I can't believe it ... a winner!

Last night when I returned from the day's adventures, I found an e-mail from Michele at Quilting Gallery, saying with points from the guest judges, my "Seasons" quilt had won the beautiful hand-dyed fabric offered by Vicki Welsh for the Quilters' Show and Tell.

I can see that I took these pictures before my camera lens was fixed. I do not have digital pictures of my earlier quilts and most of them are now living elsewhere, so I probably never will. This quilt I have kept here and maybe I should celebrate by sleeping under it tonight... though it is a bit big for my semi-single futon.

Years ago I quilted a baby quilt for a friend living in Tokyo. It was a paper-pieced quilt with bug jars ... one opened and the bugs escaping around the quilt and her grand child's name pieced in the border. She requested simple in-the-ditch quilting and offered to pay me for my work. I did keep a record of the time but in the end, I asked her if she could get me an "Ott light" in payment as she had a military address and could order things from the States. I still use and love the lamp she gave me ... but ... one other thing was many sample fabrics from Keepsake Quilting. She got packs frequently and used them to order fabric, the rest she gave to me.

Now, I have always loved the flying geese block, so I divided them up into light and dark and turned those sample pieces into strings of geese. I arranged them in color groups and sewed them together. Then, I began looking for an interesting printed stripe fabric to use between the rows.

I just couldn't find anything to fit, so in the end, I sat at my dining room table and made a list of flowers that had meaning to me ... things growing in my gardens past and present.

I divided the list by seasons, then got some butcher paper and cut four strips. I drew a curved line down each strip and then drew flowers arranged along the strip. I added some birds to represent the seasons.

In this spring panel you can see the "Uguisu" or Bush warbler which is a harbinger of Spring. Maybe you can identify the flowering quince and the magnolia, and certainly cherry blossoms.

Among the summer flowers are the hydrangeas, the sunflowers of my youth, and roses to represent the garden my father grew and hybridized.


The bird is an Oriental Greenfinch,  a welcome summer visitor.

This little blue flower came as a gift from my dad.

The tag said, "Althea" - blue.

Below are wild roses that grow in the area where I camp with the Scouts each summer.

Among the autumn leaves is a "Great Tit". These birds are visitors to my window feeders all year through.

In some areas, the Tits become so tame you can feed them from your fingers. The ones here are shy but they keep their eyes on the feeder and flit around as I go to fill it.

The little Japanese White-eye  is sitting among the winter blooming Camellias.

I think if blogger wanted to improve anything, they would add a feature to rotate pictures.

In the border I quilted many different leaves. I recall a friend had pressed leaves and sent me some of those growing in Ohio.

Well, one of my jobs as a kid was raking leaves, and living on the edge of a forest park, there were many varieties .

I remember in High School we were asked for a science class to to press and make a display note book of at least six different leaves with descriptions.
I went out to my back yard and picked up 38 different varieties. I think the rest of the class was mad at me for over-doing it but I just couldn't play favorites when it came to trees.






So ... here is that quilt!

The prize was some beautiful hand dyed fabric. It was very difficult to decide which set I wanted. I thought about my son's request for a wedding quilt in browns and greens, and there was a very pretty selection of those. But, since I love browns and greens too, I have plenty of those.

What caught my eye was a lovely rainbow set. I thought of those women up in Tohoku and how they might be cheered by those bright colors. That was my decision in the end.

I am grateful for the Quilting Gallery that makes opportunities for "show and tell" as there is always something lovely to see, and for Vicki Welsh who offered her fabric as a prize.
Have you ever entered one of these exhibits?  I know some of my friends have.
Take a peek from time to time. There will always be something to inspire you.