Now, back to my regularly scheduled life . . . .

At least I hope so!  Now that the Quilt Show is over and done - only one last recap meeting tomorrow! - maybe things can get back to normal.   The show was fun, but it was also a lot of hard work, and it seemed to take up my whole year.  We had a LOT of committee meetings, not to mention spending 5 days out at the fairgrounds where the show was held this year.  2 days of set up, 2 days of show, 1 day of take down.  I'm actually still tired.  The building we were in seemed bigger than a football field and I can't tell you how many trips up and down the length of it I had to walk.

The quilt show went really well, I think.  All of the visitors seemed very pleased with the show, and most of the vendors too.  I thought the quilts all looked great!  We had over 300 quilts, which is darned good for a guild of about 60.  I had 10 quilts on display, including some newly finished ones, which  I will be sharing with you over the next few posts.

Let's start with this one.  I know I've shown it in various stages of production over the last few months, but here it is all finished and in the quilt show!

Ochre :: Strata
31 inches by 32 1/2 inches

(No, I didn't win an award on this quilt.  The ribbon on the right side was a Participation Ribbon that every quilt in the show received.)  That bottom edge is not wonky, it is curved on purpose.  It ended up kind of uneven after piecing, and I decided I liked it that way and trimmed it in a curve.  Which fits with the rest of the quilt because I don't think there's really a straight edge anywhere on this quilt!  This was my "artsy" quilt this year.  *grin*  All free-pieced and kind of my own personal challenge.  You can read more about it here.

not true colors in this photo

Here is a detail shot to show you some of the hand-painted fabrics (by Barb Sherrill) that I used.   They look "shiny" (they're metallic and really are shiny) and are in the approximate middle of each strata in this photo.  There's some painted fabrics scattered throughout the quilt.

true colors in this photo

Here is another detail shot.  I had my quilter Shari quilt this for me on her long-arm, and she followed my request for the not-straight lines.  I love it!  I could have done it, except for the time crunch I was in.  Thanks, Shari!

We had some visitors to the back yard last month.  Mama Deer had two babies this year.  The babies are getting so big it's hard to tell them from Mama.

The doe

the smaller baby

The 2 small deer discovered my small oak tree and thought they had hit the "salad bar" jackpot.  They ate all the leaves from the lower half of the tree!  Yum!

all 3 deer

My injury is finally getting healed!  I'm walking without crutches or a cane now - whoo hoo!.  I'm only wearing the brace when I go out, just for some security until my ankle feels a little more stable.  I'm still nervous on uneven surfaces, but getting better.  And I can climb steps just fine now.  (down is a little harder, but getting better)  I still get occasional twinges in both my ankle and my wrist, but I think I'm just about healed now.  I can't believe how long it's taken me to heal - it's been 3 months!

I'll be back with more finished quilt photos soon.  I hope you get some time to stitch this weekend!