Month: March 2019

I quilt for a lot of reasons.  Before we go any further, let me list a few of these reasons:

1.  I happen to like fabric.  A lot.  I love the feel of it between my fingers and I love the colors and patterns that are out there now.
2. I love putting things together.  While some people would call taking perfectly good material and cutting it into small pieces and then sewing it all back together insanity, I call it therapy.  It calms me down.  The whole process of making something beautiful and useful gives me clarity and serenity.
3. I love sewing machines/long arm machines/embroidery machines.
4. Sewing of any type works both halves of the brain.  Scientists and doctors think that processes that do that help stave off dementia and Alzheimer’s.

But there’s another reason I quilt:  the quilters.  When I tell about how I got involved in quilting myself, I always explain that it wasn’t necessarily the quilts that drew me to the art.  It was the quilters.  Sure, the quilts were beautiful and the process of making them was fascinating, but the quilters were simply wonderful people.  They were creative.  They were very self-assured.  They had a sense of humor.  And if they found out you quilted or wanted to learn to quilt, you were quickly admitted into their group.  You were one of them.  That circle of friendship expanded to let you in and surrounded you with their fellowship and love.  You’ve just joined the Sisterhood of Stitches.  There is no going back, and I’d be hard pressed to tell you how anyone else (save a few select family members) has had my back more than they do.

Let me illustrate. 

My regular readers know about my daughter and her cervical cancer battle.  And yes, the surgery was successful and we’re getting clean Pap smears. That battle front is working well, but the radical hysterectomy was major surgery.  The doctors and surgeons were very upfront with Meg and told her that it would take a year or longer for her body and immune system to get back to normal.  Which means little issues that used to give her no issues at all can become really big issues in no time flat.

Which was what happened a few weekends ago.  A tiny sore on her shoulder morphed into MRSA after a trip to an indoor water park.  And while I know that my daughter is much better than she was a year ago, the mother side of me panics now at the least little thing.  But one of the things I learned throughout this whole process is turn the panic into prayer.  So, I prayed.

And then I messaged five women that I quilt with and asked them to pray.

They did.  Then proceeded to message me throughout the day asking about Meg.  When the diagnosis came (it was definitely MRSA, but localized and not in the blood stream), they rejoiced with me.

Then one asked if the granddarlings needed a baby sitter.

Another told me to come by her house and get this Norwex towel set that is bacteria proof for Meg to use on her wound (because it was still open and draining). 

I know that some non-quilters would just simply call this my circle of friends and state that every woman should have these types women in their lives.  I agree with that.  But something about quilters is different.  Maybe it’s the fact that we’re tied together with needle and thread and fabric and a common passion that drives us to create.  However, I think it’s more than that.  Yes, we share a hobby we feel strongly about.  It’s a hobby that most of our fore mothers at some point undertook as a necessity and made it a work of art.  Maybe it’s a combination of lineage and creativity. Or maybe it’s the fellowship of stitches, and the laughter and tears that we share with each other.  It’s easy to talk to each other over beeswax, scissors, and fabric.  Fears and prayer requests are discussed in the same breath with patterns and color choices.  Support is given and taken.  Problems are voiced and solved.  Suggestions are made.  

This. This is ninety percent of the reason I quilt.  The Sisterhood of Stitches.  The love and support of a group.  While the entire process of quilting calms me and helps me focus, the fellowship of these women (and a few men) are truly (with apologies to Bette Midler) the wind beneath my wings.  They’re an awesome group of people.

I struggle lot nowadays.  Despite the fact that my family members are in a much better place this year than last year, the constant, seemingly endless barrage of doctor visits and tests still make me hold my breath and clutch onto hope with tight hands.  I know these things are necessary and crucial to keeping everyone healthy.  We all want our situations to go back to “normal” – what they were five years ago.  But that ship has sailed.  This is our new “normal,” at least for the near future.  It’s bittersweet.  While I hate this entire “new” normal in so many ways, it makes me appreciate my present and the people in it on an entirely different level.

I’ve learned to appreciate the groups that I quilt with even more through this process.  I jokingly refer to them as “The First Church of the Quilt.”  That may seem a tad blasphemous, but that’s the most accurate description.  Christ left us with a new commandment, “That you love one another, as I have loved the church and have given myself for it.”  I have not found this type of love and support in any religious institution I have ever belonged to.  In my quilt circles, needs are met.  Prayer requests given and taken.  Words of encouragement are spoken. 

This.  This is why I quilt.  Yes, it’s the fabric and the machines and the thread.  It’s quilt shows and rulers and gadgets.  But mostly…mostly it’s the fellowship.  It’s the Sisterhood of Stitches in the First Church of the Quilt.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Sam

I’ve written a quilting blog for several years now.  I like my blogs to have good information and instructions, so they are primarily educational (it doesn’t seem I will ever not be some kind of teacher).  I like them to be inspirational, too.  And most of all I like quilters of all level to feel like they can accomplish anything after reading my blogs. 

But sometimes I just want to folks to know what I’m doing and what’s going on in my life.  Health-wise, right now, everyone is holding steady.  Meagan is doing well, as is my mom and my brother.  I’ve been honest about 2018, it was a very stressful year.  Those that know me in person, know that when I’m stressed, I tend to eat.  It’s my way of dealing with it.  And while I know that this is not the best way to deal with my emotions, hey, it’s better than drinking or drugs.  But hopefully now that things have calmed down a bit, I can go back to eating better and exercising, because Lord knows I feel better when I do.

My beloved High Point Quilt Guild is going through a bit of a transition.  Membership is down a tad.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  I would rather have a smaller group of people that really want to learn and work together.  Our current President has taken a job in Massachusetts and will be leaving us after our June meeting.  I’m not crazy about this, as Matthew is proving to be a wonderful leader.  The upside to this is my friend, Janet, is up to be President and she will do an equally wonderful job. 

Speaking of the guild, we have some awesome Program Co-Chairs, Becki and Cindi.  These ladies not only plan the program and speakers for the guild, but this year Becki issued a challenge – finish six UFOs in 2019.  She sent a sign-up sheet out with the December 2018 Guild Newsletter.  The participating members filled out the sheet and signed up for the challenge.  This equates to completing one UFO every two months.

My problem was not finding six UFOs.  My problem was deciding which  six UFOs to choose.  My first UFO was this little gem, Bertie’s Spring (pattern by Bonnie Sullivan). 

This is a small wall hanging made from flannel.  I had it completed and quilted, but needed to get the binding, hanging sleeve, and label put on. 

I’m in the middle of these quilts….

This gnormous pile of half-square triangles and four patch units will be a scrap quilt.  It takes nearly 300 HST and four-patch units to make this queen size quilt.  When I listed this as one of the UFOs, I had one block made.  My weekly goal is to make 20 of each unit. I counted last night, and I have 280 of each.  I’m getting closer and closer to the point I can begin putting these together into blocks.  I’m excited because in all the years I’ve quilted, I’ve never made a scrap quilt.

This should be a familiar sight.  My Easter Blessings will be one of the next UFOs I’ll finish.  I changed up the original borders this past fall.  I got it all layered and ready to put on Loretta … and then my tablet decided to die.  Loretta is dead in the water until my long arm company ships me a new tablet.  I didn’t want to get too far behind, so I started quilting her on Big Red.  I put in all the stabilizing stitches and went around the applique center twice.  I will hit the border applique next week.  By the time I get all that done, I hope the new tablet will be here and I can micro-stipple  and meander the rest on Loretta.

My hexie wall hanging is also on my UFO list.  I made this out of the scraps left over from my “At Piece with My Past.”  Everyone in my sewing circle was in a hexie craze a few years ago, and several of us began this wall hanging.  I’ve had the applique finished for a while, and now I’m hand quilting it.  And for a girl who loves her machine quilting in any form, I had forgotten how relaxing hand quilting can be.  I am really enjoying the process, and this will be one of those projects I will be almost sad to see finished.  I’ve really loved working with this little, quilted wall hanging.

My Halo Medallion quilt is also on the list.  I’m down to the last border, which is made out of Delectable Mountain blocks.  I will finish this up after our April vacation.  I love this quilt, and I love the fabrics, but I will be happy to get this one on Loretta and have her done. 

The last two items on my list are a charity quilt I began shortly before Meagan received her cancer diagnosis and a quilted jacket I started this past summer.  If I can get at least six items completed this year, I’ll feel so successful!  I like this UFO idea so much, I think I’m going to do this every year.  Having a list helps me focus.  I don’t come into my studio wondering what to do next.  It gives me a target and a goal.  I know what I need to get done each day in order to mark one more item off my list.

In closing, I’d like to encourage you to make a UFO list.  If six items seem a little overwhelming, begin with three.  Finish those up and list three more.  I realize that a lot of us have “life time” quilts in progress – those quilts that may take several years to complete – but finishing up little milestones along the way can make you feel as if something really is getting completed.  And this encourages you to keep moving ahead in your quilting world.

Until next week, Quilt with Passion!

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Sam

Dating quilts can be a tricky business.  Quilt historians use what is called comparative dating when they’re trying to figure out how old a quilt could be.  That means they compare the fabric in the quilt with other similar fabrics in order to get an approximate date.  For instance, Bubble Gum Pink was a popular color fabric in the 1920’s.  If a quilt has that color in it, it’s safe to say it was made during the Roaring Twenties or after.  Quilt historians will date a quilt according to the most recent fabric found in the top.  They will also look for clues in embellishments and finishes – such as a fringed edge.  If a quilt has fringe around the edges, it’s a fairly safe bet it dates somewhere around the pre-1860’s.

Dating quilts isn’t exactly accurate.  It would have been much better if folks had put a label on their quilt.  But for a lot of quilt history, labels haven’t been a “thing.”  For the most part, quilts were considered everyday household items, without a great deal of significance.  The only quilts that may have been an exception to this were the marriage quilts made for the new bride and groom and the signature quilts that were usually made for folks that were moving out of town. 

This is really a crying shame.  I love old quilts and would want to know who made each antique quilt I own and where it originated from.  Some fabrics make the location of the quilt easier to identify – such as the Alamance Plaids from Alamance County, North Carolina.  Life would be so much easier if every quilt had a label on it.

If You Make It Then You Need to Put a Label on It

That’s what I’d like to talk about in this blog – labels.  Not how to make them, but what to put on them, and to encourage you to put one on every quilt you make.  As a quilter, you must realize that right now the most important thing about your quilt is A) that it’s finally finished and B) where is that quilt going to live (i.e. is it destined to be a gift)?  However, years from now that very quilt may be a topic of a dating discussion.  Make life easier for future quilt historians – put some information on that quilt label.

The first important piece of information on that quilt should be your name.  Your legal name and not just a nickname or title.  For instance, when I make my granddarlings a quilt, not only do I put my title (“Mimi”), but also my full name, Sherri M. Fields.  You can use a title or nickname on that quilt label, just be sure to have your legal name somewhere on it.  This could help so much in the future.  Whoever ends up with that quilt can research where you lived and maybe even find additional quilts that you made.

The second piece of information should be the location the quilt was made – city and state – and the date the quilt was finished (because we all know the date we start the quilt and the date we finish the quilt can be months and months maybe even years apart).  Those two facts are mandatory in my mind.  But there are a few other things that I put on a quilt label.  If the quilt was made for a special occasion (such as wedding or birthday), I add that to the label.

But I also add a few other pieces of information to aid in the quilt’s documentation.  If I didn’t do the quilting, I add the name of the quilter.  If I use a pattern or base my quilt on a pattern, I add the name of the pattern as well as the designer.  If I use a particular line of fabrics (for instance, if they’re all Fig Tree Fabrics – one of my favorite lines), I add that. 

Recently I began adding one esoteric item to my label – the average cost of an everyday item.  I know that seems like something completely un-quilt related.  But one day I was reading about another favorite fabric designer of mine – Tula Pink – and she does this. It helps put the quilt in a historical framework that years from now could be very helpful to quilt historians.  So along with everything else on my label, I now add the cost of a loaf of bread or a gallon of gas, or something significant that happened that day.  For instance, I was working on a cute applique quilt the day that 9-11 occurred.  That fact that this horrendous event took place while I was making that quilt is documented on the label. 

When a Label is not a Label

We tend to think of labels as square-ish pieces of fabric filled with all that information sewed onto the back of our quilt.  It’s generally the last thing put on a quilt (a bad idea that we will discuss later) and when the last stitch is put in that, we’ve officially just finished the quilt.  But there are other ways to document that quilt that are very creative.

I have a fellow quilter that never puts a label on a quilt.  She quilts that information in on her quilt top.  This quilter is a very talented long arm artist who does wonderful freehand work.  She simply quilts her name, the date, and any additional information somewhere in the quilt (usually the border).  It’s subtle, but it’s there.  And unlike most labels, there isn’t the possibility of it falling off.

Another quilter I know who’s a superb applique quilter, designs a tiny applique date and her name and hand sews the applique pieces somewhere in a square on her quilt top.  Granted the date and her name are the only thing found in that square because her applique pieces are so small, but it’s there. 

The last non-label label I would like to throw at you isn’t a label at all, it’s a journal. I know for some of you this may be a non-starter but hear me out.  I like to write, so journaling my quilt is not a hardship for me, and I hope that after I explain my method, you decide to journal at least one or two of your quilts, too.

First, I don’t write a journal for every quilt I make.  I only do this for the significant ones.  The last quilt I journaled was my At Piece with My Past.  Every block in this quilt is significant. 

Each block represents a particular person or time in my life.  I wrote about what those times and people meant to me and how they changed me.  In the back of my mind, one of my granddaughters or my daughter will eventually have that quilt.  I want them to know about events and people in my life just in case my mind is completely gone at some point in the future.  I want the people those blocks represent (my mother, my aunts, my bestest girlfriends) not to be forgotten.  That journal is tangible evidence of them. 

However, I didn’t stop with the stories about the quilt blocks.  The pattern is also in the journal.  I tend to write all over my patterns, so all of my notes are there – they tell about the design decisions I made, the changes I decided on, and a great deal of my thought process.  Fabric swatches are also in there, neatly glued to a piece of cardstock.  These swatches are not only the fabrics I decided to use, but also those I discarded. 

I put all of this a school binder-type notebook that has pockets on the inside covers.  In those pockets I have the sales receipts from the stores or internet sites I ordered any fabric from.  This will let my family know how much I spent and how much fabric cost way back in the day.  And since a lot of that fabric came from the 2012 Spring Paducah AQS Show, I personally think it will be fun for them to look back on these.

This is the way I journal a quilt.  If you decide this is something you want to do, make the journal your own design.  Put pictures and the details you want in that notebook.  What is important to me may not mean anything to you.  Make it yours.  While this is an idea you can’t pursue with every quilt, for the significant quilts in your life, it’s invaluable information.

Why the Label Should Never Be Sewed on Last

When I began quilting in 1988, the label was always the last thing that was attached to the quilt.  You pieced and/or appliqued your top, sandwiched the entire thing, and quilted it.  The binding went on and then the label.  When the last stitch was put in the label, your quilt was officially finished.

Let me tell you, 1988 was a different world. Despite whatever else was going on, the world was a bit more honest place back then.  I rarely, if ever, heard about a quilt being stolen.

Since that time, quilts have been stolen from quilt shows, lost in postal transit, and have disappeared in other nefarious ways.  Now a quilt label not only supplies information about the quilt, it’s also an identifier.  If your label can be removed, that identifier is lost.  If you put your label on last, it has to be hand sewn into place and those stitches can easily be removed.  So, instead of putting that label on last, machine sew it on your backing before the quilt is quilted.  It will be doubly re-enforced – by your machine stitches and by the quilting stitches.

In short, that label ain’t going nowhere.  And if, God forbid, your quilt is stolen or lost in transit, someone can help it find its way back home.

Label that quilt, fellow quilters!  For history’s sake and for security purposes, to paraphrase Beyonce’ – If you like it then you need to put a label on it!

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Sam

I promised this year my blogs are more personal.  While they all will relate to quilts and quilting and quilters, I want to discuss topics that I feel passionate about, too.  This is one of those blogs.

There is so much I love about quilting.  I love the textiles.  I love the process.  I love paying attention to the small details so that the overall craft is lovely and as near perfect as I can get it to be.  I love my circle of quilting friends.  These women have supported me, challenged me, and loved me when I was unlovable.  They have laughed with me and cried with me. 

I love the part of the process when the last stitch is put in the quilt top and I layer the whole thing and put it on Loretta and quilt it.  I love when the binding is sewed on and the label is attached.  I love taking the completed quilt to guild and displaying it at show and tell.

But as much as I love these areas of quilting, there is an area I have an uneasy relationship with, and that’s quilt shows and their ribbons.  To be blunt, I have several issues with show ribbons.  Let me explain this a little, because I have friends that are quilt show judges, and I can already see the laser beams coming from their eyes. 

I don’t have an issue with the judging process.  To be sure, I think every quilter who is half-way serious about their craft should enter at least one quilt to be judged at some time in their quilting career.  These judges (especially if they are certified judges through the National Association of Certified Quilt Judges program) have been thoroughly put through their paces and they know their stuff.  If they award a quilt a ribbon, then that quilt has certainly earned that ribbon.  And even if a judge has not gone through the judging certification process, anyone who usually judges a show has generally taught classes, won ribbons, and designed patterns. 

In other words, judges are generally very fluent in everything quilts.

So, it’s not the quilt evaluation that I have issues with.  It’s the ribbons and what people think they represent.  To be sure, the ribbons must represent first, second, and third places, and honorable mention.  First place is the best of a category, second place the second best, etc.  Honorable mention means the quilt was so close in scoring to the third-place quilt, it should be mentioned.  Honorably. 

The Best of Show ribbon also can cause confusion.  Is Best of Show the same thing as Viewer’s Choice?  No.  Best of Show is the quilt that scores the highest in all categories in the judge’s evaluation.  Can it also be Viewer’s Choice?  Yes.  But Viewer’s Choice is voted on by those attending the quilt show, and not chosen by the quilt judge.  And then there is Judge’s Choice, which may or not be Best of Show or Viewer’s Choice.  Judge’s Choice is the quilt judge’s favorite quilt in the show. 

Confusing?  Sometimes.  But it’s not so much the confusion that bothers me as the attitude some people have about ribbons and the categories.  Since quilt show season is now upon us (it runs from January through the first weekend in November in my neck of the woods), I’d like to talk about show ribbons and how to deal with them.

Most guilds of any size put on at least one show in their lifetime.  And part of most shows is the quilt displays and ribbons.  My guild is no different.  Our last show was in 2017 and we have one coming up in 2019.  As of this moment, those members who are entering quilts in the show have the opportunity to have their quilt(s) judged.  Judging is not mandatory for our show. Those quilts that have gone through the judging process are displayed first and if there is still room in the display area, those who just want to show their quilts can have those hung, too. It’s a win-win, in my opinion.  We generally always have room for all the quilts, so that part makes everyone happy. 

And that’s about where the over-all contentment ends.  There’s confusion about the ribbons and why a quilt wasn’t displayed in the category the owner placed it.  You hear comments like “Why did this quilt win and not that one?  That quilt has much better workmanship,” and you deal with hurt feelings – “Why did you move my quilt to another category?  It would have won if you had left it alone.”  So, let’s take a look at the process and hopefully I can explain so everyone feels better about this process, including me. 

First of all, the judges do not award ribbons willy-nilly.  They have a set criterion of techniques they’re looking for – full binding, 90-degree corners, accurate piecing, etc.  They generally only spend a few minutes with each quilt.  That’s all the time they can give a quilt, especially if they’re judging numerous ones.  They will tell you what is right and wrong with your quilt.  But they do not have the time to tell you how to fix it.  It’s your job to take what is wrong with your quilt and learn how to make it better.  Certain quilts will be set aside for additional judging.  Those quilts may be awarded the special ribbons, such as Best of Show, Best Quilting, etc.  However, it’s important to remember that the judges are human, and all judging is somewhat subjective.  They try to make it as impartial as possible, but preferences do come into play.  For instance, if I were a quilt judge, you could be certain that applique quilts would probably win my Best of Show ribbon because I love applique. You can argue this point to the moon and back, but that’s the way it is.  This is why guilds should rotate quilt judges in order to make sure that the entire membership has an equal chance to earn ribbons. 

Now let’s talk about quilt show categories.  Big quilt shows, such as the AQS ones, have had set criteria for years.  The rules and regulations of large quilt shows have been in place for literally decades and if you’re planning on entering one of your quilts in these shows, be sure to read the rules carefully and follow them exactly.  Most of the larger quilt shows like these are juried shows.  That means the first step in entering those contests is to send in pictures of your quilt.  A show committee will look at the pictures and then issue an invitation to those quilters whose quilts are outstanding.  If this process wasn’t followed, the larger quilt shows would simply be inundated with entries and there would be no way the judges could get through them all, let alone have a venue big enough to display them.

Local quilt shows are different.  Unless space is severely limited, most of those aren’t juried.  Most guilds and quilt groups will have a quilt committee that sets the rules for the show.  My first piece of advice for anyone entering these shows is read the registration sheet carefully.  Read through all the rules for entering your quilt.  Some shows require you to submit pictures of your quilts along with your registration sheet.  Some do not.  But all the categories and deadlines are on that registration sheet.  And somewhere on that sheet is usually a disclaimer that holds the guild harmless if anything happens to your quilt (you’re entering the quilt at your own risk), tells you that all ribbons may not be awarded, and informs you that the quilt committee has the right to move your quilt into another category if the need arises. 

At this point you may be wondering why your quilt would be moved from one category to another.  There are a couple of reasons.  Let me explain.  A quilt committee and their chair set the categories months in advance of the show.  They have no idea if each category they list will be filled with quilts.  If a category isn’t filled (and my personal idea of a full category is at least five quilts in each division), then they may combine categories in order that the judging is truly fair and balanced. 

The other reason that your quilt may be moved is that it didn’t meet the definition of the category.  This is the reason most show entrants get a little upset, and this is why it’s really important to read through the rules carefully.  Most guilds fully explain the categories on the registration information.  While I will not try to define all the categories here, I do want to hit two that seem to cause the most confusion – miniatures and duets. 

A miniature quilt is not a small quilt.  If you have a small wall hanging, and even if it meets the size requirements, it may not be a miniature.  A miniature quilt is an exact copy of a large quilt, severely scaled down to meet the size requirements (which are usually no larger than 24-inches by 24-inches and most of the time even smaller).  Allow me to illustrate:

This is a small wall hanging:

These are true miniature quilts:

See the difference.  I understand the confusion, but small quilts and miniature quilts are not the same thing. 

The next category that causes so much confusion, hurt feelings and migraine headaches for the quilt chair is Duets.  Let me try to explain this category by giving a personal illustration before we get too far in this explanation.  Once upon a time, a long time ago, I was a high school science teacher.  And one of my requirements for all my classes at some point in time was a research paper.  Since I have dual certifications in both Language Arts and Science, I was pretty darn picky about the papers.  One of my pet peeves was plagiarism.  I knew darn good and well my students’ writing abilities – or lack thereof.  I also knew some of my pupils could afford to purchase term papers off the internet.  I drilled into their heads ad nauseum what plagiarism was and the penalty of said plagiarism – an automatic F.  No questions.  No repentance.  No exceptions.  I even paid good bucks for a search engine (these were the days before Google) to identify plagiarism.  If there was any doubt in my mind about a paper, I could upload it into the search engine, and it would hit every possible black market paper out there.  If I found out that one of these kids had purchased that paper, BINGO.  Automatic F.  I had my proof.  And they had to deal with the consequences. 

For those of you a little rusty on what plagiarism is, here’s the Reader’s Digest Condensed Definition:  Using someone else’s work and claiming it as your own, without giving the original artist credit.

See, you could reference other researchers and artists work all day long in your paper, as long as you gave them credit.

How does this apply to the Duets category in quilt shows?  Let’s look at the definition first.  A Duet is a quilt made by two people.  If you piece your top and someone else quilts it, it’s a Duet.  It’s not all your work.  If you claim it to be, then you’ve plagiarized your quilt.  You’ve claimed someone else’s work as your own. 

At this point, I know what some of you are thinking.  “It is my work.  I paid good money for someone else to quilt it.”

Nope. 

Even if money has exchanged hands, it does not negate the fact that you did not do the quilting.  The quilting is not a true reflection of your workmanship level.  It’s the longarm artist’s craftmanship.  And to claim it as yours is (in my humbled opinion) dishonest.  So, if you pieced/appliqued/pieced and appliqued your quilt top, and someone else quilted it, give the longarm artist credit on the registration sheet and enter it in the Duets category.

Lastly, (and I speak from experience here) if you have questions about the registration or the categories, ask the Quilt Chair and her/his committee. They’re more than happy to clarify things.  Don’t think for a minute that they have set the registration and rules up to benefit them and take home all the ribbons.  When most quilt committees set these up, they have two goals in mind:  Have as many quilts as possible displayed in the show, and make the judging process a positive experience for the guild members and the judge.  There are no ulterior motives involved.

In closing, let me encourage you to enter at least one of your quilts in a judged show.  Yes, it can be a little scary and a little intimidating, but the process is well worth it.  You receive feedback from someone that knows a great deal about quilting and the critique (which will tell what is good about your quilt and what needs improvement) helps you become a better quilter. 

Until next week, Quilt with Passion!

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Sam