For about 2 minutes I had some clear space on my laundry room/office countertops, but it quickly got consumed as I work on sorting through some piles of paper. The irritating thing about so much of the paper that winds up piled around me is that it is actually just trash. If I would just operate under a DO IT NOW principle, rather than a STICK IT IN A PILE AND DEAL WITH IT LATER principle, I wouldn’t wind up having to have marathon pile shoveling sessions.
Of course, this is a lesson I keep having to learn, maybe this time it will stick.
It is snowing again here in Iowa. Joe has been at Gramma’s house since yesterday evening, Will and Mark are outside sledding down an artificial hill that Mark has created in our side yard. The yard slopes somewhat, but he has piled up some snow to be the ramp on which they start. He even set his ladder down on the pile so they have footholds to climb the hill, and I think that some of the shovels were stuck in the pile so that they had things to hold onto while they mounted their sleds and/or snowboards. *I* should be spending more time in here working on my piles of paper, but I have been sewing up a storm, in the midst of another quilt that Must. Be. Made. Right. Now. Actually, there are 2 quilts in progress in that mode right now. It’s madness, I tell you, madness.
I heard yesterday that Sharon Schamber has one the 2nd $100,000 quilt challenge. I told Mark about it, and he asked if I had entered a quilt in that challenge. I laughed. He didn’t know that I had just yesterday blogged about how I can’t (and don’t want) to compete with the kind of quilting that can win prizes like that. He’s such a sweetheart: I think in his opinion, I ought to win best of show every time I enter a quilt.
Honestly, knowing that he thinks I’m awesome is a much better prize than anything a quilt show could give me.
Suzanne
P.S. I have just now realized that my blog header still says Happy Holidays. Yikes. I was thinking all of the Holiday decorations and been put away. The sewing machine is calling me, though, so you’ll just have to pretend it doesn’t say that.
I love your madness Suzanne. Aren’t all quilters mad?
Having just done some pile-shoveling myself, I got a good chuckle out of this.
Hope you and your loved ones are staying warm!
Years and years ago I thought I wanted to win a big award. This was really before the growth and popularity of machine quilting. Before Carol Bryer Fallert’s quilt took top money at Paducah and most everyone thought quilts should be hand quilted. I think the largest prize at that time was $10,000 at Paducah. Some of the attraction I think was having that much money to spend – our budget was really strapped then and I could spend little on quilt fabric. I also thought I wanted to be famous.
What a difference the years – and growing older – make. I could care less now. I enter our local show, and am very happy with the ribbons I’ve won there, but if I never win another ribbon I’ll still be happy. I make the quilts I want to make, quilts to be used and loved, and as long as I and my family are happy with them then that’s all thats matters.
So I say “hear,hear” when it comes to quilting awards. As long as your family thinks you are a winner then you are to everyone who really matters.
I do have to brag that a lady in my guild was a finalist in that contest. She was the finalist for the traditional category in the 4th quarter issue. I think it’s her first big contest. She is very talented, but you know I think it goes to show that regular quilters can get in there. Sure, the big name is likely to take the prize but how exciting to just be a finalist.
You know we’d all vote for you!