Life gets in the way

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. On August 28th, a tree fell on our carport destroying it. That set off a chain of events.  We had a visit from the tree surgeons to chop down the offending 60' maple tree and an ailing 60' walnut tree across the driveway. We ordered the new carport.  That company abandoned us, with no communication for 6 weeks when, lo and behold, they called and said they wanted to install on October 31st.  They never showed up, but they called at 8:30 at night, promising to install the carport on the next day.  At 8 AM they worked like a well choreographed dance for 1 1/2 hours and they got paid and they left.  Meanwhile, we had some renovations in the kitchen and bath that took three weeks.  Then I got shingles, from the stress of the mess, I think.  The medication made me dizzy and forgetful.  I finished the meds, and the house is getting back to order.

I am starting to plan the next few patterns which will be small.  I am playing around with crows in applique, and fuzzy cats in felting on cotton fabrics (just to see if can be done successfully) and it is time for a new cat pattern.  People keep asking for donkeys...I'll start to do the research and see if I like donkeys.

This fall, the Sheep Wannabees went on tour with World Quilt, a group of Mancuso shows, because it won a blue ribbon for Best Hand Workmanship.  I am beginning to see that being judged at a quilt show does not reward cleverness when it comes to quilt design.  What is being awarded the top ribbons is craftsmanship.  That means that the judges are looking for how well the stitches are formed and if the binding corners are square, things like that.  Winning a ribbon has everything to do with the competition.

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