Now that the poison ivy is under control and I’m well rested (gotta love Benadryl and dogs that run through the underbrush in the woods like Cocoa — or not) I thought I’d share ribbons pics from last weekends’ guild show. I entered 6 quilts into the show, and received 4 ribbons; a blue (1st), two reds (2nds), and a light blue (HM). And a customer twin quilt set that I quilted for her received Best of Show.
My blue ribbon winner was my “Eyes on New York” tablerunner:
I was especially pleased to see this, as I wrote this as a pattern/workshop at the request of a friend who wanted to learn paper piecing. And I wrote it to have no curved seams using a foundation method for the block.
One of my two red ribbons winners was Prairie Blooms, which was also written as a pattern/workshop to teach hand applique. I think this is one of my favorite quilts (right now and is subject to change with the next quilt or my whims).
My photo of this is blurry, I struggle with good photo’s without my tripod. If you want to see a better picture, check out my website.
The other red ribbon was on a quilt I did to remember a trip DH and I took in the early years of our marriage. It was a summer trip to Dryden, Ontario and when I saw this fabric memories came flooding back of the region.
Seeing the red, second place ribbon on this was a thrill especially as I knew as I was quilting it that I was breaking all the “competition” quilting rules. In other words I have places that are heavily quilted (the curling feathers and micro stippling in the border blocks) and other areas that are barely quilted. In the picture blocks I only did a single cross-hatch from corner to corner. This leaves the blocks puffy while the overall quilt is flat and is not what judges look for in competition. BUT, I didn’t want to cover up the blocks with a lot of quilting and I didn’t want the shine that using an invisible thread inevitably produces. I wanted the blocks to be the main focus, pop out and be what DH and I see first. Again, I made this quilt as a reminder of an early trip in our marriage and it does that perfectly. I can’t wait to get it hung in the house!
My final ribbon was a light blue (Honorable Mention) on my “Christmas Star Wreath” wall-hanging.
The competition in this category was STIFF!!!!! There were a lot of small wall-hangings with mixed techniques. My prior picture of Prairie Blooms was going up against this one in the same category. While Prairie Blooms has hand applique, this one is done with a turned edge machine technique and was another quilt I designed as a pattern/workshop. And as it’s mine, I took the time to custom quilt it.
Now the confession part, about a month before entry forms were due, I mentioned to a customer/fellow guild member that I had nothing to enter in the show. Dryden wasn’t finished yet and with my schedule I wasn’t sure it would be and all my other quilts were my quilts for patterns I had written. At which point she mentioned they were still my quilts and to enter them. I am pleased that I listened and did enter them as I enjoyed seeing them hung amongst all the other quilts (yes, sometimes guilt still does work on me….occasionally).
Being at the show this weekend as a guild member (white glove hostess) really brought forward my enthusiasm for the art and craft of quilting. There were lots of inspiring, fun, and unique quilts hung and I remembered just what it is I love about this craft…. the individuality of every single quilt!
Happy quilting!
