Famous Female Face... for the WIN!

Yesterday I received a phone call from Andrea of AQS letting me know that our entry, Famous Female Faces, had won First Place in the Ultimate Guild Challenge at AQS Quiltweek - Grand Rapids. OMG, I was thrilled! I had to pinch myself (twice) to make sure I wasn't imagining it. I don't care how many times you hear the news that you have placed at a national show, the same excitement runs through you each and every time! Immediately, I called everyone in the group... wow, calling 7 peeps with such exciting news really takes awhile.  I now feel for Andrea as she calls each and every winning quilt personally... whew!

We were able to use any technique we choose. I like that they are all different, that bothers some people, but I feel each of us had an idea and a process we wanted to follow. I don't think they would have turned out as awesome if we were all forced to follow the same technique and/or be contained in one specific size.

For those that haven't seen them, here they are:

Lucy (43x53) - Karen Marchetti

Diana (39x38) - Pam Post

Carmen Miranda (31x36) - Marian McCoin

Lady Liberty (38x46) - Natalie Carlton

Mary (36x48) - Nancy Parsons

Pebbles (39x47) Kathy Rentz

Georgia's Pride (49x35) - Nancy Smith

Tina Simply the Best (33x42) - Barbara Lacey

Aren't they just the greatest!! And here is the awesome group of ladies that created these beauties:

Until next time, happy quilting!

Karen 

Field Trip Fun!

Hi all - Karen here, wanting to tell you about our recent field trip.  The plan was to visit McKee Botanical Gardens.

  It started like this:

McKee Botanical just happened to be having a waterlily celebration at the same time our meeting was scheduled - total coolness. Don't you just love when things work out like that?!!

Wild blackberries had their attention...

So here's a little about McKee history -- click on the pic, it gets bigger:

And the men that started it all:

And then Pam making some noise!!

And if you were wondering what Marian was looking up at -- isn't it so cool?!!

As an art group we are always looking for inspiration -- always.  So now I'll share a few of my favorite inspiration pics from the day.

 

Nature is soooo amazing, it never ceases to excite and motivate me. Yes, perhaps soon you might see one of these as a quilt... perhaps!

Oh, and I can't forget lunch, what would the day be without food!  We went over to the island and had a terrific lunch - will definitely be going back again!

Well that's it from me -- I'm sure the others will have a post or two as well -- it was a GREAT day!

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