Entered QuiltCon

Truth be told, these past couple of weeks have been crazy-busy! Amongst giving a big stitch quilting program locally; finishing the piecing on the Finger Paints QAL (by the way, I wasn't the winner of the longarm quilting, but a good friend was); being part of a blog hop (see last post); prepping to teach a quilting workshop in South Florida; and finishing and taking photos of QuiltCon entries (deadline, October 31), I have felt the pressure.

As I have done before, last Sunday I reset my sewing room to turn it into a photography studio with extra lights, and took pictures of four QuiltCon entries. It took a couple hours to take pictures because... straighten the quilt, check lighting, look at pictures on computer, adjust, move a light, take close-ups, remove a thread, take another picture... you get the idea.

Then, it was time to write descriptions. When I write on the computer, I tend to start by "dumping" everything I can think of, then leaving it to "puddle." Later I return to rewrite it. Then I leave it again to later return to fine tune it. I go through this process with a computer document. When I've got everything photographed and written to my satisfaction, then I open the QuiltCon submission page to begin filling-in information. 

These are my four submissions ($15 per entry). 

2019 Temperature Quilt, 72" X 84"

1) 2019 Temperature Quilt - Everyone has seen it, if not on my blog, in the MQG webinar that Jo Avery, Karen Foster and I presented in February. 

2) Playin' Around - my South Florida MQG "Curve Around Challenge" quilt (pictures to come)

Orbits, 70" X 80"

3) Orbits - my Central Florida MQG "Modern Scrap Challenge" quilt

4) Columns - the Windham Fabrics "Artisan Cotton Fabric Challenge" quilt (pictures to come)

Illusions of Victor, 48" X 65"

5) Illusions of Victor - my Central Florida MQG's "Mid Century Modern Artist Challenge" quilt.

This quilt was accepted into the MQG's display of modern quilts at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, so it's automatically accepted into QuiltCon. 

I don't think you'd be wrong to say that I take on quilt challenges, probably because I've discovered that they push me to do something different than quilts I typically make. 

Now the wait is on. It will be December 15 until I learn whether or not a quilt has been juried into QuiltCon. Whatever happens, I'll be attending QuiltCon 2022. Are you?

Book Recommendations

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell is a story that takes place in two eras: present day, and 25 years ago. In present day, Libby has just learned that she's inherited an old, abandoned home in the fashionable area of Chelsea, on the Thames River. With the house come revelations from the lawyer: about her birth - she's the ten month-old baby found abandoned in her crib the only survivor in the house -  her parents suicides; siblings who have vanished; and the unusual people who lived in the home with them. The more Libby learns, the more she becomes fearful. Someone doesn't want her to get to the truth of what happened.

 

Linda's score: 3.8/5.0

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz attracted my attention when I read that this book would become a PBS "Masterpiece" TV series in 2022: Magpie Murders. Written in 2017, this story is nearly 16 hours of attention-keeping listening. Of course, throughout, I wondered how writers will turn this into an understandable story because this is a story within a story.

Susan Ryeland is in a relationship with Andreas, and is a Cloverleaf publishing book editor. She begins the narrative explaining that she must read Alan Conway's latest novel - a novel that changed her life. The story then turns to that Conway novel, another book in a series about Atticus Pünd, a renown detective who solves crimes in English countryside villages. That story is engaging in itself (think Hercule Poirot, Father Brown, and Miss Marple). When the narrative returns to Susan, missing pages of the manuscript, and a sudden death, Susan's personal story takes a turn. She becomes the detective. 

Linda's score: 4.4/5.0

My favorite quilt photo-taking spot has changed grown! Due to needing to remove the lowest, dying-off branches, our dear Bismarck palm is now eight feet from the ground! It means that if I want to take a picture of a quilt hanging from the lowest branch, I have to get our tallest, eight-foot step ladder out of the garage and climb. Sigh.

We love this palm, but it's growing much faster than we ever thought. 

Hubs was at it again... making pizza. This time it was his homemade crust topped with homemade refried beans. Then: hamburger, salsa, red leaf lettuce, cilantro, tomatoes, sour cream, and crumbled corn chips. Messy, but oh-so delicious!

Temperatures have begun to cool enough that in the mornings we open a door and windows to let in fresh air. The same is happening in Texas. This is our youngest grandson, Luke, watching TV on a Saturday morning while snuggled under the Color Block Postage Stamp quilt finished in 2020 and given to them in July. 

A picture like this warms my heart. Linda