Let's Talk About Quilts!

(Oh dear, should I have warned you first instead of just throwing the Q-word at you like that?? Sorry.) Yesterday in comments, Deirdre asked "So did I miss what you're working on in the studio or is it a secret?" And I reply - at the moment, it's kinda secret. Not so secret I can't talk about it, but I can't share photos yet. You see, not long ago I had An Idea. (That was not Random Capitalization, fond of RC as I am. I've been so quilt-unmotivated lately that having An Idea in that area is totally capitalization-worthy, IMO.) I did some sketches and pulled some fabrics and had figured I'd share a little in-progress stuff here and there, but then I discovered that the quilt I had planned fit the theme and was within a few inches of the totally oddball size required to enter the annual Husqvarna Viking quilt contest. And since I was in the sketching and planning stage instead of the sewing stage, I re-did the drawings to that size, just in case I could finish it in time to enter it there. (Never tried that contest before, but there's always a first time.) Of course the weeeee-teensy catch is that the entry postmark date is May 2nd, which is only a week and a half away, and I'm not nearly done yet. BUT, I should (in theory!) be done with the hardest part by the end of today and the rest should (in theory!) go pretty quickly. Gotta love those theories. My M.O. in quiltmaking tends to be to think about it a long time and start very slowly, then to finish quite quickly once I really get going on it. If that holds true for this one, and if I enter with digital files on a CD rather than slides, then crazy as it sounds I might just make the deadline. So just in case I DO make the deadline, I haven't been posting any in-progress pics. This particular contest is very picky about wanting only Virgin Quilts. They say "Quilts are to be made specifically for the contest and must not have been published in books, calendars, magazines, web sites, or any other form of publication prior to November 2006." Ok, ok, HV guys! Sheesh! I swear to you that this quilt is isolated in my ivory tower sewing room, unseen by human eyes (other than mine) and untouched by human hands (ditto). When I'm not working on her, She (the quilt) is locked away, alone in the room, wearing ugly clothes and reading the Bible and thinking Pure Thoughts. Well, ok, I swear that PART of that stuff is true. A little of it. A couple of things. Heh. I'm not stressing about meeting the deadline. If I do, great - it's a new venue to try. But if I don't, there are several other shows coming up with slightly later deadlines...shows that are not quite so picky about giving a quilt a chance even if it has been on display a time or two. So one way or another, I'll share some new quilt photos with y'all at some point, but not today. But in other Quilt News, Virginia Spiegel's Fiberart For A Cause Reverse Auction, to raise money for the American Cancer Society, will be going live online very, very soon! If you want to check out the artwork that will be available for auction, you can get a preview by clicking on the link in the previous sentence. Each year, nine artists are invited to donate artwork to the auction and this is the piece I donated: "Spiral Dance 1: Carnivale" (It should look familiar to regular readers of RSR, since y'all helped name the series!) Some of the other artists who donated work to the auction include Pamela Allen, Liz Berg, Linda Colsh, Diane Doran (Happy Birthday, Diane!), and more. So I hope you'll click on the link and check it out and see if there's something there you'd be interested in owning. There will be a "Buy it Now" feature available on May 15 for those who want a piece so much that they're willing to pay a premium to make sure no one else snatches it away from them. The actual auction will start on May 16 at 10 AM, CST. The starting price will be lower than the Buy It Now price and every day that a piece doesn't sell, the price will drop slightly until someone buys it. Every penny raised by the auction will be donated to the American Cancer Society - every penny! All administrative costs, postage costs, etc. are being covered by Virginia and the artists who donated the pieces. So I hope you'll bid if you see something you'd like to own, and buy some artwork for a good cause! Today I'm closing with a photo: "Apple Blossoms by the Bluebird House" We really need to move that bluebird house because they won't nest there now that the tree branches have grown so close to the opening - too much opportunity for predators to get to the nest! But it makes for a pretty photo, yes?