I'm in two sewing bees. Every year each of the bees has a challenge. Both bees decided on a charm square challenge! A charm square is a 5-inch square of fabric. You can buy them pre-cut in quilt shops or cut your own. They are very versatile!
The Boa Bee challenge is all about color. Each bee member picked a crayon out of a bowl and that was your color. We had a listing of each bee member's color; we then had to cut five, 5-inch charm squares in all of those colors. A good scrap buster! We used one of the meetings to exchange the squares, so everybody ended up with a bag of charm squares in their challenge color. Everyone has a different stash so it's a great variety of fabrics, the colors vary in value from light to dark and vary in saturation, muted to bright and in scale!
Our challenge is to make a quilted item using each of our charm squares, in part or in whole. We can add a coordinating color and/or a neutral. We are to reveal our masterpiece at the year-end Xmas party. It'll be fun!
Here are my squares - my color was Aqua!
The Wanna Bees also have a charm square challenge in "style" of fabrics. This time each bee member wrote down a style they wanted, for example: civil war, 30's, brights, retro prints, blues & yellows, XMas, etc. We cut five, 5-inch charm squares in each of the "styles". We are meeting this weekend to exchange squares. We will put them into a brown paper bag and then having a secret swap! You won't know what bag you'll get, but it shouldn't be your own! The challenge is to make a quilted item, using all or a part of every charm square plus you can add a neutral and/or coordinating color. We will exchange our quilted gifts and reveal who made them at the XMas party. This one can be really challenging! Can't wait to see which bag I get!
There are so many blocks and pattern you can make from 5-inch squares. We can cut them up into smaller squares as well. It sure will be fun to see all the imaginative things these bee members create!
