YIPPEEE!!!

The "fat envelope" arrived from the MS Craftsmen's Guild (http://www.mscraftsmensguild.org/main.cfm) Wednesday and I'm now officially an exhibiting member! My friend Dorinda applied at the same time (she's the one who forced me into applying too) but since she lives on the back end of nowhere, her fat letter didn't arrive until yesterday. We've already informed the spouses that we WILL be celebrating, and it will probably include some fermented fruit. I know it's a lot to ask, but I wish there had been some sort of comment sheet attached after the jurying process for those. I also realize that comment sheets are a "quilt" thing, and not an art thing. It's hard to stand with one foot in each arena sometimes. I am consoling myself with the fact that the jurying was done by professional artists and crafts people, and they had my quilts for 3 weeks to poke and prod at as much as they liked, and STILL said "due to the excellent quality of your work" anyway!

Today, we're off to hang the remaining quilts for the show to open tomorrow and then the reception is this evening at 5:30. The workshop tomorrow in Magnolia and then back to the show Sunday to actually see it all set up and then help with the live auction at 2:00. I have a jury summons for next week so I have no idea what my schedule will look like.

The craft guild is having a reception for the new members on Oct 12, and the letter says we can show some of our work at that time. No idea how much we can show, but I probably have a few pieces small enough to use. Next month, I'm scheduled to do a lecture for a local stitchery guild and then the big Fall gathering of MQA (http://www.mississippiquilt.org/) in Oxford, where the quilts from the Quart Bag Quilt challenge will be debuted. And unbelievably, I already have 3 presentations scheduled in November.

I'll try to get pictures posted tonight or maybe tomorrow night of some of the quilts at the show. We had some incredibly beautiful pieces submitted this year. I was also amazed at the total and complete cooperation of all the volunteers who got it from the good idea stage to the final show! The days I was there to help, not only did everyone immediately do what was asked of them, but when they finished that task they came back and asked for more! There wasn't a lot of standing around chatting unless we were waiting for something specific. I have gotten to know some of the women better, and met some I didn't know before but want to get to know better. A sea change from 6 years ago, that's for sure. I think there are a few who have decided that maybe I do make 'real' quilts now. I'm also looking forward to the comment sheets from the judges. That will give me a little better idea of what needs work and what looks good. What would really look good is colorful ribbons hanging on the quilts! Wish me luck on that. I have confidence in most of the 6 I submitted, but a couple of them are not what I would have liked them to be. Hopefully, that's just my perfectionist gene kicking in and not something that is a glaring error to everyone else. We'll see.