Vote for me! Ugly block challenge

I know most people who read my blog won't be able to go see the "Ugly Blocks" while they are on display at Something to Crow About (during Quilter's Safari, April 26 - May 4), so I'm showing off my design here.


When I posted pictures about which block design to use, I knew I had to make some variation of the coffee-cup block.  After all, it is my own pattern, and I am very attached to it.

The basic cup is paper-pieced, but the handle is 3-dimensional.  My original reason for doing it that way was so that the curves I wanted in the handle were easier to make.


The coffee cup finishes at 7" square, so I hunted around for a way to extend the block to 12" square to meet the requirement of the challenge.  In the past, I have squeezed two coffee cups into a four-patch design, or made various borders to increase the size of the block.  (Funny thing, I never really thought of making the size of the paper pattern larger.  Hmm...)

I love text in quilts, so I used letters from Tonya Ricucci's Word Play Quilts to make a bold statement.  Don't know if my block is a winner, but I really like it: different, graphic, and highlights the Ugly Fabric (rather than trying to hide it).

Just for comparison, here are some of the other Ugly Fabric challenge blocks that caught my eye.

It was so fun to see all the different blocks that could be made with this fabric.  Much creativity.  So many different designs, and different fabric pairings.  I thought the green was an inspired color choice, although I had also thought of a lime green pop of color with it.

What would you have done with this Ugly Fabric?