Good Friday, indeed...

"Holy Good Friday, Batman, "Baltimore Rhapsody"

has four outer borders and corners!"  

(Those corners aren't quite finished, but they are attached...)

It's not quite a top yet, but it should be by Easter Sunday.  I think I will add something else above the F clef "hearts" because I don't think the corners are strong enough...more flowers, or maybe some musical notes.  This music quilt has no music notes...weird!

Thank you to everyone for the helpful comments concerning the arrangement of the blocks.  It was so difficult to make that final commitment, but it is done now.  

Designing by the seat of your pants, thinking about each block and not thinking about the final quilt, certainly made that final choice more difficult...balancing overall shape, color, angle and size of instruments, scattering of birds, etc.

I need to finish appliqueing the corners, decide how much to trim off the outside, and finally top stitch around the edges...THEN comes the basting, YIPPEE!!  I am so eager to start hand quilting this sucker!

I am also considering appliqueing tiny initials and the the date like I did on my Civil War Bride quilt.  I love how charming that little detail looks on antique quilts, I just need to figure out where so it doesn't disturb the overall balance or stick out too much. 
  

Between this project, Holy Week, and trying not to be nominated for "Worst Wife and Mom of the Year," I have not answered many comments lately.  Sorry!  I will get to each and every one at some point.  Thank you for your patience.  Your participation has made this journey so much more enjoyable for me...actually tolerable at some low-spirit times.  Thank you for hanging in there with me!

Happy Easter, Happy Spring, Happy Passover, Happy Spring Break...oh, Happy Everything!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Winners and the 40-hour road trip...

First things first, thank you so much for your sweet congratulations and hilarious comments about Downton Abbey.

Between blog comments and emails, here's a tally of the popularity of character mentions from this favorite BBC/PBS Masterpiece Theater presentation:

Branson - 6
Carson - 9
Matthew - 6
Lady Sybil - 6
Lady Mary - 9
Thomas - 1
Dowager Countess Violet - 19
Countess Cora - 1
Ms. Hughes - 7
Ms. Pattmore - 2
Isobel (Matthew's mum) - 1
Lord Grantham - 4
Lady Edith - 5
Bates - 4
Anna - 7

I love them ALL, but I am really trying to figure out a way that Branson and Lady Edith will get together, or maybe Branson and Lady Mary(?), Branson and the Dowager(??), Ms. Hughes and Carson(???), the Dowager and Carson (????).  Come on, Season Four! 

I think we all would like to by spunky like the Dowager some day...

Using the Random Number Generator, our 2 winners of the Downton Abbey T-shirts are:

BJ Elder and Barb. 

Congratulations!  I wish I had a T-shirt for everyone!  

It seems like a long time until Season Four of Downton will air.  I have been re-watching earlier seasons while appliqueing my long borders - what was I thinking when I made them so busy?

I was scanning through the freebies on NetFlix yesterday afternoon while in my hand applique sweat shop (temporary nickname for the Quilt Cave...) and found the BBC drama "North and South" in 4 episodes.  It was FABULOUS, so if you are suffering from a Downton Abbey hangover, watch "North and South" as a little "hair of the dog," so to speak.  (new crush: Richard Armitage...sigh...)

Now on to the "Thelma and Louise (minus Louise) AQS Lancaster Quilt Show Trip" - this post REALLY should have been called "How NOT to go to a fabulous quilt show."  Lots of things I would have done differently:

1)  I made the round trip in less than 40 hours (and that includes more than 14 hours of driving, part of the return trip in the middle of the night with snow...).  I had a limited window of time to make the trip.  Next time I will cancel something so I can spend more time seeing everything and HAVING FUN!

2)  DON'T GO ALONE!!  Quilt shows are always more fun WITH someone else.  I should have at least made some firm plans to try and meet up with blog buddies (or kidnapped people here for the road trip).

I was looking for a couple of familiar faces, which I never saw, but I did bump into the same woman 9 times...it was almost as if we were stalking each other.  If I had seen her in Amish country, I probably would have been really freaked out.

I mean, seriously...if a person spent too much on patterns in one particular vendor booth, and no girlfriend was there to see it, did money really exchange hands??

3)  Don't try to see EVERYTHING (including some of Pennsylvania Amish Country) in one day...it is impossible and will just make you crazy. 

4)  Don't gush when talking to pattern stars like Lori Smith when purchasing patterns in person at their booth(s).  She was WAY busy (she is very popular and was working the booth solo) and they will NEVER remember that you met briefly over a VISA machine.

5)  Make sure to get that long overdue hair cut before leaving town...you never know when the camera will be on you (AQS did a video interview with me...should appear on YouTube QuiltTV at some point - if anyone finds the interview, after you've stopped laughing, send me a link!).

6)  Don't try and take your own picture of you and your quilt...you will just look pathetic and it won't work.  Ask some nice person to take one for you.  

But remember to HAND THEM YOUR CAMERA when you make your request, LOL.  I, sheepishly, asked a person, and they took one with THEIR camera and continued on to the next quilt.  I'm sure she got home and had a good laugh about THAT one...
  
7)  Commit to the trip sooner, stay closer to the venue, and don't try and find the absolute cheapest room in the tri-state area...Firty-two bucks did get a bed and working shower in York, PA, but it wasn't too great as a place to applique overnight before the show.

8)  Keep your tool purchases focused on what is needed to finish a current project.  I found this neat tool to help adjust the tension in my hoop (and save my fingers) and a pure graphite marking system for preparing my "Baltimore Rhapsody" quilt top for hand quilting.  

I also bought some 50-cent batting squares from the Hobbs booth so I can make my final batting decision in the next couple of days.

9)  And finally, don't get upset when your quilting buddy finds new people to hang out with while you are gone.  Find a prize or two to take home and share...

In stitches,
Teresa   :o)

"All Around the Town" takes a prize at AQS Lancaster...

The verdict is in..."All Around the Town" takes a 3rd place ribbon in the "Wall Quilt: Hand Quilted" category at the AQS International Quilt Show in Lancaster, PA. Yee-haw!

The show opens this morning and the winners were supposed to be available by 8:40 AM online.  I have not located them yet.  I actually got a nice phone call late yesterday afternoon...that is the witching hour in our house for robo-calls and unknown people selling stuff and asking for money.  

I did not recognize the phone number and ALMOST DIDN'T PICK UP!  I'm glad I did, because it was a courtesy call letting me know about my quilt taking a prize.  Andrea of AQS wanted to know if and when I was coming to the show to set up some sort of interview (???).  Then came the blood-curdling scream as I hung up...

I will be at the show on Friday...anyone else going on Friday??

To celebrate, let's have a give-away!  It's been way too long since  we did that.  I have two beautiful, brand-spanking-new Downtown Abbey T-shirts, both are red and size 2X (I thought they might shrink a little...).

3 rules:

1)  You have to be (or become) a follower of Fabric Therapy to participate.

2)  You have to tell us who your favorite Downton Abbey character is and why (if you have not watched Downton yet, just pick a good, British, uppercrusty name, and make up a reason you just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that person...).

3)   Your comment must be time and date-stamped BEFORE midnight EST Friday night, March 15.  I will post winners on Monday.

Have a great weekend and maybe I will bump into you at the Lancaster show...I will be the tall, large woman with a #@*&-eating grin on my face...

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)