STITCH LINES...... Ramblings on life as a quilter, stitcher, traveler, photographer, gardener and lover of books, cats and fine chocolate....

Friday, March 17, 2017

Surprise!


I'm back! Oh wait, you didn't know I was gone.. I'm just back from a lovely week in sunny warm Florida. What a treat it was! Blue skies, green grass, palms waving in the breeze, bougainvillea in bloom... Sigh.

(On cloudy dreary days, remember, above the clouds, the sky is always blue and the sun is shining...)

My wonderful friend Sandi Mac invited me down and she always coordinates my visit with a big quilt show. This year it was the biannual Broward Quilt Expo held in Fort Lauderdale, a large show presented by six quilt guilds of Broward Co. in southern Florida. Sandi picked me up at West Palm Beach airport, and we headed directly to the show after dropping my luggage at our Pompano Beach accommodations. As always, we agreed to "do the vendors" first, then look at the quilts the next day, but as we entered the show, she said "Just come see this one thing first." I was expecting to see a spectacular "Best in Show" or perhaps an amazing art quilt that she loved, but we rounded a corner to see a display of miniature quilts. (Ah yes, she knows me well.)








Do you see anything that looks familiar?
















Look a little closer...

Do you see what I see?






















It took me a few seconds to realize I was looking at "my" quilt (made by me, now owned by Sandi) with a first place blue ribbon on it!!! What a thrill! She had entered "our" miniature without telling me, and that 1st place ribbon made the surprise all the sweeter. Oh yes, there was a sweet prize cheque too, in US dollars of course. What a great way to start off a wonderful week! THANK YOU Sandi!!!











The ribbon is larger than the quilt! :)












You can read the background story on the miniature quilt here and here. It was made from the trimmings when Sandi squared up the blocks while making this king size quilt. Yup, one extreme to the other.. king size to miniature!











I have lots of photos to share with you, from the show and otherwise. I've been busy catching up today, unpacking, laundry, watering my plants. etc. but once that's all out of the way, I'll be editing photos, so come back soon.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope you've been wearin' the green today!



Piece!
Linda

May the dreams you hold dearest be those which come true,
And the kindness you spread keep returning to you.
~ Irish blessing

15 comments:

Vee said...

Yes, I have! (Been wearing the green.) Welcome home...sorry that spring didn't arrive while you were gone...alas, some chick named Stella did instead. Yay! What a wonderful surprise Sandi had for you!! Warm congrats...

kath001 said...

That's awesome! Congratulations!

Jennifer said...

Congratulations on your (shared) win, how good is that! Darn, I forgot to wear green yesterday......I wore blue instead.

Karen said...

Harder to think of a bigger - or better - surprise. Congrats! Sandi must have been about to burst, keeping that secret.Well done!

Linda said...

Congratulations to you, Linda! I love all the items in your photos, and I have to say that your header photo collage has made my day! My favourite colour is green! Warm greetings from Montreal! :)

Sara - Villa Emilia said...

Congratulations, dear Linda! What a wonderful surprise your friend had for you! She must have been happy to see your happiness.
Both the miniature and the king size quilt are totally incredible - I don't know how people can be so skillful to make such things. :)
Have a lovely weekend!

Sheila said...

Congratulations, Linda that is awesome news and well deserved too ! Lucky you escaping to Florida for the week and the bonus of a quilt show too 😊

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

Congratulations!! What a great surprise. That mini quilt is amazing to someone line me that hates working in miniature. Glad you had a great time. Thanks for posting before you are even settled back in.
xx, Carol

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

Oh my! How exciting to see your beautiful little quilt at the show...WITH a blue ribbon! I'm so happy for you. Made this trip extra special! Sweet hugs, Diane

Jeanna said...

That is such a great story. Sandi is a little sneaky, in a good way ;)

Congratulations on your win. I hope you had a great time in Florida last week. I thought about you a couple of times and wondered what Sandi had you doing.

Lee said...

Totally cool! How fun that Sandi entered it for you.

Pamela Gordon said...

Welcome back Linda! I'm glad you had a nice winter escape and now it's spring....sort of. Hahaha! What a great surprise on your miniature quilt and for it to win first prize is awesome! Congratulations to you!

Janet said...

Wow Linda! Congratulations! It is a beautiful little quilt and such a labour of love went into making it. Isn't it lovely to get away from the snow and cold for a brief bit in the winter!

Judith @ Lavender Cottage said...

You must have thought at first your eyes were playing tricks on you. Wow, congratulations Linda!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Linda! Wow! First place, what a great start to a mini vacation in the sunshine.
Kathy M.

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