One Year In....and observations on a quilt show

One year has came and went and many changes have occurred for me in most facets of my life.

The person that has by far been the most influential in my life, Randy Perdue, resigned from his position as Director of Training. It isn't worth getting into, but politics makes things hard and when personalities come into conflict, ultimately someone has to give. Ultimately being a leader, means knowing when to say when.  That is what he did.  I miss him dearly but he has been amazingly successful since, and the sky is the limit for him.  We keep in touch and he has expressed more faith in me that any other person....for that, I thank him, and I also believe that the sky is the limit for me.

What we think about we bring about....or in the words of Shakespeare, "There is nothing is either good nor bad, but thinking makes it so."

So.....or should I say Sew??????

It has been roughly one year since I started quilting. One year later and several projects later. I have created multiple patterns and keep them "squirreled" away in a book. Tish and I are getting ready to release our first pattern. I have completed one project that I entered in the Strawberry Festival quilt show in Buckhannon, WV. I will post on that in a little bit.  I have two other patterns that I have made projects for. One was a quick design that I put together and posted in another post, but did not go back and finish the official block. I bought fabric for it, but things just happened and it got pushed to the back.  I have another recent pattern completed and sandwiched and waiting for Tish to quilt. I will post it when it is done.  On that same thought, Tish and I bought fabric this weekend for a collaborative quilt/project. We are debating using the pattern that is sandwiched at this time, or possibly doing a log cabin quilt, which neither of us have tried.  We aren't sure, but we are hoping to gain some recognition with this project (more-so her name) recognition. Together we are The Appalachian Couple Quilters! "You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want." -Zig Ziglar

On to the WV Strawberry Festival....

You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want. Zig Ziglar
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/z/zigziglar381984.html

You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want. Zig Ziglar
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/z/zigziglar381984.html

You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/z/zigziglar381984.html

This is my mom's quilt. I have posted on it before. This was my first true quilt (one that can be used as a quilt/blanket). I am proud of it, and as always I must give a shout out to one of my FAVORITE pattern designer Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs. This one is called Looking Glass and the picture here does not do it justice.

To understand the process of evaluation for the S.F. quilt show, the categories are as follows: Visual Impact, Design, Colors and Fabrics, Top Construction, Borders and Sashing, Quilt Design, Quilting Technique, and Finishing Technique.  All marks I received in this quilt were good to excellent. With Color and Fabrics being the excellent. Everything else was good or very good (more V than G).  They liked the flange binding, but could use more accurate ditch stitching, and the corner mitering could be more accurate. It didn't win anything, but for my first project I was please with how it turned out and it is a gift for my mom.

This was an improptu piece that I designed and decided to throw together. it was a one block design that I decided to make 4 blocks and orient to get the visual cross/plus design in the middle. it is a throw that I will personally use unless someone near by decides they want to buy it. I was satisfied with the way it turned out. The quilting in it, I did myself. Tish finished the binding for me. the plus part has chevrons radiating out  from the center block. the center square has straight lines that come in to a the center point and the outside sections of the blocks have narrow sun style lines radiating out at approximate one inch intervals. I called this one optical illusion.  In total it got a couple of very goods, mostly goods and one satisfactory on quilting design.  I really didn't expect much and THE reality is, I wish I had done better on the quilting. In reality......I feel the judges were generous.  I did get a "precise" rating (generally) on piecing which made me happy. i  take great pride in taking time to get this part of the process right. The big issues were stitch length. Again I felt they were generous.

 For an impromptu piece I thought it turned out just fine and I really had no intent on putting it in the quilt show....Holy HST!!!! Tish talked me into it and I don't regret the evaluation....THEY WERE GENEROUS!!!!

Hawaiian Stepping Stones!!!! A pattern designed by Sandra Walker of MMMQuilts. This was my first quilt and it was a pattern test. With the stiff competition there including some traditional quilts as well as some Bargello patterns, I was happy to pull an honorable mention in Amateur non-longarm division. I completed this entire quilt myself except Tish gave me some initial instruction on the flange-binding and did the feathers through the color blocks....my first and it did the best. I received one excellent, 3 very goods,  2 goods, one N/A, and one Needs Improvement on the quilting. The remarks were on the quilting and stitch length. A big thanks to Sandra for allowing me to use her pattern!

So my thoughts....I'm not one for needing public recognition. Matter of fact I am not real big on it at all.  Winning awards is nice, but I enjoy just a simple kind word from someone that I respect as opposed to a public accolade. I won employee for the year (2016) for the area (training) I work within my agency of employment. I had to go up and shake hands and get an award and a medal for my uniform. I struggle with that for some reason.  However, it was pleasing to receive the award I did in the quilt show. Many people have been quilting for years that entered and it validate, for me, that I have some skills....THANKS TO TISH, and that I am pretty good at what I do for the little amount of time I have in doing it. My dad always told me to put all possible effort into everything I do, otherwise it isn't worth doing. That being said, I'm more interested in Tish growing in recognition than I am myself. I enjoy the art aspect of the quilting processes as well as the process which helps me with an outlet for energy that I have (including times of frustration energy). I have ALOT of projects I need to finish that are UFOs at this point as well as the aforementioned collaborative project with Tish and one that a co-worker commissioned me to do. If I have time I will be doing a Sunday Stash post on it later. I have alot to get done today including help Tish take pics, work on a couple designs and work on a Kaffe Fassett project that I have been desiring to do since I found his fabric. Look for more on that in the Sunday Stash post also. 

Just a taste of KF

I am sure, in the future, I will likely enter more projects....Nothing ventured, nothing gained they say.

I would say though, being "judged" now means I can same I am officially part of the quilting community.

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