Quilting news too!

I took a big step with quilting this spring - I entered one of my whole cloth quilts into a couple of national shows! 

This is a view of the quilt as it was drying from being blocked.  The stitching shows nicely from this angle.  The judges are going to ding me on the fact that the quilting gets "eaten up" by the binding and the quilt is not exactly symmetrical.  I think they will also say that the design is too similar, the motifs need more distinction in size between the motifs and the background fillers - it doesn't "pop".  I do think they'll like the feathers :)  If they read my description they might appreciate that it is an original design.  I won't get it back until mid-June probably.

Even more exciting: I went to Cedar Rapids to attend one of the shows I entered - MQS (Machine Quilting Show)!!  It was great because I could stay with my aunt and uncle (for free).  Mom drove and we went out on Thursday, back on Saturday .  I was even able to take 4 classes.  Friday was the best one: a rhinestone class with Claudia Pfiel.  Can't wait to start using that on my whole cloths!!  The Saturday morning class with Dusty Ferral was a disappointment and I probably won't take another class from him.  It's a shame, because I was interested in another class at the same time, but chose this one instead.  And of course, Dusty's class was the more expensive one :(

After the Cedar Rapids show, the quilt was shipped directly to another show - Carson Valley.  I expect it will do better in Carson Valley than in Cedar Rapids.  The Cedar Rapids show is for machine quilting specifically - and lots of national (and international) quilters enter.  My only real hope there was that I might get a teacher's ribbon.  But at Carson Valley, maybe an honorable mention is a possibility, or maybe, just maybe a real ribbon :)  crossing fingers!

It was pretty cool to see my quilt hanging in a big time show!  My aunt and uncle even had a great time seeing the show on Friday.  I really enjoyed the time with them at their house too.  I bought some books, a couple stencils, and a new marking pencil.  I am excited to create something amazing for our guild show coming up in the fall now!

This is the paperwork I had to work on to send the quilt out and make sure it got sent on to the next show.  I had to spread it all out on my desk at work and very carefully walk through it step by step, LOL

In customer work, I'm finishing a T-shirt quilt for a graduation next weekend.  I'll be delivering it Monday or Tuesday.  She has a nice collection of shirts, but not much unifying elements.  The customer bought the sashing fabric and the backing.  The quilt shop suggested Minkee for the backing . . . . .I"m pretty nervous about that.  I got the quilt loaded Monday, and will begin quilting tonight.  Hopefully it will go smoothly.  I've heard that Minkee can be stretchy and hard to work with, so I'm proceeding with cautious optimism :)  The piecing went smoothly but I did make a mistake.  I cut one of the shirts a quarter inch too small.  Luckily, I put it in the top corner so the coping strip blends into the sashing somewhat.  I'll point it out, but I think the customer will be ok with it.

I also made a pair of blankets for two boys from church who graduated this year.  I made the "furry on one side/minkee on the back" blanket that my kids love.  Since the boys are twins, I put an initial on each one so they can tell them apart.  They are in Cincinnati Bengals colors as both boys are fans, and the initial is in Bengals logo fabric :)

Next up is a pair of sampler quilts for a customer :)