GREAT news!!!

Can you stand yet another picture of the "Be Still" quilt?!!! I haven't seen it since early February, so I'm starting to forget what it looks like. Not really, but almost.

Yesterday I got the most fantastic email from Cathy at AQS. I was initially bummed, because the subject heading was "2008 Paducah entry." The last couple of years her emails have been titled, "CONGRATULATIONS!" But when I read the first sentence, and the first word was "Congratulations!" it took my breath away. They like my quilts. They really like my quilts. :) I feel like Sally Fields. :)

For years my personal goal was to get a quilt into the show at Paducah. To me, this show is legendary, and to be accepted is the greatest honor. I've never been to Houston. But after years of rejection letters, my first faith quilt was accepted into the AQS show in Paducah in 2001.

"Think Before You Speak"
40" x 40"
Suzanne Kistler 2000

This was the quilt that opened the door for me into the world of the national quilt scene. oooh aaah. We went to the show, and I was hooked. When they say it is an honor to hang there, they are right. I've been to the show 3 times, the most recent being the 2007 show. I have no idea how the judges made their choices last year, because every quilt was top-notch. They were all SO GOOD, I was VERY glad I wasn't a judge. It was completely overwhelming just to be a spectator.

This year I had decided not to go. And then the email arrived. And then I checked the list of semi-finalists. Folks, this reads like the Who's Who of the quilt world. I recognize more than a half dozen names of quilters whose quilts have won Best of Show and are now hanging in the Museum of the American Quilter's Society. All of this talent in one place? I may have to rethink my "I'm not going" attitude.

I hear the siren's call, and I just might have to follow it to Kentucky. I'll keep you posted. :)