8/19/14

Winning Sunflower

Last night I attended my guild meeting. It was the big reveal of the challenge quilts we made for the "Initially Yours" challenge. I was absolutely flabbergasted when Blooming Sunflower was voted the winner of the challenge by the membership. Truly unbelievable. I won a $50 gift card to Fabric Depot, a huge fabric store on the other side of town. Can't beat it! Because, as everyone knows, one can never have too much fabric. Quilt challenges are probably my favorite part of belonging to a guild. It was great fun, and when you see some of the creativity in the quilts that were shared, you'll see why I was so surprised to win.

Our event organizer, Clara, kicked off the evening's activities by showing some of her challenge quilts from years gone by. The one she's showing below was a challenge that involved including ten elements. She rattled them all off, but I can't remember what they were. It had to include a curve, a straight line, a house, and a bunch of other stuff. Clara's quilt was very cool.


I forget what this challenge was...something like, "To Your Heart's Content" and Clara's quilt was her interpretation of the Oregon landscape.


Then, the "reveal" got underway. This member has the same initials as me, "BS" and she started us off with her Beach Scene.


This member bemoaned her initials, "JL" saying that there were very few "J" words. Still, she came up with this flashy "Jewelry Lover" quilt.


The bird is some sort of jay, whose name included the initial "L", and so she represented her initials in at least two ways. 


I was surprised this quilt didn't win because it was very well done.


There were 19 participants in all.


Quilts were numbered and hung on the wall. During the break, members were given a chance to view the quilts up close, and then vote for their favorite.


It wasn't easy, let me tell you. All of the quilts were wonderful, without exception.


The diversity of quilts made it difficult to choose any one favorite.


I liked the quilting on this one. It was called "Calico Star", or it could also be called "Calico Strings".


This member, "M.E." took the "Initially Yours" theme literally with her "ME" quilt. Interestingly, her middle initial is "D", and so her complete three initials are "MDE". As she explained her quilt, she failed to mention the "D" showing in the middle, and a few of us believed that she didn't see that she had inadvertantly created all three of her initials.


Some members tried new techniques. The one below was a "Marbled Bunny" and contained a fabric dying technique new to its quilter.


The quilt below was this member's first attempt at fusible applique. 


I love the couched kites' tails:


There were some clever interpretations of the theme with this member's "Must Have" quilt.



With great difficulty, the members voted for three winners.


In third place, "AL" with her "Appliqued Lily".


She created a fabulous three dimensional lily.


And she used her initials in a variety of ways!


"SH" garnered second place with her "Sashiko Hexagon" quilt.


And just look at her beautiful quilting!


And look who took first place with her "Blooming Sunflower" quilt. Holy Moly! Totally didn't expect that, but I'll take it!


Also on display last night were some miniature houses created by some of our members. These were done "round robin" style with each participant completing one side of the house, and then passing it along to the next participant.


Here's one to thrill any homeowner's association:


Check out the "rain chain" on the house below. It was decorated both outside...


and inside!


They ranged from wild...


To sedate.


Looks like fun, doesn't it?

So. Well. I'm all a-flutter with that $50 gift card burning a hole in my pocket. I don't see how I'll have time to get to the other side of town to go shopping before we leave on our trip. It'll definitely give me something to look forward to when I get back.

Today I'm making peach chutney. I have an unexpected day at home because an appointment was rescheduled to tomorrow. There is still quite a bit of catching up to do, but I'm getting there. And I'm hoping to get some sewing done today. How about you? What's on your agenda for the day?

34 comments:

gpc said...

Congratulations! You totally deserved to win and would have gotten my vote, too!

Linda M @ Pieceful Kingdom said...

Woo hoo! Congratulations! That is exciting! Those were some beautiful quilts. You have a talented guild.

Sher S. said...

You should be so proud of yourself, your quilt is really amazing with all the little pieces in it plus you did such a fabulous job! You do belong to a very talented guild, those other quilts were awesome as well. I don't think I could have just picked one, each was a winner for what they did. Enjoy your gift card, that would be fun to go shopping and spend it on whatever your hearts desire.

Quilting Babcia said...

What to say but congratulations! A state fair entry for next year?!

Betty said...

Congratulations on a well deserved win! Have fun with the gift card!

Quilter Kathy said...

Congratulations! What a great prize to enjoy!

Andee said...

Congratulations! Looks like you had some stiff competition--I love your quilt since I love sunflowers. Very clever challenge too!

Donna said...

Congratulations! I agree that yours was definitely a winning quilt!

CathieJ said...

Congratulations! Winning is always fun. Thanks for the picture tour of all those beautiful quilts and little houses. Your pixelated sunflower was by far the best. The color choices alone make it stand out. So beautiful.

KatieQ said...

Congratulations! It's a beautiful quilt. To me, it represents not only your initials, but your sunny disposition.

beaquilter said...

CONGRATS!! awesome. we KNEW it was a show stopper!! so happy that you entered!

Christine M said...

Congratulations on your win, Barabara. You must be so excited.

Jeanie said...

Congratulations on a well deserved win! As I look at all of the lovely quilts on the wall, yours really stands out. Enjoy your winnings!

Lyndsey said...

Congratulations Barbara, a well deserved win as that quilt is gorgeous.

Cath said...

Congratulations Barbara.....a well deserved win and I would have voted for you too. I thought the Lily was also very cleverly done and I liked the Beach Scene too. Great job by all the members.

sunny said...

Congrats on a well-deserved win! there was some beautiful competition.

quiltzyx said...

Applause & acclimation for your well-deserved award!! You did have a lot of wonderful competition too. I think my second favorite was the 3D lily.

Janarama said...

Woo Hoo, way to go Barbara! Your quilt really stood out on the wall along side the others. There was some stiff competition, but I would have chosen yours as my favorite too.

AnnMarie said...

Congratulations on your win! We had the most participation this year and that made it a great challenge!

Mary said...

Congratulations on your sunflower coming in first. It is wonderful. Love those houses too. Your guild does some wonderful work. Thank you for sharing all these wonderful visuals.

Tami C said...

Congratulations! Those were some beautiful quilts. You have quite a talented group of guild members! Thanks for sharing!

Dana Gaffney said...

Congratulations! That has to feel good there are some beautiful quilts in that contest and the voting was by "real" quilters.

Debbie said...

Great news....thumbs up to you. Love those wins.

Ann said...

So many lovely quilts. I love the appliqued lily, very clever. Your quilt deserved first place, it was super special and your quilting is wonderful. Congrats on your win. Hope getting ready for your trip won't be too stressful.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Congratulations!! Now, will this move you to the front row next meeting? LOL Oh, what a wonderful display of talent in this challenge and the little houses are so cute.

Diane Wild said...

Congrats on taking home the prize. What a great idea for a challenge. May our guild borrow it? Picking a winner would be the challenge.

Teresa in Music City said...

Your Sunflower most certainly deserves the prize!!! It didn't just ride in uncontested thought, did it? Wow - what talent and creativity in some of those quilts! Loved the sashiko quilting and the Beach Scene quilt. And those houses were simply precious! I think they may be better decorated than my house LOL!!!

Vicki W said...

Congratulations! Thank you for the time that you take to share so many photos with us every day.

Anonymous said...

Cheers! Makes sewing all those squares worth while.

Junebug613 said...

Congratulations on your win! What a fun group! I love the miniature houses, they speak to the quilter and the miniaturist in me. That jeweled quilt was really amazing. Glad you are enjoying your guild.

liniecat said...

Many many congrats and what a great selection of work from members, to have been voted best out of!
That beaded bird is super, what a lovely idea to do it that way.

Kate said...

Congratulations on the first place for the guild challenge. There were some fun quilts on that wall. I loved the little houses, those were so cute.

Judy1522 said...

Congratulations on winning the quilt guild challenge. How fun to have a $50 gift certificate to spend at Fabric Depot.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Congrats on your 'BS' quilt win. Have fun with that gift certificate.