GUILD CHALLENGE FOR 2025

NSQG Quilt Challenge for October 2025 Quilt Show
The Quilt Challenge for the 2025 Quilt Show is to create a 12″ finished square
by interpreting the creative style of Wisconsin artist Lois Ehlert. Lois used simple
shapes, bold/bright colors, and many types of mediums to create her collage
illustrations.

Lois Ehlert was an artist and an illustrator born in Beaver Dam, WI in 1934.
Her mother was a seamstress and her father was a carpenter. She learned to sew
at age 8 and used her mother’s fabric scraps to create art. Her father would also
give her wood scraps to use in her designs.

Cutting and pasting things into a collage was her favorite technique. Her
parents gave her a card table to use as her space and she said she continued to
work on this same table thru her later years. She received a scholarship to Layton
School of Art in Milwaukee, graduating in 1957. She began her career in
Illustrating children’s books. Her designs are unique because of the bold colors,
crisp shapes and amazing creativity. Lois won the Caldecott Award for her book
Planting a Rainbow. She went on to write and Illustrate 38 children’s books, many
of which are nature related. She died in Milwaukee at 86 in 2021. Some of her
most recognizable books are Chick a Boom, Pie in the Sky, and Color Zoo.

The challenge is to create a 12″ square finished block which can be inspired
from one of her books or a random idea using her style of geometric shapes,
collage design, colorful fabrics-you choose. You can be any technique, among
them pieced, appliquéd, woven. Be creative!
We can’t wait to see how you’re inspired by Lois Ehlert!
If you have any questions, please contact:
Marlene Deutsch (marlenejerhaj@juno.com) or Cynthia Mohsenian
(cywm2259@aol.com

(Sample of a block inspired by Lois Ehlert’s bold colors and geometric shapes)

Ideas : Lois Ehlert’s website

Due: Quilt Show October 16 to be displayed in the Guild Quilt Show 10/17-18, 2025. Note: you will need a registration form for your entry. Form is due September 30, 2025. (Link to form coming soon)