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!

1st Friday

Haddonfield is a bucolic little town in NJ.  You leave the main highway and drive down their main street called Kings Highway that doesn't look at all like a highway.  It is lined with the most gorgeous houses that are not quite mansions, but are big and stately.  They have a first Friday celebration starting in May and the wide sidewalks are lined with invited artists and many of the resturants have outdoor dining.

Friday night was an absolutely perfect night.  Warm enough for short sleeves.  Not too hot and a bit breezy.  I was invited to do a booksigning at a quilt shop, The Little Shop.  I had only been there once a few years ago.  It is almost an hour from my house.  The owner, Debbie, likes to choose her own talent to hang out in front of her shop.  We hung a few of my quilts on a quilt rack and draped another over the table.  I really enjoyed sitting outside signing books.  The only problem was that the delicious smells from the various resturants was making me so hungry.

(Oops!  This is where the photo is supposed to be of my quilts outside of the shop.  I inadvertantly erased it from my iphone.  Arghhhh!)

Debbie asked me if I could leave the quilts for a while to help sell more books.   I immediately said that I could.  She didn't know that I had an ulterior motive.   I can't wait to go back to her shop to buy fabric.  She has a great selection of current fabric, lots of buttons and trims and tons of unique patterns - lots of cute children's things.  Plus the town itself had a bunch of shops and restaurants I'd like to check out.  Would I mind leaving my quilts?  No problem!