Rejected, Dejected .....Road Trip

Rejection is never pleasant.  I submitted a small quilt for a magazine contest.  It was about putting text on a quilt and I thought this was right up my alley.  I love putting words on quilts and have many, many ways to do it.  This contest had my name all over it.  And all you had to do was send 2 jpegs (one a full view and one a close-up) and a brief description.  No entry fee and no paperwork. It only had to be 8 1/2" x 11".   Easy!  Plus, notification was only a few days after the deadline.  I couldn't resist.  The winning pieces would be published in the magazine.

How disappointed I was when I found out that they didn't choose my quilt.  What was wrong with it?  How could they not want it?  Frankly, it stung.  I could think of many reasons to rationalize the rejection.  But it still hurt.  Our quilts are such a direct extension of ourselves.  But I do know there are many reasons why quilts are rejected and I know it is not personal.  My brain just has to convince my heart. 

So here's my piece.  I call it "A House In The Country" and it's about how this type of life brings serenity to my soul. 

 I guess the bottom line is that I had a lot of fun creating it.  I love the handwork.  Check out the polka dots that I added to the house with sequins.  I think I will use it as my piece for our guild's annual challenge to benefit the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

So what's a girl to do?  Go shopping for more fabric.  My buddies and I headed to The Little Shop in Haddonfield, NJ.  I did a book signing there a few weeks ago and I had to go back to pick up some of my quilts. I have to tell you that Debbie, the owner, has the most fantastic taste in fabric.  She loves clear colors.  Plus she has lots of unique patterns in addition to quilty ones.  I will return there on October 1st to give a workshop on 7 Ways to do Fusible Applique.  If you're interested, give her a call.

We had a great lunch at the restaurant next door called The Little Tuna and then spent some time checking out all of the wonderful shops.  My favorite shop was The Paper Trail.  They had wonderful stationery, cards and lots of nice hostess type gifts.  I put a dent into my Chanukah gift list.  I wish I could share, but the recipients read my blog. (No peaking girls.)

While we were in NJ we decided to hit one more quilt shop - Needles and Pins in Swedesboro.  None of us had been there before.  We all were enchanted by the Gees Bend hand dyed solids.  Here are the ones I bought.  (I realized they looked a lot like my little house piece.) I haven't used solids for a while, but they really show off embellishments.

So the moral of the story is that shopping is good medicine for the aching soul.  But you already knew that!