{"id":6254,"date":"2026-05-19T10:44:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T08:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/?p=6254"},"modified":"2026-05-20T14:26:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:26:28","slug":"2026-challenge-quilt-at-the-patchworktage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/19\/2026-challenge-quilt-at-the-patchworktage\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Challenge Quilt at the Patchworktage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First, what you’ve all been waiting for: My 2026 Challenge Quilt<\/a> in situ<\/em>. You’ve seen the halfway point<\/a>, you’ve seen the sleeve<\/a>, now you see the whole thing! They’re arranged by postal code, so I’m surrounded by Freisingers.

Mine was the only one with cheeseburgers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cheeseburgers from Heaven.
The five “challenge fabrics” were displayed on each wall as well.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you’re unfamiliar with a “challenge quilt”, it’s pretty simple: everyone gets a packet containing the same fabrics and some threads, and must incorporate them into a quilt of a specific size that fits a certain theme. The theme this year was “Zwischent\u00f6ne<\/em>“, a word which can mean “implied speech” but also is used when working with a color wheel or musical compositions (there were a lot of music-themed pieces). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a snapshot from before I mailed it off:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The burgers were cut out from a fabric I bought in 2004 when I was at The Fred<\/a> in Indianapolis.
There’s some left!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The speech bubble says, “Wir hatten lange Zeit keine Cheeseburgers mehr<\/em>“, which is a passive-aggressive way of saying “I want cheeseburgers for supper.” The white-glove ladies<\/a> laughed. All credit to Mr Radish for the help with the grammar; it was definitely above my certification.

General consensus was the checked fabric was “fies<\/em>” (mean) but the one I hated was the linen-look embroidery fabric. Absolutely not my thing at all. When the quilt is done traveling, I might put another burger over it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The other fabrics were OK, though.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, we spent the day there–had a beer and some pizza. I don’t have too many photos to share, they were mostly for stealing ideas, but here’s a few things you might like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Overall vibe walking into the Congress Centrum Suhl<\/a> from the parking garage.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Swiss group patCHquilt (CH is the abbreviation for Switzerland<\/a>) had an exhibit called Round Bobbins<\/a>, which were strings of 35 themed four-inch textile artworks attached to five-inch wooden spools and hung from the ceiling. The hostess explained there were over ten-thousand individual artworks from eighteen countries being shown. They derive their power from the aggregation (obviously).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The columns were twelve feet tall, so it was impossible to see the pieces on the top.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There is a better picture of it displayed in Suhl on their website<\/a>.

And this exhibition was accompanied by two men playing the didgeridoo<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
As one does at a quilt show.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
This 3-D textile piece by Sabine Schneider of Stofftrio is called <\/em>Kassette Mit Stift (Tape with pencil)<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
*Norm MacDonald voice*<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few impressions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patchwork","category-travel-vacation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t