard

Zen Table Runner, pattern by Jean Ann Wright, made by Joanne Hubbard

Back of Zen Table Runner

The cinnamon that I used this month was purchased at Once Upon a Quilt in Ft. Lauderdale. To be honest, this was the color with which I had the most challenging time picking. I'm sure the staff thought I was crazy when I kept asking their opinions of fabrics based on the names of a bird,and then I threw in a spice! If they did think I was crazy, they certainly didn't show it. For that, I am thankful.. 😘

I liked this fabric, so I bought much more than what I needed for this project. Imagine that! 

The pieces are cut and ready to sew.

These simple blocks look great!

Check out other bloggers who made this block. 

It is always fun to see the different fabrics used.

Patterns by Jen

Pieceful Thoughts

Sew Joy Creations

Rainbows. Bunnies. Cupcakes

Tamarinis

Textile Time Travels

You will definitely want to check out the 3rd Quarter Sponsors. 

They have provided some awesome prizes. Thank you! 

Winners will be announced October 1st.

Sponsors July thru September

Quilters Chic - PDF Pattern

For The Love of Geese - PDF Pattern

Carole Lyle Shaw - Pattern and Grunge bundle

Quilters Dream Batting - Dream 80/20 - 60" x 60"

The Fat Quarter Shop - Fabric Bundle

Warm Company - Warm 80/20 - 55" x 60"

Warm Company - 1 yard Insul-Bright

Make Modern Magazine - 6 month subscription

Patterns By Jen - Superior Thread S-Fine 50

Patterns By Jen - Magic Wand

2020 Color Challenge - There will be Prizes!

I'm participating in the 2020 Color Challenge and am excited!

I had a lot of fun this year and know that next year is going to be even more fun. HERE is more information from our hostess Jen of Patterns by Jen. 

Just like last year, I've jumped right in and signed up for months early in the year. I will be blogging about the challenge in January, February, and June. Of course I plan to blog about it every month, but those are the months for which I've committed.  :-) 

Like I did for 2019, I've signed up to complete the quilt and blog about that too. And just because I can, I am making two blocks per month and plan to make two quilts. 

So what does this all mean?

Each month, Jen will pick a color and a block and she will provide instructions on how to make that block. There are actually three options of colors this year - 

Original Version - two different shades of the same color

Black Background - two colors, but the background will be black

White Background - I'm guessing you can figure this out, right? 

Last year, I used fabrics from my stash, but I decided to mix it up a bit this year and only my background fabrics are from my stash. I also decided that all of the colors would be batiks and that all of those would be purchased from the same shop. I knew that I would be traveling to Once Upon a Quilt in Ft. Lauderdale in early December, so I decided to purchase all the batiks there and use the resulting quilts as a way to remember my trip. 

I had a blast during my workshop there, and met some wonderful people, especially Lisa, the owner. I'll share more about my trip and the shop each month, which will help keep me motivated and focused all year long. 

Besides me, am awesome group of bloggers have agreed to write up blog posts about the blocks and colors each month. This will allow you to see the block made up in all the same colors, but from different fabrics. I can't wait to see that! 

Jen is very clever and the 2020 colors have been assigned a bird to represent it. I think this is a great way to figure out what the color actually looks like. I just did a search of the birds and had a great visual for the color I'm trying to match. 

Like 2019, I'll provide some basic information about the bird including its habitat, sounds, and symbolism. If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that my grandchildren LOVE to feed the birds and to watch them from our back room. I'm excited to be able to learn a lot about a lot of birds while making a beautiful quilt.  

Here are the 2020 Colors

2020 Monthly Colors

January - Finch (yellow)
February - Indigo Bunting (teal)
March - Oriole (orange)
April - Honey Creeper (purple)
May - Budgerigar (green)
June - Blue Bird (blue)
July -American Robin (rust)
August - Flamingo (pink)
September - Cinnamon Teal (cinnamon)
October - Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Olive)
November - Buff-breasted Sandpiper (buff)
December - Cardinal (red)

Here are Jen's Fabrics

(She has two for each month because she's doing the original version.)

Here are my fabrics

(Oops! I have a couple of fabrics out of place.) 

I am using a black batik for one background (top of picture) and a white on white print that I had in my stash for the other set of blocks. It's hard to see, but I decided to use the wrong side of the white fabric because I like it better. :-)

I know that you've been reading a lot and are wondering about the prizes that I mentioned earlier. There will be quarterly prizes this year, and all you have to do to be entered is join the link ups during the months within that quarters. (One link up enter per quilter each month, please.)

There are lots of sponsors, which means lots of prizes! 

Check out Jen's Blog for a list of sponsors. :-) 

So, are you going to join the fun and put lots of Color into 2020?