A good day at the Quilt Show

I put 3 quilts in the Oregon Trails Quilt Show hoping one would get some recognition. 

This was my Mother's quilt a Grandmother's Flower Garden, she made at age 21, living in Chicago in 1936-37 while awaiting her first child, my sister Kristin.  Many of the charming fabrics were probably given to her by a sister-in-law, my Aunt Kate, who had 2 little girls at the time and lived nearby.  This is the quilt that laid unused for many, many years on a wood shelf ("save it for good!") , and when it came to me, as the only quilter, we discovered with horror that the wood acids had eaten clear through the center fold lines.  I kept it for another 15 years before having courage to repair it, only to discover that the repair s were not nearly as difficult as I had imagined.  This is a Second Place.  The white sheet on the bottom is a printed story of the quilt history.  I'll sew it on the back now as a label.

This is "Cowboy Up", a large quilt, a version of Tumalo Trails.  I added that border and learned new methods to machine quilt on the wide light blue border.  The dark blue is a plaid, a used man's shirt given to me by a friend.  It worked perfectly with the numerous 9 patches that I had made casually, with no purpose, "using up some little strips of fabric".  This is Second Place.

This is a recent finish that I call Pineapple Spools, added to the show at the last minute only as something of interest.  I was astonished to see it was given a First Place.  (That purple on the bottom of the picture is a back from another quilt hanging behind it. )

A good day in Western Nebraska, with 104 degree heat outside!