Honors

I have just learned that my big Orange Hibiscus was juried into the AQS show at Paducah, Kentucky. What an honor. It is always a thrill to be one of many selected to hang with some of the most talented quilt artists in the world. I never expect to win a ribbon, since my technical skills are somewhat lacking. Or more aptly said perhaps, woefully lacking. Still, the honor lifts my spirits and inspires me to continue to practice, practice, practice. Hibiscus has just returned from a stint at the Road to California show as well as the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XXI in Virgina, where she was in competition with some tremendously talented quilt artists' pieces. She was quite humbled to be there and bask in the back lights of the others, though not receiving award recognition.


As I noted earlier, Thistles has won an award at the upcoming Smoky Mountain Quilt Guild show, opening March 19 - 21. 2010. For more information on this fabulous little show and all the incredible talents in this group, go to their website at www.smokymntquilters.com. Again, an incredible honor to be selected.

This will be Thistles first outing. When she has completed her time at the show in Maryville, Tennessee, she will have to ship out to the NQA show in Columbus, Ohio. in June. She was a very long time in the making and endured several crisis' with me before she was able to hang in full view. So she is very eager to get out of the house for a while and see what everyone else is up to. I am very proud of her success thus far and hope she will continue to be able to hang out with the beautiful ones. I'll tell you more about her birth and growth at another time. Just sorta enjoying the moment right now.

Comfort

Let me introduce you to Little Orphan Annie, aka Princess Anne. She came into my life at a family reunion several years ago. During a lovely Labor Day picnic, right before I left my lawn chair, plate in hand, to go to the table, still overflowing with delightful southern comfort foods, she appeared from the fields. My great-niece initially discovered her, a pitiful sight, covered with burrs and mud. She was very skinny, with a couple of chipped teeth, no doubt incurred during her homeless ordeal and encounters with curious dogs. However, much to the dismay of my great-niece and I, it seems that this creature decided that I was to be her chosen one. AAAARRRRRGGGGGGGG. I am so very allergic to cats. I already have one stray cat, who thinks he is a dog, but that's another story.



So now, here is this poor thing who likes me, she really likes me. She's camped out under my feet. What's a woman to do???? I have to take her home, pick out the burrs, get rid of the cooties, and take her to the vet for all the appropriate treatments. And now, Princess Anne rules the homestead. The best thing about Annie, she not only loves to cuddle, but she absolutely loves quilts. All I have to do is put a piece of fabric near her and she is on it like a duck on a Junebug. She continually lavished her attentions on the piles of fabric that I had strewn about my studio while I was creating my latest quilt, "Fractured Honeysuckles". I have almost gotten my Honey quilted, but here's a sneak peak. I will post honey in all her glory, once she is completed. You know, I think that just maybe Annie felt a kinship with this piece, considering her unknown origins, perhaps hiding from the unfriendly dogs in the late summer tangled honeysuckle vines of southeast Tennessee.