that moment when...

you hear about something that you thought would never happen.

yeah...pretty darn vague.

i've been told i do that!

this quilt...this really cute quilt with a GIANT outside border.

my sweet friend Kathi sent it to me spring of 2014.

and it hung in my quilting closet for a year because i just wasn't sure what to quilt.

and then...it spoke.

and boy did it speak loudly!

(the middle of the bottom border)

i did these double spined feathers with bead board background.

lots of stitch in the ditch.

each of the doll dresses was quilted differently.

i played with my quilters groove rulers for the curved cross hatching

(is it okay to confess that it wasn't very even??) and i loved how it turned out.

so...details...

warm and white batting.

solid white cotton thread.

i used Lisa Calle's Quilters Groove rulers for the circles,

curved cross hatching, bead board work in border, and other curves.

the rest of the work is freehand.

feathers, ribbon candy, and the fill on the dresses.

it was on the frame for about two weeks and i worked pretty steadily on it.

tonight i learned from my friend that it got the Grand Champion

in Graham County Fair in Safford, Arizona.

absolutely speechless.

isn't it great?!?

here's a close up of the ribbons.

now...if tonight were the night that i would go to meet my Lord

i would leave satisfied.

so much in my life has come together in the last couple of years and this is the icing on the cake.

the cherry on the sundae.

well...okay...there are a few other things that would be better but i won't share those now.

thank you for letting me share this with you.

the only question remains:

"will you quilt something like this for me?"

let's talk.

seriously.  send me an email.

this kind of quilting takes a lot of time and creative energy.

obviously, i have it in me but i've learned that when i feel pressure (oh the pressure of a ribbon win!) it just is elusive.

i really need to wait and wait patiently for the quilt to talk to me.

sometimes it happens quickly and sometimes it doesn't.

sometimes it takes a year.

what a treasure it sure is, that waiting time.

that's the moment when magic happens.

~ h

buzzin' right along

getting ready for the trip to fall market has been overwhelming at best.

in the midst of it, though, i still have regular work to tackle.

so here's what i've been up to:

jan's quilt ~ quilted with Rhapsody pantograph in white thread

audrey's quilt ~ quilted with Turtle Tales pantograph in a brown variegated thread

barbara's quilt ~ custom quilted in a rainbow variegated thread

kathy's quilt ~ quilted with Jeffrey's Star pantograph in blue thread

today i've got a halloween quilt on the frame,

painted boxes for the booth at market,

cut ribbons,

went to a sale at one of my lqs that's closing,

and got some work done on the new-new website.

now it's time to take the girls to ballet at which i will work on the jack of hearts pattern.

slowly but surely i will get it all done.

~ h

p.s. i know y'all are wondering about the fruit flies...managed to get the apples collected and thrown away and set out apple cider vinegar traps.

i am winning that battle!!

fruit fly infestation

i'm probably opening myself up for all sorts of help.

which i don't need...because i know what the problem is.

we have, in our backyard, an apple tree.

and those apples are all old and filled with worms.

they fall and then, you guessed it, they are a treat for the fruit flies.

of course, they want nothing more than to hang out in my house.

it's ridiculous.

so, instead of picking up the apples, i'm in the office with two fruit flies flying around my head writing a post about them.

the logic escapes me.

i'll go pick them all up when i get home from dog training.

and i'll get abi to help.

of course, "get abi to help" means actually paying her some cold hard cash.

totally worth it to destroy the swarm...

floating stars quilt pattern

it's update is finished and it's ready (100%!!) for download.

:D

makes this girl super happy.

you can find it here.

by the way...that's red, white and blue fabrics from Riley Blake Designs.

aren't they fabulous?

i love a good dot fabric and i'm afraid i went a little overboard.

but it sure is fun!

quilting on,

~ h

i'm here...and i'm alive

it's been an overwhelming couple of weeks.

the hardest part was the email i got nearly two weeks ago (on friday) that the website company i went with for my new (yes!  NEW!!) website had sold to another company and now i need (yes!) another new website.

*hangs head*

NOT what i needed right now.

well...okay...after a day of shock and several webinars we settled on a new company and now i (friends with fabric but not so much with technical computer stuff heather)

get to build my own website

(because i don't have the money to hire someone else to build another one).

and here we are.

you and i with this new blog.

but the more i do this i realize that i think i'll like it better.

there's a calendar on my new website

(that i managed to add on my own...you should be cheering right there).

there's a page for wholesale ordering.

there's a store for patterns...and a part for longarm machines...and...whatever else i can come up with.

so for now this is my opening blog for the new blog site.

i promise it'll get more exciting.

truly.

vastly more exciting!

quilting on,

~ h