Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2011 - Part 3

There were quite a few quilts with a Northwest feel to them, but there were also some quilts inspired by foreign lands.

Some were inspired by fictional lands!

Some were inspired by other hobbies entirely.

And this quilt was inspired by the very show it was being displayed in. 

But a lot of quilts were a bit more abstract, just playing with line and color.

Although I felt like I was taking a million pictures, almost spending more time photographing them than looking at them, the quilts I've posted are only a fraction of the quilts I saw, and I didn't even see all the quilts in the show!  My friend and I had been meandering and chatting, we had a nice long lunch and even met up with a couple of friends of hers for a bit.

As the afternoon wore on, there were still several nooks and crannies left unexplored.  We had only entered one or two shops, which were hiding even MORE quilts.  Despite scanning frantically every time we turned a corner, I still hadn't found my quilt.  I was getting more than a bit antsy so I decided to go to the quilt office to find out where mine was hung.  Except that I didn't know where the quilt office was, so I had to do a bit of searching for that too!  Finally I found the office and a very helpful volunteer checked her list and gave me the coordinates... it was a far corner we'd not gotten to yet.... but ironically was only a couple of blocks from where we had been when I decided to hunt down the quilt office.  C'est la vie!

Now I was very excited to get to show a quilt in public for the first time, and I was very happy with how my quilt had turned out.  But after looking at literally hundreds of quilts that were, honestly, far superior to mine, I was feeling a bit out of my league.  My friend was doing a good job of encouraging me and had said "They've probably got yours off in it's own area because it's so unique!"  Which sounded plausible... I hadn't seen any other 3D type quilts in the show.


Until we turned the corner and saw this.

 Gah!  Someone had done *my* quilt, but they'd done it bigger and better than I did!  Seriously, this quilt is amazing and it had much tighter quilting than mine.  So to be honest I was a bit crestfallen.  I know, I know... it's not a competition, but still, it's hard not to compare when someone else has used the same pattern.

My disappointment didn't last long however, because as we walked up the block my friend shouted "I see it!" 

 "Where? Where?"  I didn't see it, I just saw another, similar 3D quilt in Asian prints (didn't get a picture).

"It's right in front of us - you can't see it because it's sideways."

My little heart started pounding and I all but ran up the block to see a handful of women looking at my quilt.  Giddy as a school girl I positively SQUEALED at them.  "This is my quilt!  This is mine - I made it!"  

 But you know... in a totally refined and classy way. ;)

The ladies were very generous in their compliments and one even asked to get a picture of me with my quilt.  It was my own personal 2 minutes of quilting fame, and it felt very good indeed.

Satisfied with seeing my little quilt out there with all others, we wandered off to see another area, and to take a bit of a rest.  But I wandered back later and snapped this picture from across the street... of another person taking a picture of my quilt. =) 

I did try to sneak up and overhear what people were saying about my quilt, but although a few people did stop and look, by the time I got over there they'd walked off.... and several people just walked on by without even stopping.  Oh well... I was incredibly happy to be a part of the show!

Now that I've broken the ice with a fun show, I am super excited to participate in future shows.  I know I'm not quite up to competition level, but I absolutely think it's worth it to show in Sisters again.  Maybe even  because I'm not at competition level.  I want to show that even someone with a full time job and other hobbies, even someone who quilts at the kitchen table without the benefit of a long arm, computerized, stitch- regulated, sewing machine can still make beautiful quilts.  And those quilts should be shown and celebrated too.