Bloomington & Paducah Quilt Shows

I had a wonderful time at the Bloomington Quilt Show this year.  I got to help in the judging room for two days and that was so exciting.  There is always so much to learn listening to the judges converse and pour over each quilt.  My charm stars quilt was there, but didn't generate any excitement.  They didn't even notice all the thread changes :(  

Some of my favorites this year were "Elegance" by Elsie Campbell.  She won Best Handquilting and it was well deserved.  Unfortunately, my photo has a black line through it :(  But it was spectacular!

 Another favorite was this beautiful butterfly by Indiana quilter, Linda Johnson.

The background is so simple - nine patches, but her use of color makes it sparkle!  There's a little bit of 3D with this quilt also. 

Margaret Solomon Gunn had two quilts there.  I usually follow her blog, but I missed that "Illuminations" was finished and heading out to the show circuit.  The colors really sparkled in person, very fitting to the name!

 Her other quilt, "The Twisted Sister" was also here and it was exquisite!  Somehow, I didn't get a full shot of the quilt, but I have several detail pictures.  Her quilting is so precise and intricate.  I could stand and stare all day.

Now, one of the other interesting things from this show was my discovery that two quilts had been entered in the previous year.  It was just a lark that I even noticed.  The night before the show opened, I was looking around the internet for pictures from previous year's shows.  The next day, as I was looking at the quilts hanging, I noticed one that I had seen online the night before!  It was a beautiful quilt, and won an Honorable Mention this year, no placement last year.

 The other one I happened to see on my camera as I was reviewing last year's photos to see if I could delete some and make room on my memory card, LOL.  This one caught my eye on Saturday when we were taking quilts in.  I knew I had seen it before, and had spent time pouring over it.  I checked and saw that it was in Cedar Rapids, so I figured I saw it then and let it go.  But then, reviewing the pictures on my camera . . . . BAM! There it was in Bloomington last year!  This one also, didn't place last year,  BUT, it took second place in a category this year.  So I let one of the committee members know.  Luckily they are the ones who have to decide what to do.  When I left the room they were leaning towards taking the cash prize away and bumping up the quilts below it.  One of the folks in the room was suggesting that the entrant shouldn't be allowed to enter for 2 or more years as well.

The Paducah news is great - I got the shocking news that Polly Pocket got accepted into the Paducah Quilt Show - WOW!  I really wasn't expecting this at all.  And the goal I set for Paducah was just to get in so, hey, I'm already a winner ;)  My goal for Daytona Beach (Polly) and Lancaster (Wedding Memories) is a teacher ribbon.  I went ahead and entered Charm Stars into one more show - MQX East.  They had a special award for scrappy quilts, so I thought it would be fun to send it out there and give it a shot.  I really need to block it this weekend though, it looked pretty rumpled at Bloomington and didn't catch anyone's eye.  My concern is that it might bleed.  There are some burgundies that have already bled a little, so I'm scared that a full blocking would cause a huge bleeding fiasco.  But, I'm going to have to go for it, otherwise the quilt has no chance - especially since one of the judges at MQX was also here at Bloomington.  Wish me luck!