The Chicken is Home

My quilt, Too Much Chicken, is back from its trip around the USA, and now I will sew the last two labels on the back of the quilt.

A Little Hand Work

My sewing machine is in the shop for repairs and a tune up. I may have it back later this week.  In the meantime I've been sewing the AQS labels on the back of the Black & White Crayons...

and Too Much Chicken.

Of course Millie had to help.

This is my quilting buddy, Julie Post (who blogs as Joe Tulips, which is an anagram of her name), with Too Much Chicken when it was at the AQS show in Des Moines. Julie is an awesome quilter, and a fellow member of the SSOBB. Thanks for the photo, and the show pin, Julie!

The Chicken Quilt is Going to Paducah!

WOO HOO!  My quilt, "Too Much Chicken" has been accepted into the American Quilter's Society show in Paducah Kentucky from April 20 - 23 2016.

I'd be lying if I told you I ever expected it to get into any show at all. It was Gerald Roy who told me the quilt was better than I thought it was, and that I should enter it in the AQS Paducah show.

The Black & White Crayons quilt has also been accepted into the show in Paducah.

Woot!

AQS Chattanooga

My quilt, The Black & White Crayons, is on display at AQS Chattanooga this week. If you go, take a selfie with it and send it to me at patcherymenagerie AT gmail DOT com (you know how to put them together.) And I'd love it if somebody would get me a show pin. I'll pay for it and the postage. Let me know, thanks!

Lynne

AQS Thoughts

When I told my Mom I had a quilt in an AQS show, she was surprised. "You're in a NATIONAL SHOW?" she asked.


Um yeah, and this is my fourth AQS show, I told her.

"LYNNE!!!"

So we drove six hours to Syracuse to see my quilt in the show, and the whole AQS experience. I confess I didn't "get it" until I walked into the Oncenter and saw my quilt hanging in great company.

 I was almost embarrassed to tell my Mom I had been accepted into two other AQS shows.

The Black and White Crayons are going to AQS in Chattanooga and AQS Des Moines.



Then my Mom says to me... "Where is the next show?"

"Grand Rapids Michigan."

"Are you in that one?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I missed the deadline to enter."

"When's the next one you're in?

"Chattanooga Tennessee."

"Oh," her voice fell. "That's far. We can't drive to that. Where are the others?"

"Phoenix Arizona, Daytona Florida, Lancaster Pennsylvania, and Paducah Kentucky."

"I guess we're not going to any of those."

"Well we sure as hell aren't driving! Six hours and my butt hurts! We'll see."

"How do you get to Chattanooga?"

"You have to fly."

"Oh. I guess we won't be going to that one either," she paused. "Are there any other quilt shows you can enter?"

"MOM!"



Apparently I still don't get it.


 .

(update: sorry Judy. My geography isn't good when I'm trying to do two things at once. I was watching the first episode of Project Runway Season 14 while writing this post!)

AQS Syracuse - Getting There

There's nothing like deciding on Wednesday that you are going to drive six hours to see a quilt show on Friday. It's called planning ahead. (NOT!) I was talking to my Mother, one of those "what are you going to do this weekend, anything interesting?" conversations. I said I was trying to decide if I wanted to drive six hours to see my Black Box quilt in the AQS show in Syracuse.

"That's a national show, isn't it? That's a big deal. You're going, aren't you? You're not thinking of going alone are you?" she asked.

"Why, do you want to come with me?"

"Ly-ynne!" (you know how your parents stretch out your name to many syllables when they think you're being a bit obtuse?)

So OK, she says she's going to ask her husband. I look on the AQS website to find a hotel. I call a hotel, I make a reservation. Done. Mom calls back, says she can go.  Good thing, I tell her, I already booked a hotel and you should have heard the desk clerk laugh when I told her I wanted a room with TWO double beds because "I love my mother a lot, but not that much..."

Before I went to bed that night, I packed a suitcase. I kid you not.

So we leave Friday morning about 9:30ish or so, after I gassed up the car.

Millie is all about the I-was-here-photos.

We drive rather languidly through western NH, stop off in Keene at a grocery store and build a couple of salads at the salad bar, pick up some fruit and nuts, etc.

Just after noon, we drove through Hoosick New York where we saw this quilt block painted on the side of a house.

A few hours later, Millie was wondering why she was wearing a button that said "I am AQS" when her name is Millie.  We found my quilt, and Julies, and bought some show pins, then (because we got to the show late) left to go have dinner. We'll check out the show on Saturday, then we'll head home.

But that wasn't the high point of the day. We got a ride to the show on the hotel's shuttle...

(my Mother: How did you pick the hotel? Me: I made a reservation with the second hotel on the list. When I called the first one, the line was busy. See, a lot of thinking went into this trip. NOT!)

Anyway we're on the shuttle and we get to talking with a couple of other ladies who are also going to the show (they took a break for lunch). They asked where I was from and I tell them I've just driven six hours and that I have a quilt in the show. "YOU DO!!!" they exclaim. "Um yeah," and I reach into my bag and pull out the postcards I brought with me that show The Black Box quilt on them.

"The one in the middle," I say, "I made that one. I mean, I made all three of them, but the one in the middle is the one in the show."

"We LOVED that one," they said. "We spent a long time looking at it."



oh.

wow.

I hadn't even walked into the show, but these two ladies had already made my day.

Blue Boy in Progress

While watching Father Brown last night on the local PBS station, I pinned three more blocks together, and cut the last set of strips into squares.

But the sewing will have to wait because I am on my way to AQS Syracuse to see my quilt, The Black Box, and Julie's See Rock City on display.

If you go to the show, take a picture of yourself with my quilt (and Julie's too) and send them to me! And if you are there on Saturday when I am looking around, and you see me, please come over and say hello!



Suzanne, I'm glad you loved it, thanks for writing!

BW Crayons to AQS Chattanooga

Woo Hoo!  My quilt, Black & White Crayons, has been accepted into AQS Chattanooga, and will be on display there September 16 - 19, 2015.

The Black Box is Going to AQS Syracuse!

Woo Hoo! My quilt, The Black Box, is going to the AQS show in Syracuse NY, which will be from July 29 to August 1, 2015.

Life is 'Tweet, almost complete

Life is 'Tweet arrived in New Hampshire yesterday. Because I'll be moving in a week I won't be able to work on finishing it any time soon, but I am excited to do so.  I have to figure out what I want to do with the binding. I don't really want it to be a color, and I don't want it to be white (been there, done that), so I am thinking of mostly white with little color accents every so often, all around the quilt.  I'll try it out and decide, but in the meantime I can think about it.  Sometimes I think it's a good idea to NOT be able to work on something. It forces you to give more thought to it, and also provides the opportunity to come up with more, different, and better ideas. The first idea is generally pretty standard, and we all know I don't do "normal."  If you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

It's getting to be crunch time for the big move. I've got all the big stuff packed. I've got the contents of all cabinets, bookcases, bureaus, desks and drawers packed. I've got a travel bag ready, and have plans for what to do in each of the last days leading up to the move itself.  I don't know if I'll be posting much, but I'm not going far and I will be back soon. I promise to give you all a full report of the process! The sewing room will be one of the FIRST things I set up in the new place. I can't wait. I've been away from the sewing machine for far too long.


The Black Box quilt will be traveling to the Des Moines AQS show. If you go to the show I'd love it if you could send me a picture of yourself with the quilt.

AQS Chattanooga - Black Box & See Rock City

Check this out!  That's my quilt, The Black Box on the left, and Julie's quilt, See Rock City, over on the right. How cool they are displayed so close together!

If you will be attending the show in Chattanooga, take a selfie with my Black Box quilt and send it to me. I'd love to see it!

Black Box, AQS Chattanooga

My quilt, The Black Box, will be on display this weekend at the AQS show in Chattanooga. If you see it, please take a picture of yourself with it and send it to me at patcherymenagerie AT gmail DOT com.  (You know how to put those together properly.)

Julie's quilt, See Rock City, will also be there, and you should check that out too! (She'd like a picture too!)

I'll be packing, and any photo of you and my quilt will brighten my weekend. THANKS!

The Black Box @ AQS Chattanooga & Des Moines

In all the craziness I don't know if I mentioned it, but The Black Box quilt will be on exhibit at the AQS show in Chattanooga September 10 - 13. If you go, take a picture of yourself with my quilt and send it to me. Here is the list of semi-finalists.

Then The Black Box will travel to Des Moines Iowa for the AQS show there October 1 - 4. The quilt will be in good company. My friend Julie's See Rock City quilt will also be on exhibit in both shows. Here is the complete list of semi-finalists.

I'm thrilled to have my quilt on exhibit.

Like they all say about the Oscars, "It's an honor to be nominated."