Announcing the 2026 Pantone Quilt Challenge

Today we’re spilling the beans on plans for this year’s Pantone Quilt Challenge, which kicks off on Monday March 2 and will run for 8 weeks through April 27!

There are a few important changes for this year’s challenge. First, a warm welcome to Audrey Esarey as co-host this year, and huge thanks to Elizabeth Ray for co-hosting this challenge for the last 3 years. And second, this year’s challenge will shift towards community and away from prizes.

Participation is simple – make something according to the basic rules below, and share it with us! We encourage you to share your progress along the way and connect with other Pantone Quilt Challenge makers by tagging @PantoneQuiltChallenge and using the hashtag #PantoneQuiltChallenge2026. We can’t wait to see what you make!

Read on for all the details!

Cloud Dancer

This year’s challenge will feature Cloud Dancer, Pantone’s 2026 Color of the Year. They describe it as “a whisper of tranquility and peace in a noisy world” and “a key structural color whose versatility provides scaffolding for the color spectrum, allowing all colors to shine.”

Challenge Rules

We know there are a lot of strong feelings about white as a color of the year — and we share many of those sentiments! We discussed ideas with many past challenge participants and considered several different options for this year’s challenge. Ultimately, our intention has always been to encourage you to design and make a quilt focused on a single color. With this in mind, the parameters of this year’s challenge are:

1. Make a white-ish quilt.
2. Aim for roughtly 90% white and 10% anything else. We’re not going to be overly picky, but we hope this guideline encourages you to think beyond white as a background color, and come up with something that represents your own personal design sensibilities.
3. “White” can include: creams, off-whites, beiges, very pale versions of other hues, and low volume prints.
4. “Anything else” can be: literally any other color. We don’t care. Have fun!
5. You can submit as many entries as you like. If you want to make 15 white-ish quilts, go for it.
6. You can submit a completed quilt or a completed “just the quilt top.” In-progress or incomplete quilts will not be accepted. Part of the goal of this challenge is to finish!
7. All items should be completed in 2026. There will not be a “for exhibit only” link-up this year, but feel free to tag us in older projects and we may share some of them over the course of the challenge.
8. The challenge will run from March 2 – April 27, 2025, with the linkup open for 1 week from April 20-27.
9. When tagging @PantoneQuiltChallenge, using the #PantoneQuiltChallenge2026 hashtag, and submitting your final project, you agree that your photo(s) may be shared (with credit) by the hosts in blog and social media posts about the challenge.

New! Participation Prize

We’re so appreciative of the sponsors that have generously supported us over the years! But as we began planning this year’s challenge, we realized we needed to simplify — and when we asked for your feedback on potential changes, we were encouraged to see that most of you value community and connection over judges and prizes. With everything happening in the world, it’s clear that supporting each other is more important than ever.

This year’s challenge will not be judged, and there will be no prizes. Instead, we will offer a woven quilt label to each and every person who completes a challenge project! These will be mailed to all participants, both US and international, via 1st class mail.

New! Support the Challenge

We estimate that providing labels and mailing them to all participants will cost ~$200. To enable this, we are accepting donations from challenge participants to help offset the cost of labels and shipping. You can donate via either Sarah or Audrey’s shop; where you donate does not affect how the money will be used.

This is an OPTIONAL donation — you do not have to donate to participate in the challenge or receive the participation prize. We appreciate your support!

Examples & Inspiration

We’re not providing fabric equivalents. Instead, here are some images of quilts we admire that fit this year’s challenge theme. These images are used with permission — thank you to Heather, Heidi, and Bob for letting us highlight your work!

How to Enter

To share your project with the challenge community: The link party/gallery will be hosted here at sarahruiz.com. Each entry should link to a blog post, Instagram post, or other social media post where you share your entry. Please include the project title and quilt dimensions.

To receive your 2026 Pantone Quilt Challenge label: Fill out a Google form (link to come) with your mailing address and a link to your completed project.

Both the link-up and the Google form will be open from April 20-27, 2026, and will close on April 27 at 11:59 pm US Central time. Late entries will not be accepted.

Schedule

We’ve put together a list of weekly prompts for those who want to play along on social media or your own blogs! We’ll be sharing one post per week to keep you motivated and highlight some challenge posts from participants.

This schedule is just a suggestion! You do not have to follow it or post progress shots to be eligible to receive the label at the end. Feel free to work at your own pace!

• March 2 – Inspiration – What’s the inspiration for your project?
• March 9 – Fabric Pull – How are you building your palette?
• March 16 – On The Cutting Mat – Are you carefully cutting or doing some improv slicing? We want to see!
• March 23 – Construction Zone – Piecing, applique, EPP, or more? Give us a peek at your work-in-process!
• March 30 – Halfway! – How’s your project coming along? Almost done or need to pick up the pace?
• April 6 – Quilting – What’s your quilting plan for your project?
• April 13 – Details – Show off your favorite parts of your project!
• April 20 – Last Minute Hustle – Get that binding or finishing done, then snap a great photo for your entry!
  • Linkup will be open 4/20-4/27
• April 27 – Challenge Deadline!!

Past Challenges

• 2025 – Mocha Mousse – Sarah @bysarahruiz & Elizabeth @elizabethkray
• 2024 – Peach Fuzz – Sarah & Elizabeth
• 2023 – Viva Magenta – Sarah & Elizabeth
• 2019 – Living Coral – Rebecca @bryanhousequilts & Sarah @nohatsquilts
• 2018 – Ultra Violet – Rebecca & Sarah
• 2017 – Greenery – Rebecca & Sarah
• 2015 – Marsala – Anne @playcrafts & Adrianne @adrianneonthewindyside
• 2014 – Radiant Orchid – Anne & Adrianne