QuiltCon Jury Results

Posted on December 11, 2019 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in 100 Day Project, Quilt Shows, Quilting, Quilting Community / Leave a comment

I’m always impressed with the quick turnaround that QuiltCon manages with their jury process, and this year’s results are in even faster than usual! Modern Quilt Guild members create amazing work, and I can only imagine how difficult it must be for the jury to select which quilts will be included in QuiltCon each year. I have never had all of my submissions accepted, and this year was no exception. I am ecstatic that four of my five quilts will be included in the 2020 show! (Check out this post to see detail shots and the descriptions I submitted for each quilt.)

Zenith is the first quilt that I have had accepted in the Improv category! At one point I read that this category tends to receive the most submissions. I don’t know if this was true this year, but I was nervous submitting one of my all time favorite quilts into a category that give the jurors so many amazing choices.

Resonance was my 2018 100 Day Project, and the only quilt I have ever re-submitted to QuiltCon. I have a tendency to move on after a quilt is rejected. I will often enter them in other shows, but I don’t usually go back to the same shows. This time I just had to give it one more chance, and I am so happy that I did!

Forward and Back was started as part of a guild challenge that also included the 2019 Pantone Color of the Year. I was happy with the resulting mini quilt, and I am thrilled to have it included in the show.

Stripe Club was my last minute finish, so I was very happy that the last minute push to add more hand quilting was worth it! I entered it in the evening of the final day, so I really cut it close.

34x34x34 was my only rejection this year, which is really lucky. I love this quilt, and it will maintain its role in my trunk show, but it has received a few rejections now, so I think its show entry days are probably over.

The quilt I entered on the last day has a number of 1489, so I am assuming that there are approximately 1500 entries for only a few hundred spots. I hope you will all consider entering your quilts in other shows as well as next year’s QuiltCon. It is wonderful to walk into a quilt show and see the modern aesthetic well represented.

When I was first entering shows, I had one quilt rejected from a show after I had already submitted it to the next show hosted by the same organization. Not only did it get into the second show, it got into several more hosted by multiple organizations. That quilt went on to receive a second place and a third place at shows with the original sponsoring organization. Just because a quilt doesn’t get in the first time, doesn’t mean it won’t be loved by another show or in another year. Please don’t give up on your amazing creations!

Congratulations to everyone who had a quilt accepted to QuiltCon 2020! Please send lots of pictures- my quilts are going, but I can’t make it this year!

I am excited to be participating in this year’s 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge hosted by Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com, and I hope you will have the chance to check out some of the other awesome blogs that are participating this month.

Show Jury Results for AQS Daytona Beach and Road to California

Posted on December 7, 2019December 7, 2019 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt Shows, Quilting / Leave a comment

Most major quilt shows require you to enter your quilts online well ahead of the actual show. During this online entry, you upload two photos of your quilt, one full shot and one detail photo. Using these photos, and sometimes the written description you provide, a group of jurors select the quilts that will be on display at the show. Once the selected quilts are shipped to the shows, judges assess the quilts and choose the winners. But a judge never sees the quilts that don’t get juried in, so this is a critical step in the life of a show quilt!

I always like it when show acceptances come in around the time I’m entering more shows. Its encouraging to have something accepted when you’re putting yourself out there. This year both Road to California and AQS: Daytona Beach had jury results come in around late November, which is right before QuiltCon and AQS: Paducah entries are due.

This was my first time entering Road to California. In 2020, I am hoping to add a couple new shows into the mix, and this is one of them. I entered two quilts for my first attempt, and both were accepted! Complementary Convergence was will be in the Other Large Quilts category.

Lateral Ascension was accepted into the Abstract category.

AQS Daytona Beach had an entry deadline in October, and the notifications came in before Thanksgiving. I entered two quilts, and they were both accepted!

This will be the first contest for Zoo Family Portrait!

Ice Cream on the Beach will also be making it’s first contest appearance!

Entering new contests and quilts is always exciting. It will be fun to read the judges comments for a new show, and see how my new quilts do at a show I have entered before.

Entries for QuiltCon 2020

Posted on December 6, 2019December 6, 2019 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in 100 Day Project, Aurifil, Finished Quilts, Quilt Shows, Quilting, Quilting Community / 1 Comment

The QuiltCon show entry deadline was earlier this week, and, as always, it seemed to sneak up on me. This year I decided to aim for five entries, which is the maximum number of quilts that one person can have accepted to the show. I managed to get four entered in October, but one (there is always one) didn’t get entered until the last day.

My first entry is the only quilt that I have ever re-submitted. Resonance was rejected from QuiltCon 2019, but I love this quilt, so I thought I would give it one more chance. It is entered in the Applique category.

This year we had 450 characters for the description of each quilt. This is the description I submitted with Resonance:

Resonance uses colorful quilting thread to create a sense of outward movement and reverberation from central points.Thread that coordinates with each fabric creates a blending sensation as the quilting merges the appliquéd circles with each other and the background.This quilt was my first 100 day project that ran from New Year’s Day 2018 to my birthday, which fell on the 100th day of the year.

You can read more about Resonance here.

This year, the special challenge category was stripes. All of my remaining entries could arguably be entered in this category, but I like to spread my entries out in different areas. Stripe Club is the quilt I selected to enter in the American Patchwork and Quilting Stripes Quilt Challenge, and this was also the quilt that got submitted on the final day!

Submitted description:

All solid fabrics are cut and pieced into the stripes forming the basis for this semi-improvisational design.Stripes of various widths, and as small as 1/8 inch, were stitched together to create a piece of fabric before being cut and assembled into the blocks that make up the quilt top.The circular blocks were devised as stand alone units and placed on a design wall to develop the overall composition with the addition of more striped units.

34x34x34 is entered in the Negative Space category.

Submitted description:

This quilt is an exploration of randomness in the design process.An arbitrary line drawn on a sheet of graph paper was 34 squares long, and that determined the repeating numbers for the quilt.On a 34 x 34 square grid, I placed 34 colorful squares.The placement was determined by using a random number generator to decide the coordinates.Six colors were each assigned a number and a game die was rolled to select the colors for each square.

You can read more about 34x34x34 here.

Forward and Back is a mini quilt that I made for a guild challenge earlier this year, and it is entered in the Small Quilts category.

Submitted description:

Two simple blocks are cut into strips and reassembled to form this small quilt.The first block was a simple circle in warm colors. The second block was made of wedges in cool colors.Combined, the two blocks evoke the feeling of a sunset over the sea.

My fifth and final entry for QuiltCon 2020 is Zenith. Zenith has been to several shows in the past year, and I am so excited to enter it in QuiltCon. I submitted it in the Improvisation category. I have never had a quilt accepted to this category, so my fingers are crossed.

Submitted description:

Using improvisational construction, Zenith combines the 2018 Pantone color of the year, Ultra Violet, with the Kona color of the year, Tiger Lily. With these colors as a starting point, the overall palette was expanded to incorporate the hues found in a vibrant sunset. The inclusion of strong diagonal lines, triangular shapes, and a combination of hand and machine quilting further enhances the energy of the quilt.

You can read more about Zenith here.

Waiting for the jury results is always hard, but I’m very grateful that QuiltCon has a relatively short turnover time. I will let you know the results in the next few weeks!

Forward and Back

Posted on June 7, 2019 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt Shows, Quilting Community / 3 Comments

This Spring one of the quilt groups I’m in issued a challenge to try out a technique called interleaving, and this mini quilt is the result. The idea behind interleaving is to take two relatively simple quilt blocks, cut them into strips, and alternate the strips to create a single block.

Starting out, I had to keep reminding myself to keep things simple. I have a tendency to add extra piecing to create interest, but this was not the place to add too many seams! I wanted the color palette to evoke a feeling of a sunset over the ocean, so I decided to make one block with warm colors and the other with cool colors. The first block is a machine pieced circle with the Pantone color of the year, Living Coral, as the center. (I love this year’s color so much that it is appearing in a few more projects, too!)

The second block is three wedge shaped segments in cool colors. Most of this quilt is made of quilting cotton, but I decided to incorporate a piece of Art Gallery denim into this block to add a slightly different texture.

Maintaining the overall circle shape was important to what I wanted to achieve in this design, so I knew I had to cut the blocks into 1″ strips. This width of strip means the finished area is equal to the seam allowance- 1/2″ exposed and 1/2″ of seam allowance. When the strips of the two blocks are alternated, the circle shape is maintained.

The piecing is really the star in this design, so I decided to do simple stitch in the ditch quilting using Aurifil monofilament.

The faced edges of the quilt allow the linear design to visually continue to the edge of the quilt.

Quilt Stats

Title: Forward and Back

Size: 19″ x 19″

Techniques: Machine Piecing, Interleaving

Quilting: Stitched in the ditch with a walking foot quilting on a Bernina 1008

Fabric: Cotton solids and lightweight quilters denim

Batting: Hobbs Tuscany Wool

Thread: Quilted with Aurifil monofilament

Binding: Faced with the solid to match the backing

This mini quilt is my entry in the 2019 Pantone Quilt Challenge hosted by No Hats in the House and Bryan House Quilts. I hope you will check out all of the exciting entries!

I am a resident of the United States

QuiltCon Judging Feedback

Posted on March 24, 2019 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Quilt Shows, Quilting / 1 Comment

Quilting is typically a solitary activity, so there are very few opportunities for feedback on your creations. This is especially true if you are looking for critiques that will help to improve your work. Entering shows with written feedback is one of the best means to get a fair assessment of your quilts, and QuiltCon typically provides very interesting comments since they have judges from a wider range of backgrounds. The judging panel includes a certified judge, an industry professional, and a third judge with a strong artistic, but not necessarily quilting, background. I also find it useful to read comments on other people’s quilts, so I thought that some of you may enjoy seeing what the judges had to say about my three quilts.

Complementary Convergence was in the Use of Negative Space category.

Ebb and Flow was in the Two Color Challenge category.

Synthesized Slivers was in the Small Quilts category.

I always appreciate the time that the judges spend looking at each quilt and offering comments on both the good aspects of a quilt and the areas that could be improved. I can’t begin to imagine how challenging it would be to judge a show like QuiltCon. It is so different than most shows- A winning quilt is not necessarily the one with the most construction challenges. The emphasis on overall design combined with technical execution is what makes it one of my favorite shows to attend and enter.