The time has come

I am excited to say the time has finally arrived for the first entry of my lovely PQ1 into a competition!

Deadlines were missed late last year/early this year because of film jobs and a number of classes butting in during what would have been prime finish-that-quilt time.

So I sat expectantly on my precious "egg", waiting for JoAnn Fabric to start the entry period for their third annual "Quilt Your Colors" contest.  Since their requirements were that every scrap of material used in the creation of your entry HAD to be purchased from them, I was limited to what colors I used to build my beautiful quilt.

When I couldn't finish in time for the 2011 contest, I consoled myself with the thought that it would be ready (and so would I) for the following year...I just had to keep it under wraps until then.  NOT an easy thing to do given how proud I am of the way it turned out.

Patiently I waited for the end of summer for the first announcements to appear - and the sign-up period - but it didn't come.  I called and emailed their corporate office to ask the question again and again.  "When will the contest be announced?"

As it turned out, the answer was "never." 

They could have said that MONTHS ago!  If they had, I could have been teaching and drawing an income all summer/fall/now! 

You see, employees cannot enter their contest, and I am certain PQ1 is a winner.  I thought that once it won, then I could teach at JAF and enter the quilt in other competitions around the US, or internationally.

Sadly, now they are no longer in need of quilt instructors at the three closest stores, so here I am at square one - BUT....

The deadline for entry into the AQS competition is literally around the corner, so I am earnestly readying my paperwork and photos, and trying to finish up a secondary piece to enter at the same time.  Monetarily it is the best thing to do.  If I can't get the second offering done by the 15th, I am OK with only entering PQ1 this time around.

Yes, normally this would have been the sort of thing I post at www.truenorthquilter.blogspot.com , however, since it is a cross of mild ranting, a bit of a daily update, and of interest to me (my life, my blog, etc.), this is where I chose to post it.

Photos of the secondary quilt entry can be seen on the quilt blog (listed above), but photos of PQ1 won't be made available until March.  When you see it you'll understand why.

;)