#picatso

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.

Road trip!

A friend shared this quote on Facebook recently, and it perfectly highlights something I’ve been thinking for a while about one of my quilts.

I originally loved the concept of the watercolor border for Picatso 3 (Fiona’s version), but after having looked at it on my wall for several months, I’m no longer convinced it was the right choice.

Coincidentally there is a quilt show coming up in 2 weeks that I want to submit it to. So how can I fix the border in 2 weeks? Nothing has come to mind, so I layed it down on my cutting table, and cut the whole border off.

I know quilters who would shudder at this, particularly since I did put a lot of work into that border (and the quilt is already an award winner), but the quilt didn’t live up to what I wanted, so I’m going to fix it.

It already looks better, and laying the main body over the top gave me an idea I really liked. My other 2 Picatsos have picture frame borders, but the trick was how to make one for the Rule Breaker that still got the message across. You guessed it; by making it sit wonky in the frame.

So now I’ve drawn myself a template for a new sculptured frame. This will compliment my subject without being too distracting (lessons learned from Picatso 2’s more elaborate frame), be more innovative, show well, and most importantly: I can accomplish this before the deadline.