QuiltCon 2027 Community Outreach Challenge

The Community Outreach Challenge is about community supporting community. Teams of Individual members or local MQG guilds make a quilt together based on the challenge theme and rules. Up to 80 of those quilts hang at QuiltCon and those sold at the event benefit Paint Love, a nonprofit organization empowering kids through creative projects. Uniting communities of quilters and non-quilters alike, the outreach challenge embraces the creativity and generosity of our membership.

2027 Community Outreach Challenge Theme: Half-Square Triangles

There are so many great ways to use half-square triangles to experiment with different repeating shapes and secondary patterns.

Choose ONE of the provided color palettes below and use it in its entirety.

Note the NEW Entry Timeline! Submissions will open on September 1, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. ET. A quilt top or rendered quilt design is acceptable to hold a space in the exhibit. (Pictures of fabric will not be accepted.) Entries will close when the exhibit reaches 80 entries, and a waitlist will open. If the exhibit does not reach 80 entries, submission will close October 31, 2026.

Palette #1: Misty

Palette #2: Bold

2027 Community Outreach quilt sales support Paint Love

Paint Love is a nonprofit organization bringing extraordinary arts programming to schools and nonprofit partners, empowering kids through creative projects that are artist-led and shaped by trauma-informed standards. We envision a world where all young people have access to creative experiences that empower them to imagine a future not limited by adverse experiences. Since 2014, Paint Love has served more than 55,000 young people together with 150+ schools and community partners.

Learn more about Paint Love

Challenge Summary & Rules

Make the Quilt

Use all the colors from ONE color palette to create your quilt. Solids or prints (or both!) are fine to use. No other colors may be used in the quilt top or binding. The quilt backing is your fabric of choice.
Do not add neutrals, stick to the palette provided!
Make sure the design theme of Half-Square Triangles is the focus of your project.
Size constraints of a maximum of 65”x85” and a minimum of 60”x80” must be adhered to. Quilts outside of these size guidelines will not be accepted. If the size is misrepresented on the entry form, the quilt will not be hung at QuiltCon.
If your guild or team decides to use a pattern, be sure to get permission from the pattern designer and include that information when you submit the quilt to QuiltCon.

Work Together

This is not a solo project. Include as many people as you can from your active MQG guild, or create a team of individual MQG members.
Groups eligible to enter a quilt in the Community Outreach Challenge are MQG local guilds or teams made of Individual MQG members. The MQG cannot accommodate teams of people with various memberships in local MQGs. Quilts made by those groups should be entered in the Group or Bee category of the judged show and are not subject to the challenge limitations of the Community Outreach Challenge.
Your active MQG guild or MQG member team will provide all the materials to complete the quilt.

Photograph & Enter Your Quilt

Due to space and person-power limitations, the Community Outreach Challenge will be capped at 80 quilts. Although the quilt does not need to be complete, a photo will be required to submit the entry. The entry system will be open September 1 at 12:00 a.m. EDT to October 31, 2026, or until 80 submissions are reached, whichever comes first.
To submit your entry, an image of the quilt design is acceptable. By November 30, every group must submit a photo of the finished quilt top for the quilt to remain in the exhibit. Additionally, if your quilt will be offered for sale at QuiltCon, you need to submit a high-quality image of the finished quilt by December 31, 2026.
A waitlist will open after the 80-quilt limit has been reached. If spots become available in mid-October, groups will be contacted from the waitlist. All groups on the waitlist will be contacted with a final result by October 31, 2026.
There is a $25 entry fee for each Community Outreach quilt offered for sale at QuiltCon. To subsidize return shipping costs, there is a $50 entry fee for each Community Outreach quilt NOT offered for sale at QuiltCon.
There is no prize in the Community Outreach Challenge.
There is no set pricing for the quilts, should you choose to list it for sale to benefit the selected non-profit organizations, each guild will set its own price. While every quilt is different, we recommend starting in the $250 – $350 range and increasing your price from there. Remember, this quilt has cost your guild time and money, and that should be factored into the amount that will be donated to the charities at QuiltCon.