The quilt show is over!

It was a lot of work, but you can't beat a quilt show for time with friends and lots of inspiration!! We're projecting a great turnout (will have to see after the numbers are all crunched) and we're really happy about that--this was a new location for us after many years at the same place. (You always wonder if that is going to impact things.) Here are a couple of pictures taken right at the end of the show before we started tearing down from the weight room above the gymnasium:

I am very happy to say that the wedding quilt "Autumn Garden" tied for 3rd place in pieced bed quilts! I was so excited--how much fun to have a nice yellow and white ribbon coming to hang in my "studio!"

I can honestly say that my guild, Pride of the Prairie Quilters, has some very talented quilters in it! Some of these gals are just amazing! I am fired up to dive into my ongoing and new projects now and start building my stable of quilts for the next show in two years!

For the first time, I had a quilt appraised by a professional accredited appraiser. It was mostly curiosity that spurred this. I wanted to know what kinds of things an appraiser looks at and how they evaluate quilts. It was an interesting experience--this woman did a very thorough overview and wrote quite a detailed summary. I'm glad I did it, but I doubt that it will be an expense I will outlay in the future except in very specific cases (e.g., an antique quilt or the unlikely instance I end up with a big time prize winner in a contest). I would recommend any quilter try this once--it already has me looking at some of my own designs that I'm working on with a different eye.

So now it's back to everyday. The house was a major mess when I got home Sunday night! I am shifting gears back to my part time job responsibilities, getting the house back to rights, laundry, and all the usual stuff. What I'm itching to do is sew!