taking the flying leap

remember Cabaret?

there's a song in there with a lyric:
"It's got to happen, happen sometime
Maybe this time I'll win"

which is what was running through my head as I handed the postal clerk this box yesterday morning

inside is my entry for the 2010 Hoffman Challenge

the last time I entered a piece of art work in a national competition, it made the first cut into the finals, but didn't win

maybe this time (reminding myself to pay attention to the quote at the bottom of my email signature -- "trust your instincts, close your eyes and leap!")

I went to the store yesterday to get the quilt batting for the commissioned baby quilt -- since I'm nearly done with the applique work on it, it's time to think about that sandwich and I didn't have a bat in the house (except me, of course)

this bundle of bright colored fabrics just seemed to jump right off the rack into my basket too

got to love the swirly bright colors (yeah, like I needed to add to the stuff to go into the laundry!)

as promised, a picture of the back of the Wild About Flowers quilt that shows the quilting so far

fencing running in parallel lines up and down and across

big sunflower leaf there in the center

its moving right along!

some of the areas in the leaf were a bit more difficult -- when you have five or six layers of appliqued fabric then the bat and the backing it can get hard to keep the stitches small and even

I know there are a lot of quilters that turn over the whole project to someone with a power machine at this point in things, but I've always had this issue with -- it's my work, I should finish it -- and I kind of enjoy the whole process of doing a piece from beginning to end


finished another afghan square last night

and worked 2 rows of k2, p2 ribbing over 320 stitches around the front of the Christmas Sweater

and I'm now in row 4 of 6 around the afghan

whooo hoooo!


so, today there will be mowing and shopping then back to the sewing machine for a while before the quilting begins again

onward!