Hand quilting away...and some quilt show pictures...

Where does the time go?  I've been quilting on "Folk Art Applique"...I can tell I'm getting older...I quilt the black on black parts when the light is good, and the white on brights part the other 99% of the time...LOL!

As this quilt is smallish, I've been taking it with me as I wait while having the car serviced, sitting in meetings, spending time in the car waiting for my daughter.  It is interesting fielding the questions that arise from total strangers.  My favorite, to date, came Monday while waiting in the Subaru dealership during an oil change..."is that crocheting?"  Wow...

I entered two quilts in the AQS - Grand Rapids Quilt Show that will be in August... "All Around the Town" and "Life of Riley" (my version of the Civil War Bride quilt).  This is my first try at entering a juried, big show.  I spent a whole day trying to get good pictures of them for the required entry photo CD.  They recommend taking the pictures outside on a cloudy day for best results.  Are they nuts?  I live in the midwest...the wind is ALWAYS blowing...hence the whole day, waiting for tiny still moments in between the big puffs, to take four pictures.  

I anticipate how hard it is to have quilts accepted, but I'm still glad I went through the motions of applying.  I think it will make me a better quilt archiver for my own benefit, for one thing.  I have not been taking the time to photograph finished quilts as I should be.  As I try and gather pictures of quilts I've made, they are either TERRIBLE, non-existent, on 35mm film negatives, blurry, or the color is not true.  I am really spoiled by the digital world...now I need to learn to do it properly.

I've been working hard on my new original project I've been drafting.  I hope I can share it with you soon.  I can't share it here until I get a copyright for the designs, as I'm hoping to publish it.  As slow as I am getting things done right now, someone else with more free time might take my images and run with them, and that would make me quite sad...sorry to be such a tease about things.

Well, at least the white quilting thread shows up for pictures...I need to spend more time learning how to photograph the black on black quilting.  Maybe I should make my chalk quilting marking thicker...at least THAT would show up!  The diagonal crosshatching and outline quilting will probably show up better when I photograph the finished quilt outside.

Very slowly, I am processing quilt show pictures from Sauder Village.  Going to the show is one of my favorite yearly traditions.  I will share the pictures as I get them cropped and cleaned up.  I will start with the quilts from me and my friends.

I'm not sure I like it when they hang things on point, around corners...I can assure you that this quilt of Cheryl's is perfectly square.   :o)

Sorry some of these tags are fuzzy...there was a crowd around Cheryl's lovely quilt for her granddaughter...I had to be quick snapping pictures!

 

It would have been fun to have finished the hand quilting on "Folk Art Applique" in time to enter it in this show, but I must say I am enjoying taking time to do it without a deadline. My husband is so proud that his boxer shorts have now been seen by hundreds, maybe thousands, more women in the midwest.  "Boxer Rebellion" is back on the wall at his work place now...he insisted on having the ribbon displayed with it for a while.  I would wager that there aren't many men that have gotten second place ribbons on their 5+ year old undies...

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)