Busy, Busy

I wish that I could report that I've been sewing up a storm.  That has not been the case, but I have been sewing a bit.  A wee little bit.

Several years ago, when I first downloaded some embroidery patterns - gosh, that's got to have been at least a decade ago!!! - I thought I would stitch out every one.  hahahaha!!  yep.  Then I discovered that it was about an hour/design, and that was just for the easy ones.  I stitched out a trio of neon tetras, and set them aside, thinking that I would use them in a quilt, some day.

There is a SAQA call for entry coming up, for a Spotlight Auction Quilt.  These are to be 6" x 8", and will be matted behind a mat with 4x6" opening.  The fishies are just the right size.  And so, I started quilting.

 Once they were quilted and faced, they called out for embellishment.

At the same time, a long involved chat began on the SAQA yahoo list.  It began with a lot of negative comments about people who enter quilt shows and "We Are Artists, not quilters" statements and just a lot of really super strong opinions that left me with a sour taste for the lot of them.

One of the first things I liked about SAQA was its presence at quilt shows.  They introduced a whole new world to me, when I saw their exhibit at the first IQF show in Long Beach years ago.  They opened my mind to possibilities that I never dreamed of.

And now, some of the loudest, most frequent voices, are not only unsupportive of quilt shows, they are openly hostile.

A request that the conversation draw to a close drew even more commentary.   Exhausting, that's what it is.

And so, I tuned them out, and listened to the Three Little Fishies, who told me they wanted their world embellished to the edges, not just in a 4x6" window.

Aren't they cute?  I think they're cute.  I may or may not hang them from a piece of driftwood.  That might be a bit much.

The other quiltie thing I did was to entertain my quiltie friend Sharon and her husband, as they toured Central California after Road to CA, on their way back to Colorado.  We met on the way home from Paducah in 2006, and have been friends ever since.  This was her first time to see my house, so I was quite pleased to show her my newly painted abode, rather than the tired 80's wallpaper that was here for decades.

That's all I've got for now, but I do have plans and I do have goals.  There are still almost three weeks before the entry deadline for Best of the Valley Quilt Show.  I am hoping to finish at least one more quilt before then, so that I have something more than my itty bitty fishies to enter.

Goals are good, but sewing them out and finishing them is even better!
Hope to check in again soon, with some positive progress.  Happy Quilting!!