Exciting times....

I know I'm a little bit slack lately to post news and updates about quilts and quilting events. A week or two ago I loaded this customer quilt and had all of the stitch in the ditch ruler quilting and outlining done, (this is such a time consuming slow job). Just as I was about to move onto the fun part, the proper quilting, I heard that Janet Stone had won Best in show at The Houston Quilt Festival, this is the bigget quilt show in the world I believe. Why is this relevant, Janet Stone also designed the quilt on my frame, it was a block of the Month design available through The Quilt Show click here for the link . All of Janet's quilts are designed around the alphabet and may have a sheep or two somewhere, this one is no exception and is named 'A-Z with Ewe and Me'!

Carol made a beautiful job of the piecing and appilique. This will be a gift for Carol's Grandson, it truely is a wonderful heirloom.

Carol supplied the backing and wadding, I used various coloured threads to suit the blocks and border fabrics but used a white thread in the background of the alphabet and white glide Magnaglides in the bobbin. I quilted whimsical feathers throughout the white blocks and then different samples of quilting in the pieced blocks, they are sampler blocks afterall.

It is a fabulous quilt!

This huge quilt was brought to me by Jenny, it was too big for me to show properly on any of my beds so Jenny supplied the photos on her beautiful sleigh bed. I quilted it with this lovely digitised design called 'Chocolate Leaves', I love this design, it shows beautifully on the wide borders.

Show News! 

My quilt 'Interlaced' has won an award, Best Runner Up in the minature category at The West Country Quilt Show, in Bristol, UK. This isn't a true minature, it's around 20"x20" I never thought to enter it in a competition, as I was filling in the form for the quilt below I realised that this little quilt would fit this category. I designed and made this quilt as a project for an article in Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine earlier this year to show step by step instructions on how I design and quilt the Celtic Basketweave. This magazine is still available here  http://mqumag.com/backissues/ it's March 2015 issue

The list of contents for that issue is here  http://mqumag.com/…/u…/2015/02/MQU-15-03-March-Cover-TOC.pdf

And my quilt Subtle Differences has won more rosettes at the same show.
That's 1st Longarm Quilting and 1st Large Wallhanging, that is just fabulous, lovely red rosettes, that is a 1st place to my US friends

And Late News, it was announced at the prize giving awards that Subtle Differences also won, (insert drum roll here),  'BEST of SHOW' too....Woohoo!

What ever will happen next???

Subtle Differences wins Best of Show!

I certainly never expected to get the phone call from Grosvenor Shows last week saying I had won 'Best in Show' at the Scottish Quilt Championships at Ingliston, Edinburgh. I have seen so many beautiful quilts out there this year that I really thought I was only supporting my local show, I never expected to win but still wanted my work to be seen.  I only had time to make this one small quilt in the past year, you can read about it here in this post, 'Subtle Differences'!
Winning at this show meant that I kept my title of Scottish Quilt Champion for another year.  Thank you to Grosvenor Shows for your great organisational skills and also to David Drummond, Sewing Machines  and Kaleidoscope Books and Quilting Fabrics for sponsoring my award at the show again this year, it's all greatly appreciated by many.
It is all great but I also feel a little guilty for winning again, there was a time when I would have said I wasn't at all competitive.

There were lots of other worthy winners in the show....in no particular order here are some of the quilts that caught my eye, if you see one of your quilts with out your name attached drop me a line and I'll add your name to it.....

Frieda Oxnam's fabulous enbellishment

Rhianon Taylor Runner Up

Birgit Schueller

This one is for sale....

Rhianon with her fabulous Dresden Quilt

Andrea Strache

Love this quilt by Sheena Norquay, exquisite details

Andrea Stracke

Andrea Stracke

Jelly Roll theme quilt

Jelly Roll theme quilt

One of my all time favorites by Rhianon Taylor

Exhibition by Lippetal Quilters in Germany and Gone to Pieces Quilt Group in the UK

My home is feeling a little bit bare just now. I had thirteen quilts away from home last week, this one in Edinburgh, two at the Textile Towerhouse in Hawick and ten of my earlier quilts have gone away on tour with Grosvenor Shows for six months, starting with Malvern Autumn Quilt Show and then all of the Spring Quilt Shows next year. Subtle Differences looks very well here in my hall for a while!