Iron Quilter at GVQC Quilt Show at R.I.T. FUN!

"I Know Why the Uncaged Bird Sings". This is what I came up with in 3.5 hours at the GVQC quilt show this past weekend, at R.I.T. The them..."disappearing act". The door on the birdcage is open. The bird is doing his own disappearing act!

I participated in this event 2 years ago and had a blast. I loved the whole experience and looked forward to doing it again. This time they gave all of us ONE theme instead of a dozen to choose from. I think it made the results more interesting for the audience. And yes, people sit and watch and gather at the end to see who wins! Nothing came to mind that second, but on the fabric table (we get to choose from a heap load of fab on tables to work with) there was this Monopoly fabric. The little Monopoly man had wings and he was flying from an open birdcage. Hmmm. I can work with that!

We have to have a completed piece in this time frame, meaning quilted and edging done. 

One of the fabrics I brought (we could bring three 1 yd pieces) was a Pat Pauly shibori dyed. I cut it up, sewed with a smidge of blue between rows, added the thread sketched birdcage on an upholstery sample and used the lines in the shibori to machine quilt it. The feathers you see were in the design so I went with it and quilted them in. The bird silhouette was fused and stitched and I did a pillowcase edging. Voile! The fellow contestants were all great....here are most of the other pieces. (I think two are missing...they weren't up on the boards when I took pics and quickly disappeared when event was over)

Anne was the winner with her excellent interactive quilt! The zipper goes up and down to be a true "disappearing act"! Very clever. 

Liz channeled the Wicked Witch...melting!

Janet made disappearing circles.

Diane's piece was a take on disappearing log cabins. I really liked this one. She is going to rework it. It will be great.

Carol's quilt was awesome too. Cities taking over the land.

Joyce won third place with this piece! I wish I could remember what her thought process was. Sorry.

Nancy's quilt was a comment on the disappearing Midtown in Rochester. She used snaps and matchboxes to embellish it!

Linda Bachman's quilt is beautiful. 

Elaine Ross made a leaves disappear. You can't see her quilting in this pic, but it is what makes it.

I wish I could remember all the explanations. I can't. It's a great piece though!

Peek-a-Boo. Sweet.

Sue Donovan made open circles with thread work in them. Nice!

Anne's "Tornado" was very cool. She decided to turn it the other way around after the show. 

Beth was nervous, but she had no reason to be...I love her leaf piece! 

And Louise, who is a dear person, made an adorable cat's tale/tail quilt. 

 I apologize that two are missing.
Aren't they all fantastic!? Only 3.5 hours from announcement of theme to finished piece! Phewww. Fun! What wonderful work done in that time frame...congratulations to all these talented women. 

I am the lucky winner of a tabletop Ott light. I needed one! Thank you for a great time and fun day Marcia and Jeanie~!

Val & Julie, Red-Dog Enterprises, had the prettiest booth at the show. An outdoor canopy, with lights was erected, complete with rug and curtains. You know, it matters. 

They are the one's that print onto fabrics,...you know, the thing I am addicted to?! They were printing on 8.5"x 11" fabric at the show. All you needed was a pic! What?! Of course I was there both days for my prints! They had a TV with running info on the classes and retreats at Julie's house on Lake Ontario, with pics of various prints made...and Michael and Jenn made the cut!

"The Kiss"

If you have not checked out the possibilities of printing onto fabrics and using them in your work, I urge you to check it out. Play in Befunky.com or other free photo fixing sites...and order a print from Red-Dog. You will not be disappointed.

I have learned:

1. Karen from Ontario, Canada, showed Connie, Vinnie and I this domestic trick......on the sides of aluminum foil, saran wrap, freezer paper etc., are push points. If you push the tabs in, the roll stays in the box. Simple. I never knew this. It was revalational. 
2. Indian food...yum. What a nice dinner with good friends Saturday. Good food. Good convo. 
3. Mela will be here in less than 7 weeks! When I break it down and think about it....a life, a new Everett, a sweet baby making her way from womb to world, it is astounding. She has a full head of hair apparently!
4. RUZZLE. Like Boggle. I am addicted. Good thing about this app is that you can play practice games.
5. Roots of teeth rest in sinus cavities, causing intense pain for whatever reason that very closely mirrors a horrible toothache. Constant medicinal assistance needed. .
6. Michael and Jenn have a Military Ball next Friday at Opryland in Nashville.Look at this place. Nice.