I'm a WINNER..........

Kevin the Quilter!  Come on down!
OK, so it wasn't really like I was a contestant on the Price is Right, (although, I would LOVE to be) but, I am a winner and am jumping up and down just like I would be in contestants row!  Connie at Freemotion by the River hosted a great batik giveaway along with her friend Vicki from the Quilting Lodge earlier this month.  I am always amazed at Connie's works of art, and how much work she gets done!  She is quite prolific!  Anywho, I found out much to my surprise I won her batik giveaway!  YAHOOOOO!  I can't wait to see the fabrics I will be receiving!  Thanks for hosting the giveaway Connie!  I am delighted!  On a side note, I found out Vicki and I grew up 40 miles apart!  SMALL WORLD!

So, as promised, I am going to share more about another win, and the quilt I made my friends Jamie and Ted.  When I first started quilting, I was on the look out for deals!  Clearance fabric being the main deal I was in search of!  I found a great fat quarter bundle in autumnal colors in a clearance bin at a fabric store.  The first thought that came to mind was my friend Jamie.  She and I have been friends for quite some time, and I know how much she loves an autumnal color scheme.  Well the fabrics were perfect!  Next, I had to choose a pattern which took a while to decide upon.

As I was going through some of my grandmother and great aunt's sewing items, I found an old piece of cardboard.  I wasn't quite sure of what to think of the shape?  But, on one side it said, "5 inch Dresden."

My old Dresden template.

What on earth was a Dresden?  Hmmmmmmmmm.........so, research began, and I found out about Dresden Plate quilts.  AHA!  I remembered seeing quilts like that, that my grandma had made!  THIS was the pattern that must be used for Jamie and Ted's quilt!  After all, they are lovers of all things vintage, and they love to entertain!

I loved how the colors and patterns came together, and decided which layout I liked best with each Dresden petal. But, I was in need of some sashing, and border fabrics.  Enter this wonderful woman........

 Donna!

This is Donna standing in front of her beautiful civil war quilt, and she works at a great quilt shop close to where I grew up.  Being new to quilting, not to mention being a man that quilts, I was a little intimidated shopping in quilt shops, so I took my mommy with me! LOL  Dad was there too, but, had found a very comfortable chair to fall asleep in!  As is the case most of the time, Donna thought my mom was the quilter until my mother informed her that I was.  I had brought one of my Dresden blocks with me to match some colors up, and Donna was so enthusiastic,  interested, and willing to help.  Upon seeing the block, she asked if I was entering the quilt in the River Heritage Quilt Guild Show?  The theme for the quilt show happened to be Dresden Plate!  I just looked at her in my best "WHATCHYOU TALKIN' BOUT WILLIS?"  face, and then laughed hysterically!  A quilt show?  Really?  Yeah, RIGHT!  I just KNEW she was kidding until I turned around after I had been looking for some sashing fabric, and saw a bunch of ladies gathered around the cutting table talking about my block.  Donna requested that I come over and tell the story I have already been telling here on the blog, to the ladies gathered there.  The ladies began asking questions, and they were so encouraging.  It really lit a fire in me to want to enter this quilt show!  I thought.......what do I have to lose?  I can add this experience to the "bucket list." 

I do have to tell a funny story about that first visit with Donna.  As we stood at the cutting table talking, a lady in the quilt shop kept looking at me very strangely.  She came over to us and said, "I apologize, I don't mean to stare, but, I have never seen a man that quilts before?"  LOLOLOL  Too funny!

I continued working on the quilt, and talked some things over with my long arm quilter, Ann.  Ann is an award winning quilter with AMAZE-BALLS skills that I happened to find by chance.  That is another blog post in itself.  Ann was also very encouraging of me entering the show, and gave some invaluable advice concerning the quilt.  So, it was a done deal.  The quilt was destined to be named "Autumn Dresden" and would be appearing in the quilt show.

This was my first photo of "Autumn Dresden" after receiving it from quilting.

I love pieced backings.

Upper right corner of Autumn Dresden.

Ann's quilting is beyond phenomenal!

There are some really great textures on this quilt!

When the time came, I hand delivered the quilt, and low and behold, there was Donna helping out!  She literally had tears in her eyes seeing me entering the quilt.  The day of the show came, and my dad and one of his friends had gotten to the venue where the quilt show was held earlier than me and my mother.  I saw him whispering to my mom, and I had a feeling something was up?  Yep, he was letting my mom in on something he saw attached to my quilt.........

 THIRD PLACE!  Not so bad for a first time entry?

I was so pleased!  I couldn't believe I actually placed especially after seeing the absolutely stunning quilts that were in my category!  Donna's included!  Yep, there I was in a category with Donna, the woman that encouraged me to enter!  Aren't quilters the best!?!?!?

Donna and me at the River Heritage Quilt Guild show!

I am sorry for being so long winded, but, I do hope you enjoyed my story as much as I enjoyed living it!  This was just the beginning........................do you honestly think I can settle with third place now?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'll BE BACK! 

Thanks for all of the encouragement! 

Kevin the Quilter