The Cherrywood Challenge

Are you familiar with the Cherrywood Challenge? Let's start right back at the beginning - do you know who Cherrywood is?

Cherrywood Fabrics company has been around for years. I remember buying hand-dyed Cherrywood fabrics at The Hobby Horse years ago. They had assembled kits for two different vests. Yes - I think I have a kit and it's still not done!

In 2015, I was at the fall Quilt Festival and I saw some amazing quilts in the Cherrywood booth. Hmm - what are these black and green quilts? Oh - they are from a challenge and the theme was Wicked (the musical). The fabrics chosen for the challenge were three graduated greens and a black. A fat quarter of each. 

Here's a link to the Wicked Challenge. I only saw a few pieces from this show, but they were amazing. That first year, they received 114 quilts and 27 were chosen as Finalists. 

Then at fall Quilt Market in 2016, I had the good fortune to view the entire display of that year's challenge which was based on The Lion King. That year, the kit included 3 different shades of gold fabric and a black. They received 304 entries from which 138 were selected as Finalists. I believe that 120 of those finalists were included in the traveling show. But all 138 were included in the book that's available for purchase. I don't think I've unpacked my books yet but I have them all so far and they are amazing to look through.

There were some very impressive quilts at Quilt Market, but the Cherrywood challenge display was so enthralling and beautiful that I went back again and again to view the quilts. I caught up with Alex Anderson one day also admiring the beautiful quilts. Here's a link so you can view part of the display. The pictures do NOT do justice to the quilts. They were stunning.

I decided that I wanted to be part of this show. So when the theme for the following year was announced, and I had the opportunity, I bought a kit. The theme was Vincent Van Gogh.

I made a quilt and submitted the pictures by the deadline. Alas, the piece was not accepted, but you know what? That was OK. I am thrilled with my quilt. I love it. Even better - it turned out just how I had envisioned it in my head. The fabric in the kit was graduated blues and a black.

My Cherrywood challenge om 2017

They had 465 entries that year. The demand for venues to display this show was huge and as a result, two traveling exhibits were put together. I think there were 75 quilts in each exhibit. I don't think I got to see any of those quilts except online. Here's the link so you can take a peek yourself. 


There is a lot of suspense leading up to the announcement of the new theme and color. That announcement happens at Quilt Festival in the fall. In 2018, the theme was Prince and the color was purple. How appropriate. Well, I left my piece until the last minute and after having some technical issues, it remains in an unfinished state. I'm going to check it out later and see if it can be rescued.

My Cherrywood challenge for 2018

That year there were 388 submissions. They choose 165 Finalists to travel in three different shows. Two large ones of 75 quilts each and a small one of 15. Carol was a finalist in the Prince challenge. By the way -- ONE of those bigger shows will be on display at Quilts at the Creek at the end of THIS MONTH.  (July 27 and 28).  If you get a chance, you MUST get yourself to this show. It's going to be amazing. And FYI - this is the LAST year for the Quilts at the Creek show. 

Check out this link to know more about this challenge. 


Cherrywood changed it up this year and instead of choosing ONE color, they went with a color palette and the theme was Bob Ross. Don't know who Bob is???  Well, after some research, this guy is HUGE. He's super famous and yet he died years ago (July 4, 1995 - he was 52!). He used to be the host of a TV show. The show still airs today! It's called The Joy of Painting. And here's a very interesting video (thanks Tish) about Bob.

Not to be deterred by the last couple of experiences, I wanted to give the challenge a whirl yet again. Thanks to Shelly, I acquired the kit for the Bob Ross challenge. It was a mix of landscape fabrics, including greens, browns, blue and yellow. Hmm - what to do with all that????

Of course, I left it until close to the deadline of July 1st. Now you did NOT have to copy a Bob Ross painting or even make a landscape. You had to be INSPIRED by Bob Ross. I watched a few videos and I did some research. Then I drew a sketch. I'm NOT an artist, but I needed something to start with.

Here's my preliminary sketch.

My preliminary sketch

I had recently quilted a stained glass quilt and I thought I could translate my sketch into the stained glass technique. So pretty darn quickly (see how all that doodling and exposure to art paid off), I drew out this stained glass picture.

My pattern for the piece

Now there was NO black this year and I couldn't add black. Fortunately, one of the fabrics was a deep, dark brown so after piecing it, I had the based for the grout. Then some cutting and pasting and I added the fabrics to get this.

My 2019 Cherrywood challenge

Of course, my piece is quilted to death  - just the way I like it. I used a lot of different colors of thread. I should have used a wee bit of paint on my clouds to make them a bit whiter, but I didn't.

I even did the binding by hand! Then I took pictures and it was impossible to take pictures without lint or dog hair on it!!!! I managed, but I had to take the pictures over and over again!

The notification e-mails were to come out yesterday. I noticed that Tish, who also made a challenge piece, posted on Friday night that she was a Finalist!!!  I checked my e-mail. Nothing. Oh well - I guess they'll send out the reject e-mails on Saturday. I wasn't too upset as I was very happy with my piece and I look at all challenges as learning experiences.

Then yesterday, when we're zipping around the state of NY, I get a text from Shelly who asked why I didn't post that I was a Finalist???  I am????  No way???  Sure enough - we checked my e-mail spam and guess what I found????? Yep - that happy e-mail went to SPAM!!!!

Well, that was certainly icing on the cake of a great day!!!!

I've no idea where my quilt will be displayed - they're working on the details. I do know it's going to Houston in the fall. For now, it needs to be packed up and sent in a box very quickly!

But we had to laugh because since this challenge was announced, we've seen Bob Ross stuff everywhere. We were at a museum in Nashville and there was Bob all over the gift shop!!! We didn't buy anything, but we should have. And if you watch that video about Bob Ross, he's a HUGE icon.

Here's the link to the Bob Ross Challenge so you can see the fabrics. I thought someone said they received 407 quilts. Needless to say, I'm honored to be included in this extremely prestigious challenge. Despite the fact of getting accepted, it was the fact that I actually drew the landscape myself and finished the piece that gives me GREAT satisfaction. Thanks to Cherrywood Fabrics for an amazing experience.

And thanks to The Cotton Harvest Quilt Shop in Seaforth, Ontario which is the ONLY shop in Canada (that I'm aware of where you can buy Cherrywood Fabrics). 

What a hoot!!!!

Anyway, I should be out on my bike, but I also have a ton of quilting to do today. I'll see how I feel after I walk the girls.

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!!