life after quiltcon rejection

One e-mail after another.

Three times I optimistically clicked on "you've got mail".

& three times I read:

Dear Robyn,

Thank you for entering your quilt to QuiltCon 2015.  There were many outstanding quilts submitted and unfortunately we couldn't accept them all.  We regret to inform you that your quilt,  was not chosen by our panel of jurors to be included in the show. Please do not be discouraged. We received more than 1,350 quilt submissions and the jurors had to make many difficult decisions.

Thank you again for your submission. 

Best,

Heather Grant

Director of Marketing & Programming

The Modern Quilt Guild

The Christmas chaos allowed me to accept those words and disappointed, put it behind me.

At our modern quilt group Christmas gathering, someone introduced me to the world of "instagram". I read of so many others disappointed by their feelings of rejection. 

And then I viewed some of their quilts left unchosen.

WOW!

If those were not to be included, I am even more excited to attend quiltcon and see what was!

Viewing their quilts and reading of their frustrations, I became acutely aware of how different all these quilts are. And as hard as I try to truly grasp it all-

I still can't fully understand what a modern quilt truly is or IF I am a modern quilter.

Now, I don't strain forward over a frame to quilt by hand... nor do I create block after block of "traditional" familiar patterns to be quilted the traditional way.

I grow bored and have little patience for the commitment this requires. That is not to say I am not in awe of those magnificent quilts and the meticulous work that goes into them.

I love the feel of crisp bold fabrics and can feel my heart aflutter when our local shop shows off the new arrivals. 

Civil war fabrics do not inspire me. Nor do pastels or batiks.    

I do not like preprinted panels for themed baby quilts. And if I never sew on another piece of minky it will be too soon. Lastly- I will NEVER try to quilt a king size quilt on a standard machine again. (OK Rant over)

My passion is art quilting. I love converting photo's into quilts. So I joined SAQA... but I'm not sure I am like their artists either.

I love drawing my own patterns for applique. 

Sometimes I just need to stitch mindlessly... yay precuts! 

And when I do decide to follow someones pattern or technique- I always like to put my own spin on it.

I do like to do my own quilting... so I tend towards throws or wall hangings. 

I do not have a long arm and I am still struggling with my free motion skills on my Babylock.

I don't do well on deadlines. (Although they do force me to avoid the UFO pile)

And I REFUSE to comply with the rules of my local quilt police. (and that is all I will say on that overly sensitive subject)

so,

after all this rambling I return full circle. Am I a Modern Quilter??? Perhaps quiltcon will help me know

my favorite submitted quiltcon rejection:

December 2014 goal with setting kindness

The holiday season is upon us & with it comes my holiday CHAOS! From the entertaining to the travels- sometimes it feels endless.
So instead of making a goal I am unlikely to be able to keep- 
this month I will be kinder to myself and keep things achievable. 
I board a plane to visit family in the morning. 
So,
My plan is to get the rest of the house decorated & finish the last few decorations I need to finish.
and
I need to make a gift for my modern quilt group exchange.

Houseguests, gift wrapping & shopping, family travels, way too many corporate X-mas parties & events... 
Thank goodness for hiding out from time to time in my quilting room!   

Quiltcon in 100 words or less

Somehow, in all the November craziness- I actually met my November goal! ---AND BEFORE DEADLINE!

I entered 3 quilts for Quiltcon... perhaps one will even be accepted. 
(Fee was $30 for up to 3, and if you are reading this now... remember... deadline for 2015 Quiltcon is November 30th, 2014.)
I have always been proud of pieces completed. (My UFO's pile demonstrates they are few and far between. This goal of the month has really helped me stay focused on that... TY!)

What I have also discovered is I am a much better crafter than I am writer! Describing my inspiration, technique, & design process for my quilt in 100 words or less does not come easily for me. I want to share so much more. It is like being back in HS and counting words to be sure I meet the teachers demand. (Only in reverse... back then I had to find ways to s-t-r-e-t-c-h its contents out).

So today, I tip my hat to the quilt show judges forced to read those blurbs that may or may not answer what they wondered about the full quilt and closeup detail shot in front of them.

And wishing all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. 
As for my guest:
I figure if I have to clear all my quilting supplies off the dining room table to serve... you BETTER be thankful & enjoy it!!!

<3

International Quilt Festival 2014

International Quilt Festival 2014 was fantastic... So many special moments, new experiences, new friends & new accomplishments. 

I caught up with my roommate Tricia at our hotel on Monday. The pre-festival excitement could be felt everywhere! Signs in the lobby, giddy quilters chatting, reuniting, meeting, preparing! I was so excited for it all to begin I could barely sleep that night.

Tuesday was my first all day workshop: 
COLLAGE CONFETTI HORSE with LAURA HEINE

 We spent the day cutting out flowers and turning them in to a multi flower covered horse!

I spent Wednesday in a mixed media montage workshop with 

MY TEXTURED GARDEN with CECILE WHATMAN. 

We painted, dyed, sizzixed, arranged, embellished, and so on. 

I love the way this project turned out & after quilting and adding some beading, I think I may use it as the centerpiece for a room remodel I have planned!

BUT,

What followed left me emotional beyond all words!

As I walked with great anticipation towards the exhibit my quilt was to be a part of- 

I felt overcome with emotion. 

I simply could not believe I had a quilt on the same "walls" as some of the most amazing artists I have ever seen. 

This exhibit was created as a part of the 

Turning 40 celebration & I still could not believe my quilt had been chosen to share its space.

And then... up ahead- facing forward... I spotted the exhibit!!!

I was so excited, I forgot to look at much else!

It wasn't until well after that, when I decided to search for my "star block" and "headshot".

Initially, I could not find my star block as I wandered quilt to quilt in the astronomical challenge. They had received over 2000! I decided to stop searching for mine and check out astronaut Karen Nyberg's block that she made while on the space station.

OMG... My block made it in to THE quilt with hers! 

Hers being the center of course, 

mine is in the top row, block number 8!

They never did receive enough head shots for the banners they had wanted to display of "the faces of quilters", but they created some display posters and I was a part of one of them!

All this excitement... 

and it was only Wednesday night!!!

On Thursday, I participated in 

RENEGADE THREAD PLAY with MELINDA BULA. 

We learned ways to add life to art quilts though directional and varied designs in our quilting.

That night was a 1970's costume party & boy was I feeling groovy! I actually took second place!!!

and was awarded a Martelli rotary cutting mat setup!

By Friday I was exhausted and relieved to have a workshop free morning to explore the shopping!

There was definitely a purchase to be found for everyone!

In the afternoon was my only real let down all week.

I LOVE quilting.... but I am lazy & have a very bad habit of using whatever needle & bobbin thread is already in machine. I knew it was time to stop that and use the correct needle for the correct thread for the correct fabric.

I signed up for the workshop 

THREAD TOPPINGS with MELODY CRUST.

Unfortunately- it was a total waste of my time as we spent the afternoon exploring the sewing machine provided and not using the collection of thread specifics and needles I had stressed out to collect. 

Frustrated, I tried to grab a quick dinner before the evening workshop beginning in 1 hour. WTF! All the vendors closed at 5. I don't get it! The convention room was welcoming guests through 7PM and there were Friday night workshops 6-9!

Hungry, I forged on to my next workshop...

and I am really glad I did! It was 

DAISY DELIGHT—MANIPULATED MAGIC with JENNIE RAYMENT.

She was charming and her technique held my attention in spite of my stomachs growling. Eventually it will make a great pillow!

Saturday was the workshop I had most looked forward to. 

THREAD STORIES with JENNIFER DAY. 

I had met Jennifer the year before in my "eyeball" workshop. She created a new style of fabric photo painting I was eager to try.

Meet "Sam"

Long lines gave way to Saturday nights Champaign and cake to celebrate the quilt show's 40th, followed by more lines, dinner and fireworks in the park!

I also attended a modern quilt guild gathering at one of the nearby hotels. Lot's of chatter & enthusiasm. I love quilting excitement in so many younger quilters!

And before I knew it- it was Sunday! 

Final workshop of the week.

DYE PAINTED SILK SCARVES with HEATHER THOMAS

Such a pleasant morning dying and painting and hammering wire to make a scarf pin!

So little time left... so much more we had wanted to do. 

Full exhibits I had never had time to explore. 

So many vendors I had never found again to pick up that item I never saw again...

The show seems to grow every year. It occupies all 3 floors of the convention center with festivities overflowing into the park & nearby hotels!

So, with one final pose in front of my quilt:

and a bit of bonding with an astronaut standee:

It was time to head for the airport.

hmmmmmm,

we suddenly has a lot more stuff than we started out with.

A LOT MORE!

as demonstrated by me, sitting on the floor of the airport repeatedly rotating stuff between suitcases, before finally giving up, checking my carry on as another suitcase and using a different overly stuffed carry on. (Heaven only knows how many youtube videos I may be starring in as we laughed hysterically moving things bag to bag!) 

Not nearly as dramatic, but still needed, here is Tricia's repack.

A wonderful festival. All I can say is

2015: Let the countdown begin!

As for my goal of the month...

There is a November deadline for all Quiltcon entries... 

so that will be my sole focus for November.

October's Festive Goals

My favorite time of year is here!!! Time for the international quilt festival in Houston! It's a full week of workshops, exhibits, shopping, partying, sharing, and laughing. 

My goal for the month was to "be prepared". 

The more workshops you are fortunate enough to take... The more prep you have to do. 

I like to print out my lists, collect all my supplies, and create workshop supply kits that I can have ready for workshop day.

       

The workshops I will be participating in:

COLLAGE CONFETTI HORSE with LAURA HEINE

MY TEXTURED GARDEN with CECILE WHATMAN

RENEGADE THREAD PLAY with MELINDA BULA 

THREAD TOPPINGS with MELODY CRUST

DAISY DELIGHT—MANIPULATED MAGIC with JENNIE RAYMENT

THREAD STORIES with JENNIFER DAY

DYE PAINTED SILK SCARVES with HEATHER THOMAS

Suitcases packed. Let's rock and roll and celebrate 40 years of quilt shows!

I sent in a headshot for the faces of quilters collection. A star block for the NASA challenge. And I have my first quilt accepted for show display!

Houston... Here I come!

October Quilt Show Preparations

Autumn is here.... the air is finally cooling and what little color we get here in Texas is beginning to appear. 

& 

October means it's time for the International Quilt Show in Houston! YESSSSSS!!!

I have been looking forward to it since last years ended & I plan to treasure every moment of it! 

It is my first time having a quilt on display! 

I even sent in a star block for the NASA quilts collective and a head shot for the faces of quilters display!

I lucked out on workshops (although I was so worried about not getting any of my first picks that I am way overbooked). Last year I promised myself I would leave more free time to wander and shop.

OK, so I did not quite achieve that... but I did leave Friday morning free... There are simply too many fun things to experience and so little time.

I am looking forward to participating in the following workshops:

COLLAGE CONFETTI HORSE with LAURA HEINE

MY TEXTURED GARDEN with CECILE WHATMAN

 

RENEGADE THREAD PLAY with MELINDA BULA 

THREAD TOPPINGS with MELODY CRUST

DAISY DELIGHT—MANIPULATED MAGIC with JENNIE RAYMENT

THREAD STORIES with JENNIFER DAY

DYE PAINTED SILK SCARVES with HEATHER THOMAS

All are full day workshops except thread toppings, daisy delight & silk scarves. And ALL have quite the supply lists!

So while I hope to complete the binding on my dotty quilt this month, my primary goal for the month of October is to be prepared. 

To GATHER, To ASSEMBLE & To ORGANIZE all the needed supplies for all those workshops, so I can just grab "that days home assembled kit" and head from our hotel to the workshop. 

Houston... Here we come!

September's Dotty Success

I reluctantly gave in and decided to send my dotty quilt out to a long arm quilter. It ended up just a bit larger than I am comfortable quilting. (56X56). 
But seeing it now... I am so glad I did.
Thank you to Jo Caraway... I love it! Your creativity enhances every dot!
Here are a few pics of the wonderful depth she created by double layering the batting:

and now a few close-ups

you can really appreciate the quilting from the back:

  

A box for Pooh Bear...

My handmade baby shower in a box is on it's way to the mother-to be. In those uncomfortable final anxious days, I hoped to offer a pick me up, so the timing is perfect! 

I pre washed all the fabrics & batting since I wanted them able to handle daily usage. I collected all the Winnie-the Pooh fabrics (to match her classical theme)...  I was ready.

fully pieced & ready for quilting!

Left over fabric allowed for a few extra gifts!

Bibs & Burp cloths

Finished quilt!

(back)

<3

Another UFO... for blessings & sanity's sake.

I love my pieced dotty quilt topper & pieced backing. All that remains to be completed is the actual quilting and a few additional embellishments. (How many of those do we all tend to let pile up.)
Most of the others in my guild send their toppers out to long arm quilters. But I would rather not. It is expensive & I figure it is MY quilt so I want to actually QUILT IT! So I keep my quilts to throw & home quiltable size.
I am thankful I have other projects that currently will require priority, so off to the UFO stack it goes. But only for a while.

So, on to my goals for this September:

My daughters best friend is expecting her first child and she will be my daughters God Child. 

So I have decided to create "a baby shower in a box".

Her nursery has a classical Winnie the Pooh Bear theme. 

So I headed to pinterest for ideas and google for fabric searches.

I was excited to actually find Pooh Bear fabric at Hobby Lobby. (Not my favorite place to buy fabric, but when I did a search on line for the fabrics it sent me there).

So, fabric in hand... I washed it & my batting in detergent from a bottle of baby dreft I found under the laundry room sink. My kids are now 23 & 21, so I would rather not think about its age. (It made suds... so I guess all's good).

I had never washed batting before, but I was worried about shrinkage since I was unsure of fabric quality & the extra lofty batting I bought there. 

Here it is... 4 yards of fabric ready & inviting.

I plan to make a quilt, some burp cloths and bibs... and whatever else I have fabric left for as my September goal. 

Hopefully I will even complete it all and ship it before she delivers. 

(At least there are no dots!) <3

Amid the August swelter....

I broke a needle the end of last month during some overly aggressive, exhausted, & stressed out quilting. 

After all my attempts to retrieve it, I had no choice but to give up and take it in to the shop.

After a 2 week road trip with my husband, I was finally able to retrieve it. 

Dissected, deep cleaned, new bobbin case, cutter & pile, and heaven knows what else their chicken scribble said... $276.02--- holy crap! 

My Babylock Elisimo better purr like a kitten from now on!

I continued piecing my dotty quilt. The blocks are all joined, and I am embellishing with a few more Dresden plates and circles before I make my sandwich. I am still jostling the embellishments and would love some feedback. I am pleased to have met my goal with all the added distractions.

Also, I completed a new name tag as part of a challenge for our new modern quilting group!

The excitement leading to August's goal of the month

Quilting makes me happy. I love the crisp new fabrics... planning out my design... shopping for the supplies. I can lose myself for hours in all of the above...

The goal of creating a quilt for my own purpose- whether it be gift, donation, to snuggle with at home... or proudly display.

This year my friend Tricia encouraged me & "nudged me along" reminding me ... 

"this is our year- to stop worrying about "the quilt police" and bravely enter our quilts in shows and challenges".

I had entered quilts before in our local show... but never beyond my zip code.

Entering a quilt in the IQA 2014 show was a challenge I could not believe I took on. The decision to enter forced me on their timeline and a determination to meet certain requirements I might otherwise have skipped. 

Sealing that envelope containing my entry & fed-exing it out was an accomplishment I was sooooo proud of. And while there is always that mild hope one might actually make it in to the show... I knew my quilting was not ready yet for IQA level competition. 

It felt really good to have the confidence to mail it in!

So- I decided to participate in some of the other show challenges. There were several good ones this year. 

(Were they always there & I never noticed? probably... but this year they called out to me).

One special one this year, was the challenge to create a quilt about life & being 40. For most of my friends... turning 40 was a freeing and perhaps empowering milestone. But for me... it was the most stressful time of my life (as I explained during the quilts creation in previous posts). 

So I was thrilled today to open up an email that began:

"Congratulations! Your quilt Frantic at 40 will be featured in the special exhibit Life Begins at 40."

So.... my goal for August is a simple one (Since I will be gone for half of it).

I need to ready & and then mail in my quilt for the show! It still needs a sleeve and now, more formal labeling. 

Update as of August 6, 2014
My quilt is on its way to IQA. Padded in mounds of tissue paper in hopes of avoiding fold lines and wrinkles. Double bagged to protect from dampness. Labeled several times on bags, on tissue, in box. The envelope and completed paperwork included twice. Bubble wrapped & boxed by UPS with delivery promises & reassurance of my "housewears" arrival. My very first time shipping a quilt... oy vey... I may need chocolate. 

update evening August 8th: 
Sunshine in Texas past 2 days... 
arrival shipment confirmation email just arrived! 
Hopefully there was no sorting damage & they will open asap to limit folds.