It isn’t often that I get enthused about the Guild Challenge. Most years I do it but it is usually a last minute creation and often only a block or a placemat. But this year I got really “into” it after finding a pattern at the Saskatoon Quilt Show that would be just perfect.

Create a quilt that has a circus/fair theme. Use the enclosed fabric as part of the front of the quilt. The quilt should not be huge. A small one is good. The challenge should be finished and ready to show by the June meeting 2020. Your quilt should feature an animal.

We were given a fat quarter of the striped fabric. I wasn’t sure I would have enough for all the boxes (cages in my circus theme) but I actually had a little left over.

The quilting didn’t go as well as I had hoped. My free-motion quilting didn’t work at all and my appliqué work is sketchy at the best. For most of the quilt it was just straight lines but I did try to get a bit of texture (wrinkled skin) in the elephant. I ended up using embroidery floss to attach the patches. In spite of all my cursing when I was working on it, I love the end result.

This was an entry into the Guild’s 2025 quilt show.

In 2019 Kathy Parker, a Guild member, presented the striped fabric as our challenge for the year. We were directed to use the fabric on the front of our quilt and to show an animal. Shortly after receiving the challenge I found this pattern at the Saskatoon Quilt Show and it was a perfect match. Quilted on my domestic Janome.