Well, the title says it all really. Thanks to some encouragement from the lovely Lisa and a good old-fashioned dare from Linden Vine, I got up my courage, paid my $10 and entered my Rainbow Rails quilt into the Royal Adelaide show. This was only my 4th completed quilt, and my first large-scale attempt at Free-motion Quilting, so I was entering more for the experience than anything. It took some coaxing for DS2 to give it up, as it’s his bed quilt, but he was excited to see it hanging on display.
We chose the first day of the show to attend, and were lucky to have glorious weather. I’m in the middle of a botox cycle at the moment, so I even survived the noise and crowds with a lot of caffeine, a bit of codeine and some very regular sit downs. But enough rambling….
You can imagine our complete and utter shock when we were searching through the quilt gallery, rounded a corner, and saw this. I had repeatedly told my family that I would be just happy to see it hanging… and was looking for it up here…
Way way up there!! They had provided photographs of all the hanging quilts, along with the exhibit details at floor level. There were only limited categories…. quilt made by one person machine quilted, quilt made by one person hand quilted. Quilt made by more than one person hand or machine quilted. The floor level was reserved for those quilts that placed, were commended, or squeezed into a corner.
I grinned. And bounced. I may have even teared up, but I’m not admitting anything. You see, gentle reader, there is just you and I in this adventure. I have no friendly local quilt shop, no guild, no quilting family or best friend. This was the most amazing in-person crafting validation that I could have ever experienced.
After that, everything else about the show was just gravy. The photos stopped at lunchtime, as all the instagram messages and text messages from my IG friends all over the country flattened my phone battery … but there were still plenty of highlights….
I made sure that my little inspiration, DS2 got to do all the things he likes best, eat waffles and pat animals. We are not the screaming carnival type, we had as much fun in the pet halls, dog judging and the flower displays as we could have ever had on a candy fuelled ride binge. As for me? I just grinned and floated through the rest of the day.
The moral of this story being? Have a go!! You just never know when a yellow ribbon is waiting around the corner.
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Fiona
Woot! Woot! Woot! CONGRATULATIONS & extremely well deserved!!
Cassandra
Thanks Fiona!!
knitnkwilt
That is so exciting for you! And your first big FMQ project–even better. So a big cheer!
Cassandra
Thank you so much!! Makes every stitch worth it 🙂
Michelle
Oh this is the best news ever! Congratulations! I can imagine how bloody chuffed you must be. An achievement well deserved xxxx
Cassandra
Thank you Michelle I really am still floating. It’s a great feeling 🙂
Jo
Congratulations! Well done! How very very very exciting. I am not sure how I missed this on IG, I am going back to stalk your feed now. The FMQ looks amazing…
Cassandra
Thanks Jo!! I’m still in shock about it…. Will post better close up pictures when I get to bring it back next week. Still have a way to go before I catch up to all your beautiful ribbons!!
Lisa Chambers
Hi Cassie! This is so exciting! I am so happy for you! I love your style and how you work so hard. I’m so happy to have met you and you deserve everything you wish for! 🙂 hugs and kisses Lisa xoxo
Cassandra
Lisa you are so lovely!! It is I who am blessed to have such a fabulous cheerleader in my corner!