May Already?

I can't believe it's May already!  You what that means?  Only Eleven more months until I retire!  What shall I do with all of my spare time?  See me smile.  :)  You know what I will do!

Here is the Quilt I made for our Granddaughter Kiristie.  She is Graduating with her Masters Degree.  She said she likes Teal.  I used the Sew Kind of Wonderful Ruler and one of her patterns to make this.

  

Here is a close up shot of my quilting.  I think I need to take a class using the ruler.  I thought it was hard to match the seams.

Here I'm working on my Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt .  I'm Stitching in Every Single Ditch!  And I realize that I am a very Creative Piecer!

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Jeremy at Thimble Towne has asked me to teach a Christmas Stocking Quilting Class in July. I added the Bling on the cuff with Rhinestones.  I have a couple more samples to make.  One Green and one White.  I hope I get some Students interested in the class.

I have been busy.  Doing what I like to do.  And making a list of things to keep me busy in 11 months.

Best of the Valley Quilt Show

I had a great time at the Best of the Valley Quilt Show in Lindsay yesterday.  Those Ladies put on a great show.

Sara Kelly was the Featured Artist.  And she is truly an Artist.  I loved looking at her creations.  Thanks Sara!

This is the Best of Show Winner of the Large Quilt Category

And the Best of Show Wall Quilt..

 Best of Show Small Quilt

And this was the Best Machine Applique.

Here is a closeup on one of the eyes.  Amazing! 

The Best Art Quilt.

Yes!  They are "Quilts!

I want to share some of my Friends Quilts.  I couldn't get them all.  But here are a few.

Barbara Sindlinger's Rainbow Fish took a 1st place.  Nice Catch!  LOL!

Elaine Berry got a 2nd place in Group Quilts.  She had several friends (Me included) help her finish it  And it turned out perfect!  After all it is Elaine's Quilt!

This is one that DeAnne Faris made for the Enchanted Place Fundraiser!  1st place!

Barbara Daniels received the Chairman's Special Merit Award.  And I can see why!

Kay Pennington received the Best Embellished Award.  I followed her making this on her Blog.  It's a  stunner!
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Here I am with my 3rd place Dresden Plate.  I love that flower above mine! It matches my Top!

I love getting a picture of someone looking at the Back of my Quilts.  It means they were interested enough to look.

Here is my Scrappy Star.  It got Best Home Machine Quilting!  I'm so happy with this award.

This one really impressed me.  But it didn't received any award and I'm sorry to say I didn't catch who made it.  But it is lovely.

And here is my Star Light Star Bright.  It received a 1st place in the Whole Cloth Category.  And on Top of that it was awarded The National Quilt Association Certified Judges Award of Merit!  This is a brand new award that the certified judge has the option of awarding to a deserving quilt in any show he/she might judge.  It is awarded to one quilt achieving recognized standards of quiltmaking excellence.  (I got this off the NQA website)  Cool!  I'm really Jazzed about this one!

So this is what I thought I would share with you.  If you didn't make the show, please try to come next year.  It is amazing.

Mystery Quilt

Here is my Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt Top Finished.  At least it's pieced anyway.  I don't really think they are done until I have them Quilted.  But that may be awhile.  I have too many projects on my To-do list first.  I'm very pleased with it.  And I have my ideas on how I will quilt it.  But first I will Stitch in Every Single Seam!  There are a bunch of Seams.

This is one of the Quilts I need to finish before I quilt the Mystery.  This is for Kirstie.  Our Granddaughter.  She is Graduating with her Masters Degree in May.  I hope she likes it.  She said she liked Teal.  The pattern is from Sew Kind of Wonderful.  Using her Special Ruler.

Bunnie Tales

I've been busy making a Table Topper for the Ag Venture Fund Raiser in Tulare.  My friend Rachel Smith asked me if I had a Small Quilt I would donate for the Silent Auction.  I didn't have anything made up.  But I had this cute pattern for a Table Topper I bought on Craftsy.  I decided to name it Bunnie Tails.

Here is a close-up view of my Quilting.

I have asked Rachel to put a Minimum Bid of $75.00.  If know one bids on it, I would be happy to take it back.  I hope someone else likes it though.

Cotton Patch Quilt Show

Today 4 of my friends and I attended the Cotton Patch Quilt Show in Bakersfield.  Wow those ladies know how to quilt!  What a great show.  And I sure hope some of those Quilts will show up at the Best of the Valley Quilt Show in April.

Here is a great picture of Kay Pennington.  I have become friends with Kay on Facebook and Blogging.  But I got to meet her in person today.  She is a very talented lady.  And was the Featured Artist for the show.  I enjoyed seeing her quilts.  You can tell she puts a lot of time and effort in her work.  Beautiful!

Here is my BOTV Challenge,  It is the Little Red School House Block.

This is my statement for the challenge.

I will be retiring next year after working 38 years for the Tulare City School District.  After giving it some thought I decided the the Little Red School House has to be my "Best of the Valley".  Tulare City Schools provides the Children of Tulare the best possible Education and  Learning Environment.  And it has given me the opportunity to meet and become friends with some of the most wonderful people.  I am so proud to say I have worked for the Tulare City School District for the past 38 years.

BOM and BOTV Entries

I worked on my BOM last night and I have my 2 Blocks for February Done.  Man that is a good feeling.

I used my new Bloc-Loc and I love it.  This is a great tool for making HSTs.

Here are the 2 Blocks done!  Happy!  Happy!

I also took some pictures of my Entries I'm sending into the BOTV Quilt Show.

This one will be entered into the Group Category.  As it was a HST exchange with the Material Girls in 2012.  Too bad I didn't have the Bloc-Loc then!

Close view.

This is a Quilt I made at the Cindy Needham Design Workshop.  It is made with Silk Fabric, Wool Batting, and Silk Thread.

This is a Bridge Cloth that was Embroidered by a Lady from Tulare named Stella Bender.  In about 

1940-1950. 

I acquired it and I made a small Quilt with it.

This one is the Material Girl's Challenge for 2013.  A Dresden Plate.

 And I still have my BOTV Challenge.  But I left it ta work.  And I didn't get a picture yet.  Next time I will.

Yippie! It works!

I installed Google Chrome and I can now download pictures.  Happy!  Happy!

I went to Road 2 Ca with Barb S., Kathy M. and Pam L.  We had a great time!  We saw some beautiful Quilts.  And shopped til we dropped!  No kidding on that.

This was my Favorite Quilt.  And shame on me I didn't get the Makers name.  But it received the Masterpiece Award.

Here is a closeup of the Quilting.  I want to quilt like that when I grow up!

On our way down we stopped a several quilt stores and purchased some things there.  And then on Friday we went to the show and purchased more.

Here are some pictures of the things I purchased.

Fabric for Linen Quilt Backs.  Some fabric for Wholecloth Table Runners I have planned.  Some beautiful Cherrywood Fabric.  And some Easter Fabric for a cute Bunny Table Center Piece.

 I always need Needles.

 A good buy on Rotary Blades.

 Some Thread from Nancy Rink.  And a spool of Invisafil.

 HST Bloc Loc.  I saw this on the Quilt Show with Janet Stone.

 A darling Pattern for some Oven Mitts.  Maybe I will make some for the Common Threads Boutique.

 Some of the Batting for the Mitts and some Batting Tape for all of those small pieces I have.

I'm really pretty proud of myself for buying things that I'm sure I will use.  So many times I come home with things that I think are great at the time.  And then they just sit.

Here is my Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt.  I haven't done much lately.  I've been getting Quilts ready for the Best of the Valley Quilt Show.  Maybe I'll have pictures of those this weekend.