QuiltCon Rejects/QuiltCon Accepted

On December 14 the MQG sent acceptance and rejection emails to those of us who entered quilts in QuiltCon East (February 23-26, 2017 in Savannah, Georgia). We were told that 1,500 quilts were entered; I have no idea how many were accepted. I only know that for the three quilts I entered, I received three emails. Two quilts were rejected and one was accepted. While you might think that I would be wildly thrilled, and I am very happy, the accepted quilt is the one I like the least.

Here are all three entries - full quilt shots, and one close-up, just as I submitted them.

Can you pick the one that was accepted?

I renamed my Make it Easier (a quilt I designed to teach newer quilters more about piecing) to "Basically Modern" because the quilt incorporates traditional blocks with modern characteristics - alternate grid layout, color, and negative space. And I quilted it dickens out of it! I thought that with Angela Walters being the 2017 QuiltCon keynote speaker - have you seen her elaborate longarm quilting?! - the judges might be accepting. I put a lot of extra work - ruler work, custom designs, and different thread colors - into this quilt to make it look like it was longarm quilted, even replicating designs from Kathleen Riggins, Angela Walters, and Christa Watson.

"Basically Modern," 52" X 58"

Triple Layer Nine Patch was my entry into the APQ Nine Patch Challenge. My design incorporates three layers of nine patch blocks. The first layer is a vertical nine patch; the second layer is a nine patch on the diagonal that's accomplished with transparency, a technique of seemingly overlapping colors; and the third layer is the quilting which is laid at another angle.

APQ Nine Patch Challenge, "Triple Layer Nine Patch," 45" X 45

"Lime 'n Luxe" was my entry for the Michael Miller Luxe Fabric Challenge. We had to use Luxe fabric (sort of satiny, slightly slippery and thin-ish to work with) and could add one other Michael Miller solid. I chose lime. A personal challenge was to quilt only straight lines, something that's not only not my style, but also because my theory is that QuiltCon judges look for simplistic quilting.

"Lime 'n Luxe," 34" X 35"

I wasn't wrong about that. 

Are you surprised to learn that the last one - Lime 'n Luxe - is the one that was accepted?!

To say I'm disappointed in the outcome of my entries is an understatement. I wish I could let it go as easily as some quilters are saying they do! I've spent more than a week recovering from my news, seeing some of the accepted quilts on Instagram (one quilter had eight quilts accepted!), and thinking about this.

And, as if this isn't enough... yesterday (December 21), I received an email from the MQG, inviting me to share my Lime 'n Luxe quilt in a book that the MQG is publishing! Good grief.

The Modern Quilt Guild has partnered with C&T Publishing to produce a book documenting the modern quilting movement from its early beginnings through 2017. At the heart of this book will be quilts from our members showcasing the best of modern quilting design and technique. Documented through beautiful, full-page photography, the Modern Quilt Guild walks readers through the rise of the modern quilt movement and the formation of the Modern Quilt Guild. From the earliest landmarks through 2017, they offer up more than 175 quilts that showcase the best and most pivotal quilts from the past 20 years of the modern quilt movement.

So here I've been, lamenting that - based on my QuiltCon rejects (check out that hashtag on Instagram to see some awesome quilts!) - I apparently don't "get" modern quilting, and then this quilt is chosen for a book! Go figure. 

I'm still of a mind to not enter QuiltCon again, but perhaps time will temper that.

Christmas is coming! Since we aren't going anywhere, and no one is coming to see us, I have days of sewing time ahead of me. A few quilts are on my want-to-make list. And isn't it nice to just work on whatever one wants? Yes it is. Linda