Toot Toot My Own Horn!

Piece Name: "Florabundance" Quilt

Well, you might recognize this quilt from several blog posts ago. I made it for my quilt guild's 2007 quilt challenge. The pattern is from a book called "Floral Abundance" by Rosemary Makhan. Great book!!!! NAYY! Anyhow, every year a little, quaint shopping village called Peddler's Village in LaHaska, PA puts on their Quilt Show in the Gazebo. We'll this is the third time I've entered and this time I chose this red and white quilt. I have been lucky in the past with my only other two submissions to win Second with the Blue Jacket (see previous blog post) I made for my guild's 2004 Quilt Challenge and a little wallhanging I made took Honorable Mention last year. The show is VERY small compared to what quilters are used to but the judges are sticklers and ribboning isn't easy even with the very small competitive field. They always get me on my binding (and rightly so)!! Anyhow, I entered the red and white quilt into the Potluck category and not the Applique category because Pot Luck allows machine quilting and Applique must be hand quilted (in fact other than Clothing, Pot Luck, and Kids they all pretty much require Hand Quilting). I haven't gotten the official letter yet, but I cheated and went to their website. My quilt took First Place - Machine Applique!! They apparently moved it out of Pot Luck and into Applique, and then split the Applique group into Hand and Machine. I am tickled pink (or would that be red in this case?)! I hoped that I might get a second, but didn't think it would get first because the binding on the back is typical Melissa (meaning not always even, though not too bad!). Yay! I don't quilt to get ribbons, but dangit they are fun to get!

If you go to Peddler's Village in LaHaska, PA between now and April (and I recommend it for the shopping and the brownies) please stop in in the Gazebo and check the quilts out! Some are even for sale (though not mine).