Catching Up

Boy,the last month has gone by way too fast. I can't seem to keep up. So, since I'm up before the crack of dawn, I thought I'd catch everyone up. What's been keeping me so busy? I have no idea but I'm exhausted. One thing was getting ready for the quilt show. I was in charge of quilt registration and Soul Sister was in charge of judging. We are old hands at this which is both a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing because we know what we are doing... a bad thing because we're used to being in charge and like to do things our way regardless of what the quilt show chair wants us to do. It all works out in the end.

Last year we were in tight quarters for the quilt judging because there was a little miscommunication with the church (seems Baptists NEED their fellowship hall on Wednesday evenings. I'm Presbyterian. We don't need that much space on Wednesday evenings except once a month but not in the summer.) We judged in a small Sunday School classroom and there was MUCH bellyaching all day long. Not one to make the same mistake twice (or at least twice in a row), I commandeered the extra office space in our building. 2000 square feet - that ought to do it.

If you ever get the chance to participate in the judging of a quilt show, you should. It is a learning experience. Volunteer to scribe or hold quilts and you get to hear what the judges think. If you are lucky and have great judges like we did this year, you will learn a few tips on what they are looking for in a prize winning quilt. There's one prerequisite. Keep your opinions and knowledge of the quilts to yourself. It's not always easy.

All in all, we were glad to have judging day behind us. It's a lot of work getting ready for the day and it's a lot of work the day of judging.

I spent last Saturday demonstrating machine quilting at the show. It was a lot of fun because you get to sit there talking to people and I got a small quilt finished and a large quilt 3/4 finished. I was there all day so I got to visit with other "demonstrators" who were hand quilting, hand piecing and machine piecing. We were sitting beside the Gammill vendor. They had a Statler Stitcher humming along all by itself all day long. I've decided that's no fair. If I do the quilt registration forms for future show, I guess I will have to add a check box for Statler Stitcher. Good for you if you can afford one but it's not fair to compare that to the workmanship of a longarm quilter guiding her machine herself.

Here's one of my quilts from the show. It was a kit I purchased at Mid-Atlantic. It one a 1st in the Kit category and Best Domestic Machine Quilting. Yay me!

In amongst all that, I've gotten a little sewing done. I finished a graduation gift for my mother to give to a friend's daughter. I showed it earlier before it was quilted.

I finished quilting this one - a kit from a LQS that is no more. I had fun experimenting with the quilt designs on this one.

And I finished this one. These were nickel squares I bought from French Connections. They are all African fabrics. The quilt is a wedding gift for one of the guys I work with. He and his wife do work for World Camp and travel to Africa a lot. They are cool people. Their 1st anniversary is coming up in November. I'm going to tell them it's an 8th month anniversary present.

Finally, I finished this top this week. I've been working on it off and on for three years. It is a pattern by Lori Smith - From My Heart to Your Hands. The fabrics are all civil war reproductions I bought in a frenzy at Mary Jo's. Getting this top done was a milestone.

Let's see what else...

We went to see James Taylor with a couple of friends and their 5-year old daughter. JT was wonderful. We sat on the lawn at the amphitheatre and the 5-year old danced the whole time. Preciousness.

My Dad showed up at my house with a crew and installed replacement windows. No more 70-year old drafty windows! Yay Dad! (Yes, for free. I am a lucky girl.)

I think that catches us up. Whew! Now I'm tired all over again. Time for a nap!