Paducah 2015 Semi-Finalists

AQS Quilt Week in Paducah opens today and even though I am not there, I am thrilled that Rhythmic is.  You can see the complete list of semi-finalists here. It's no small thrill to see my name among a veritable who's who in today's quilt world.

A new requirement for the show this time was that odd-shaped quilts - which mine appear mostly to be! - be mounted on a separate black backing to make hanging the quilts easier for the show organizers.

I was very unsure of how to go about doing this, and whether a single layer of black cotton would even support the weight of the quilt without puckers, but Beth from Mrs. Pugsley's helped me find the perfect fabric, one with just the right heft to support the quilt.  Basically, I measured the quilt, cut the backing a bit larger and hemmed the edges, using the hanging sleeve instructions for Paducah at the top. Then I machine stitched with black thread through my quilt at the edge of the binding to attach it to the backing. It could only be stitched along the top edge as the bottom had to be left free for the judges to see the back of the quilting. I've had my fingers crossed that this backing was properly done...otherwise, the quilt would not have been hung.  Rhythmic has had a fabulous year;  you can download the pattern here to make your own.

If you are lucky enough to be attending the Paducah show, I'd love a picture of Rhythmic to see where it's hanging.  It's in the wall-quilt, domestic machine quilted category.  Congrats to all the quilters who made the amazing winning quilts!  Here are the WINNERS!