It’s time for QuiltFest of Jacksonville again, and this year’s theme was “Bobbin’ on the Beach.” Of course, I had to feature my boy, Bobbin, sitting on a beach. My way.
My inspiration for the beach came from the double whammy of returning from my vacation to New Hampshire for the Machine Quilters Expo (MQX), where I spent way too much money, and then doing my taxes. I pretty much figured my next vacation would have to be on the cheap. How would a cat take a cheap vacation? In the sandbox, of course.
One of the biggest challenges was trying to incorporate the box of kitty litter and give it a nautical theme. The shell print fabric was one of the three challenge fabrics we had to incorporate, so I came up with Ocean Breeze. Hindsight being what it is, I wish I’d called it Tidal Cat instead.
I used Apliquick to turn all of my applique and handstitched it. Then came the really fun part, the quilting.
I added some simple textures to give my applique more dimension, with a few bonuses, like etching Vacation State of Mind into the sand, and a little peek-a-boo mouse.
Being me, I ran out of time before I added some of the elements I wanted, but I can always add more later before I send it off to other shows.
What an odyssey this quilt has had. After all my work to get it ready for the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza, it almost missed the show. I had planned to send it the day after Labor Day, which was also going to be the start of my vacation. Unfortunately, we were already getting ready for Dorian here in coastal Florida, and businesses were closing left and right; including all local postal options.
I drove as far inland as I could (an hour and a half to Gainesville) to reach a FedEx office, which was also about to close for the day. They couldn’t guarantee my quilt would get there in time, but I turned it over to them and hoped for the best.
My Picatso traveled just ahead of Dorian (which I’m happy to say had little impact on us) and made it to the judging in time, where it won Best Interpretation of Theme at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza.
Meanwhile, we just held our own judging for the upcoming Jacksonville QuiltFest. My quilts did well (sworn to secrecy for now) and next week I’ll be helping hang the show. Busy vacation!
Fun times in coastal Florida. Hurricane Dorian is on it’s way (very slowly), and a good portion of the state is affected. I need to mail Picatso 3 to Pennsylvania, but all mail options for my area are suspended in preparation for Dorian. So I’m going to have to drive an hour or two inland to find a UPS or FED EX office that’s open to mail my friggin’ quilt.
Slowly making progress on Bobbin’ on the Beach (will be called “Bobbin’s Beach” for QuiltFest, but I’m changing the name afterwards to “Vacation State of Mind”).
It seems like the cats are going out of their way to help, which really slows things down. Then there’s my erratic work schedule. I often come home and am able to just squeeze in an hour or so of quilting after dinner.
One night all I did was quilt around this shell and sand combo and detail stitch the bowl and umbrella (though I still need to stitch around the letters).
Another night was in inventory so I was at work until 6 am. I had the next day off, but was way too exhausted to try any free motion quilting. Instead I visited a couple of quilt shops in search of the perfect binding and fabric for a beach ball.
As tired as I was, I’m a little surprised the beach ball came out so well.
Still, slow progress is still progress. And I have time off coming up to finish this. Of course, we also now have a tropical storm/hurricane on it’s way to Florida. Should make for an interesting weekend.
“The sea, once it casts it’s spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."
-Jacques Cousteau
Obviously, by the title, we will be in Florida for Thanksgiving this year. I’m excited about it because I’m planning on moving back down there soon and I’ve always been told home is where the heart is and my heart’s in Florida❤ It’ll be Whit, me, Whit’s friend Matt, and Sasha going on this trip. We will only be gone a few days but we think it’ll be good for Sasha to go down and visit her old favorite places. I don’t know how this trip is going to go, but I’m hoping it’ll be a good one. I’m also hoping and praying to hear some good news about me coming back sooner than what the plan is for right now. We will see how everything plays out!
I can’t wait to be happy again. Of course I love Whit, and I always will no matter what. I love being with him and hopefully, one day in the very near future, I’ll have his last name❣ Like I said in a earlier post, home is where your heart is, with that being said, my heart is in Florida.
In the coming week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday, Whit and I will be traveling down to Florida for a few days to visit his mother for Thanksgiving. While I’m down there I’m hoping to look for some jobs and get an idea of what life will be like during this time of the year at the beach. We’ll only be staying a few days, but I’m supposed to be moving down, permanently, in January. I’m hoping and praying I get to move down sooner than that, though.
I can’t wait to be back home..to be happy again. I’m ready to be away from all of this drama, addiction, and just existing. I’m ready to really live…❤ Alabama will always be home….but it’s time for me to find my own….
