2021 Monthly Color Challenge - December

It’s not easy being green.
Kermit the Frog

It sounds a little cliché, but I can NOT believe that it is already December and our last month of the 2021 Monthly Color Challenge!!

We’ve spent the year celebrating the beauty in color by focusing on a particular color each month.

Here is a recap of the beautiful hues and a few of the fifty blocks that I pieced throughout the year to create my topper…

Click on each photo to read about that month’s block.

As you can tell, this month’s color is green – olive green 🫒

Green is such an interesting color!

Representing life and growth as well as greed and jealousy, green is both loved and hated.

It is strong and bold. It is muted and soft. And there is a variety of green for every derivative in-between.

Kermit was right: it’s not easy being green.

Saving the Easiest for Last

Our Monthly Color Challenge host, Jen Shaffer, did a wonderful job with this quilt-along!

Every block pattern was well-written and illustrated. Each design was easy to cut and sew and appropriate for every skill level. I’ve been really happy with how the blocks have turned out every single month.

In addition to providing the complimentary (FREE) block designs, Jen organized quarterly giveaways and prizes that were donated by quilt companies across the country. It’s a tremendous amount of work to coordinate a year-long program like this, and I appreciate the opportunity she provided so that I could share my work and my mission to connect quilters to the fight to end Alzheimer’s disease. It has been both an honor and a ton of fun to participate as a featured blogger all twelve months.

To grab December’s block, hop over to her blog: Patterns by Jen.

My topper design needs four dark green blocks that use the December pattern:

Ashli's custom layout for her 2021 Monthly Color Challenge Quilt

I have so many wonderful green scraps that I think I could – and might – make an entire topper with this two-fabric block. It’s incredibly fast and easy to sew together. Best of all? Without trying or doing any pinning at all, my joints and points came out perfectly on all four blocks. That alone makes this block a winner in my book!

Here are the eight fabrics I used:

Here are my four blocks:

Aren’t they lovely?

Olive & Chicken Cacciatore

Our 2021 colors were inspired by fruits and vegetables. To add to the fun of the quilt-along, our quilt bloggers have shared their favorite recipes to coordinate with each month’s focus food.

As I mentioned above, December is all about olives.

I’m new to enjoying olives. In fact, I adamantly disliked them for my entire life. Then, about a year ago, I ate a green olive that was hiding in a salad. And I liked it!

Since then, I’ve been trying them in more recipes. The olive recipe that I’m sharing with you today is a fantastic version of cacciatore that I created by accident. After throwing into the skillet whatever vegetables that I happened to have on hand one night, my husband and I were very pleasantly surprised by this dish.

Cacciatore is traditionally made with a base of tomato, onion, and garlic that has been sautéed in olive oil and then simmered with chicken or rabbit meat for 45 minutes to an hour.

It’s easy to make, and it is very healthy.

My version of Olive & Chicken Cacciatore has a rich, robust flavor, and the chicken is so tender that it falls right off the bone. It also makes a nice, large portion so I usually have just the right amount leftover for my lunch the next day. You can click here for the full recipe – I hope you’ll give it a try.

Assemble, Quilt, and Bind

Now back to the quilt at hand…

I love how quilt patterns always end with “Assemble the topper, quilt as desired, and bind.”

That little sentence makes it sound so easy.

And yet, I have a nice, big stack of quilts and sewing projects that need to be finished.

I am determined that this one – my 2021 Color Monthly Color Challenge quilt – will not find a home in that stack!

To hold myself accountable, I am inviting you back here to the Quilt 2 End ALZ blog on December 21st to see the final result.

I’m excited to see it finished, to share it with you, and to reveal our 2022 Q2EA Theme of the Year 🎉

I will also be sharing how you can join me in another complimentary block of the month project for 2022…here is a sneak peek to give you a glimpse of this gorgeous quilt: