2026 Mystery Paint Chip Challenge Rules:
Your task is to create a quilt inspired by a mystery paint chip. Anyone interested in the 2026 Challenge should see Alexa Morrison to receive a numbered envelope containing your mystery paint chip. Paint chips will be available during the day and evening guild meetings
- Look at the name of the color on your paint chip. Yep! That will be the theme of your quilt.
- Your quilt should feature the color on your paint chip (or any value of the color). In addition to the featured color, you may use any neutral (white, black, grey, ivory) and one additional color.
- No swapping paint chips!
- Example: If I receive a burnt orange paint chip called “Autumn Harvest,” then I will design a quilt inspired by the autumn harvest using fabrics in the orange color family, along with one other color, and a neutral.
- Any technique may be used – hand work, machine, pieced, appliqué, collage
- Any style of quilt is welcome – art, modern, traditional.
- Quilt must have 3 layers – top, batting & back.
- Minimum size is 24” on each side and Maximum 48” on each side. Maximum perimeter size of 192”.
- Your quilt must have a hanging sleeve appropriate for the size of the quilt and a label with your name attached to the back.
- Any embellishments must be securely attached. Please be mindful that you are not adding anything to your quilt that could be inadvertently transferred to someone else’s quilt (i.e. glitter, paint, liquids, etc).
- You must be a member of ECQG to enter.
- Quilt must be made between December 2025 and October 2026.
- Quilt will be due the week of the October Guild Meetings. The paint chip you used for inspiration will be turned in along with your quilt.
- Specific information on how to submit your quilt will be provided closer to the due date.
- When the Mystery Paint Chip Challenge quilts are submitted at the October 2026 Guild meetings, members will vote to select their favorite quilts.
- All participants are encouraged to have their quilt displayed in the 2026 Quilt Challenge exhibit.
Direct any questions to the 2026 Challenge Advisor: Alexa Morrison
East Cobb Quilters’ Guild
2025 Matriotism Challenge Winners
1st PLACE
Shattering the Glass
Quilt Maker: Vickie Lord
Agnes Northrop (1857–1953) was Tiffany Studios’ leading designer of floral and landscape stained glass windows. In a time when women artists were often overlooked, she was one of the few publicly credited.
Vickie was drawn to Agnes Northrop’s gift for turning rigid glass into fluid, luminous art. In a male-dominated field, she built a respected career and defined a signature style, supported by the skilled Tiffany Girls. Their collaboration shows how great art emerges from many hands, united by vision. For this quilt, she reimagined her landscape in fabric—jewel-tone textiles replacing glass, stitched lines recreating her design’s structure. At its heart is a “shatter”—a moment where beauty fractures, just as she broke boundaries limiting women’s artistry.
2nd Place
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Inspired by:
Alice Walker
Ode to Alice Walker
Quilt Maker: Melinda Rushing
Alice Walker is a vital voice in American literature. As the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with The Color Purple (1982), she brought the struggles and resilience of Black women to the forefront. Her honesty and lyrical prose have inspired generations, expanding cultural conversations and affirming the transformative power of marginalized voices and literature.
3rd Place
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Inspired by:
Rosalynn Carter
Rosaylnn Carter
Quilt Maker: Margaret Williams
Former First Lady of the United States and co-founder of the Carter Center, Rosalynn Carter was devoted to improving the quality of life for people around the world. She worked as an advocate for mental health, early childhood immunization, human rights, and conflict resolution. She founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers which promotes the mental health and wellbeing of family caregivers. As an environmentalist, she established the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail to expand pollinator habitats for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
4th Place
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Inspired by:
Rachel Carson
The Power of One Voice
Quilt Maker: Gail Scogin
Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring (1962) launched the modern environmental movement and led to the establishment of Earth Day in 1970. As a biologist working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she understood the devastating impact from the widespread use of pesticides, especially DDT. With poetic language, she warned that if we did not change direction, we could one day encounter spring without birdsong.
5th Place
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Inspired by:
Matriotism over 250 years of American history
250 Years of Matriotism
Quilt Maker: Steve Agnello
Steve’s inspiration for this quilt was to highlight the women chosen by our members to represent the spirit of Matriotism over the 250 years of America’s history. As he researched these women’s contributions, a pattern emerged. Throughout our history, Patriotism has inadvertently resulted in wars, oppression, inequality and other dark periods. Women have been motivated to respond to the needs of society through action.