As Marilee and I were chatting about quilting, the idea of a “friendly wager” came up and we decided to do an ugly fabric challenge. We would each raid our stash and send each other some ugly fabric to work with. I wanted to keep it small and manageable, but Marilee insists that quilts have a purpose. (Hear her full explanation in this video.) So, we settled on making placemats.

You should have heard the peals of laughter at that suggestion! Marilee wondered why on earth you would make just one placemat, especially if we intended to donate the items to charity. I defended my idea – “I’m no Scrooge!” – and suggested we make two placemats each.

Ugly Fabric Challenge Rules

We decided on the rules: exchange 1.5 yards of fabric, plus all supplies to make the project (batting, thread etc) with maximum of 10 pieces of fabric. Oh, and the fabric selection must include a solid. I wondered why Marilee was filled with glee at the prospect of choosing fabric. In fact, her laughter was more like an evil cackle from a cartoon villan!

Ugly Fabric Placemats Look Pretty Good!

I was stressed out finishing my placemats. Instead of using only the challenge fabric, I needed to dig into my stash for binding, which turned out to be a needless worry. Apparently, the rules said we could add fabric to the stack we exchanged! I freely admitted to cheating when we got together for the big reveal. My error was that I did not use all the ugly fabrics that were given to me. I just could not find a way to incorporate the animal print spandex into my placemat design!

So, Marilee is the winner of round one with these beautiful floral placemats:

Donate to Charity

Now it’s your turn! For round 2, we are competing to see who can raise more money for Little Pink Houses of Hope. This charity offers retreat space for breast cancer patients and their families. We want to see an end to this disease. Please be generous. Be sure to leave a comment telling us who used their ugly fabrics better!