My First Vendor Show!

 Well, hello dear friends,

How the heck are you?  Things are good in my little corner of the universe.  I've got lots to share from our recent quilt show.  But first, I wanted to share this great way to make tiny applique circles.  Dana D had shown us this method at one of our TAS meetings awhile ago.  I'm here to tell you, it's fantastic!  I went to ACE and bought about 35 tiny washers and bought a pkg of TINY plastic ponytail holders at Dollar General.  Pick the fabric of your choice, slip in the washer and wrap tightly with the band.  Make sure you smooth out any obvious wrinkles.  Now drown it in starch and walk away.  When completely dry, you just cut off the circle just under the washer but above the band.  It stays perfectly round and ready to applique.  As you can see from this half of my apple tree.  Now trust me, these are the best circles I've ever done.  The wonkiness is completely my own stitching.  I thought I had a pic of the complete block but I'll have to share that next time.

The biggest news is that On The Brighter Side Fabrics had it's first Vendor opportunity!  And, it was very successful!  Yay!  Thanks to all my friends for their support, you're awesome!!  I did fix my uneven table cloth before opening, by the way...  So successful in fact, I have already committed to 2 more shows.  I'll be in Peoria Aug 26 & 27.  And, Champaign on Oct 6 & 7.  I've also got some things in the works for Sept and Nov!  Very exciting.  I'm also interested in a show in Batavia, IL but no one I spoke with could say they'd heard of it.  If you have any info, let me know.

 This is the display our crazy quilt group put together to highlight crazy quilting.  Everyone did a great job!  Several of the girls had not done it before.  Way to go ladies!

 A close up of my entry.  I was trying for a French Lavender vibe.

 A bunch of guild members contributed blocks for the Under the Sea display.  Another fantastic job done by everyone.  We were provided with the background fabric and we could basically do whatever we wanted with it.  With that many people being involved, I was skeptical but it really turned out amazing.  Mind you , his is really, really tall...

 A close up of my contributions.  I've shared these before.  I was contacted by a reporter from the Belleville news paper that she loved my Mermaid and sent me a link to the article she wrote about the display.  No, mention of me or the mermaid in the article.  Soooo, there's that.

 Terrible zoom photo from my phone... it was a long way up.

 I entered my State Flowers quilt into the show.  It didn't place but many people commented on how they loved it.  It's also one of Bethany's favorite quilts that I've done to date, so that works for me.  It took forever.  I think maybe 5 years to finish.

 My lace cottage. 

 Hearts and Tulips got a 3rd place ribbon!  That particular category had some stiff competition.  However, I did work with the NACQJ (formerly NQA) before the quilt show.  We hired her to come do a judging session independent of the regular show.  You paid a small fee and she came in and told you what was good and what could use some improvement.  We also had ribbons.  Anyways, after her very long session, we showed her around the rest of the show.  When she came up to this quilt, she gasped out loud.  Not knowing who had made it, she said "Why wasn't this one being judged?"  Well, I hugged her and said that was all I needed.  I thought I'd just lay that out there, you know, brag a little.  Maybe next time, I'll have the nerve to have a professional give me a critique of my work.  But, for now, I'll take what I got, and gladly!!

 Now, Frostie's Enchanted Garden placed second.  But, it's important to note that there were only 2 entries in his catagory...  Yeah.  You may remember that he was published in the Crazy Quilting Quarterly Calendar 2017.  However, the general public of O'Fallon, IL was less impressed.  It's a little too reminiscent of my 3rd grade track meet for my comfort.  Yes, it's second place but it's also last...  So there you have it, life forever keeping me humble.

I'm sorry I didn't get more pictures of other people's work.  I had to rush to get these as I was tied to my booth all weekend.  Hearts n' Hands Quilt Guild is amazing.  The people are not only super talented but super nice as well!

Hope you all have a wonderful father in your life to help celebrate Father's Day!