Friday, August 1, 2014

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.



2 comments:

Nicole Painchaud said...

Good for you! You're an inspiration! I've been quilting for years now and I haven't entered a quilting contest yet. And many of my quilts have been given away. My one goal two years ago was to join a guild and meet people and I did that. This year's goal was to meet other quilters online. I enjoyed reading your blog, and you've inspired me to enter not one but three quilts for our Quilting Guild contest. Maybe I'll join other contests out there. Thanks for the motivation.

TylerRose said...

Go for it! Once you fill out that first form and see that very first quilt in a show it gets easier. I have decided to create even more challenge blocks and quilts now between big projects. They are smaller and less cumbersome than my larger projects. Yesterday I even order fabrics specifically for the QuiltCon charity quilt challenge.