Happy Saturday everyone! I hope this finds you all doing well and enjoying the beginning of your weekend. I know you’re all anxious to hear the winners of the Hardware Store Challenge so I’ll get right to it!

I’ll switch it up just a bit and go for the Judges Choice Winner first.

Starting with 3rd place, an average score of 8.425 is…

QUILTIES!

Here’s what the judges thought:

Judge 1: I love all your colors and the paint chips. I, too, love to pick up those strips. I love to pick up the folders that have all the different pallets of colors in them!

Your piece is not straight on the edges. Maybe blocking your piece after it is completed would help with this.

Judge 2: Great job of depicting the spray paint aisle. I like the look of the paint chips in their pocket. If the paint chips had been pieced from fabric, they would have made this piece into something more universal, and also more saleable. I like the paint tape inner border and the multi-colored outer border with the great corners.

The edges don’t appear quite straight. Blocking might help.

Judge 3: Love the paint concept. Great Job!

Judge 4: I so totally agree with you on the concept of fabric being more expressive than flat paint colors. So did Matisse, by the way, as he adored textiles and celebrated them in his work. I love the way you used color gradations and print variations in your progressive border. And your use of the blacks added great contrast in almost a graffiti style across the center. Placing the chips in the plastic sleeve really enhanced the contrast of the flat paint next to the textured fabrics, giving the piece visual depth and thoughtfulness. One silly but easily changeable thought: I'd reverse the order of the paint swatches, so the cool paint colors start in the left side by the warm fabric colors, and go in the opposite direction, to give contrasting energy.

Next, taking home 2nd place with an average score of 8.88 is….

ForQuiltsSake!

Here’s what the Judges had to say:

Judge 1: It is amazing some of the ideas the participants from Project Quilting come up with. I love all your embellishing on this quilt and would love to have it hanging in my home. Good job.

Judge 2: Nice piece. It has a nighttime feel. I like the way you threaded the cord through the drain and the effect of the yarns and ribbon. The rain chain batik is great.

I feel like you’re apologizing for not using the actual items on your piece. Absolutely not necessary. The items are intended to inspire and that inspiration can manifest itself in many ways.

Judge 3: Love the look of the quilt & the concept of it. Very well done.

Judge 4: It's interesting how your inspiration grew out of your materials, rather than the idea dictating the materials. Your design has a very pleasing balance, the way the visual horizontal line bisects the vertical free-flowing line, and in the placement of the circular elements. I'm glad you left the open space in the left side, enhancing the focal point of the fibers and giving depth in the absence of lighting. Perhaps a little mimicking of the circular reference in the stitching within that open space would give a nice balance of thirds, but that's a subjective idea. Some of the curves in the free-motion stitching could be smoother to reflect better on the circles, but I like the pattern.

And taking home this week’s 1st place from the judges scores with an average score of 9.125 is….

Marcia’s Crafty Sewing and Quilting!

Marcia will be receiving $10 to FabricsNQuilts and $10 do Dye Candy. (I did switch the public and judges prizes here since I don’t think Marcia should be giving herself a prize…)

Here’s what the judges had to say about this piece:

Judge 1: I really like this piece. I am so glad you went with the black binding. I think I read that you considered orange but the black really draws the piece together. I love the back of this quilt. It looks awesome!

Judge 2: I love the story. Great thought process. As usual your quilting is outstanding.

Love the color and movement.

Judge 3: I really like the look of your quilt and your concept behind it. It also reminds me of a windsock which you see handing outside at old fashion hardware stores.

Judge 4: Your conceptual idea is a wonderfully meaningful representation of the universal community of quilting. Across cultures, quilting and textile arts draw people together, and your interpretation demonstrates this within the unique theme of this challenge. I love the flow of the design with the colors across the piece. Your quilting skills are impeccable, with such perfection in the background quilting and a smart contrast of style in the wires. You've done a great job of mixing the theme of the global community of quilting, with excellent skills.

It is now time to announce the Public Choice Winner. All week a poll was up on my blog and it was up to YOU to choose your favorite. Getting 48 of the 178 (or approximately 27%) of the votes is…

Quilties!

Quilties will be receiving a Pattern & Notecards from Marcia's Crafty Sewing & Quilting and $15 to FabricFascination!

And now, I’m off to get the names in the hat for my kids to draw the random prizes. Stop by later today to see more winners!