Announcing "What Happens at the Abbey" Challenge!

Good afternoon Quilters!  Happy end of February to you all.

I've decided to launch my first ever Quilt challenge - and I got the idea from something that I've seen pop up over and over again on blogs and on Facebook. It would appear that many of us are fans of  the PBS show "Downton Abbey". The show is off the air until the end of the year, but we can enjoy it by doing something we love the most. Putting our creative talents to work on a Challenge.

Looking for inspiration? Your piece could be as simple as a Double Irish Chain or as elaborate as the costumes that the ladies wear.  That's what I love about a challenge. The Challenge will last until Sept 30, 2012

I'm doing this with the idea that if we could get some of the quilts donated, we could use them as a fundraiser for PBS. I've spoken with the local affiliate here, and they would love to have some quilts with a DA theme for their online auction come winter. We will continue to have some discussions in the coming weeks.  A disclaimer here is that the Fundraiser would be to support local stations here, not the nationwide network; I'm hoping that this does not discourage you from playing along.  You do not have to donate to the fundraiser to participate!

The Challenge rules are simple...your piece needs to be a traditional 3 layer quilt structure, it must  relate to the show in some way, and your piece should not measure more than 18" per side when completed.

Please (when submitting pics of your piece) provide a brief description of how your piece relates to the show.   If you'd like to donate to the fundraiser, please leave me a comment and we'll get more information about it.

I'm actively soliciting sponsors and prizes, but for now this is enough to get started.  Let me know what you think, and if you'll be playing along.

I'll be putting up a page on my website with information about the Downton Abbey Challenge, and there is an event on Facebook that's marked as The Patchwork Pearl's Downton Abbey Challenge.