Thank you so much, Lorra and Zarah! I have not seen either of you two for a while! I know I'm on again/off again, on the Forum, depending on what's happening in my life, too. But, it's good to see old friends!

Thank you Lotti! Chuffed? I'm assuming that's a good thing! Is that kind of like "tickled pink?"

Dawn

so chuffed about your fabulous win, Dawn.
your Rio is an absolute beauty! CONGRATULATIONS!

Dawn, a very late congratulations on your win. It's a wonderful quilt

Dawn, congratulations on your win. Rio is wonderful!!

Luann you can change it if you edit the first post on a thread you start

Kathy...........I'm sure Luann was not referring to changing the title of THIS thread, but the Virtual Retreat thread she started. Perhaps she mistakenly posted it on the wrong thread.

And, sure! In your spare time (lol) you may turn my Avitar so I am upright. The problem arises from the iPad taking correct pictures no matter what way we rotate it. But, then when we post them they can be sideways or upside down. I wish I knew what is the official "up" on the iPad, and then I would only take pictures in that mode, if I intend to post them here. But, I must say, I am happy that we finally have the ability to post them from our iPads. Thanks!

Dawn

Tribblemom wrote:
So, Kathy, could you just change the title of this thread to take us through the rest of the year and we wouldn't be flipping to the one I put up for the rest of the year? That would be great if it's possible.
And thanks for doing whatever you can do
Luann

Kathy, at one point Wendy could have given you a full time job turning pictures , but she's got better now

Luann - I'm a forum moderator, so I have special access. Just noticed today that I could edit other people's posts, so I thought I would have a go at the photo. I copied the image to my Adobe Photoshop, rotated it 90°, then added it back to the post. If anyone else needs this done, just let me know where to find it.

Kathy

I've found quilting of faces has always been a little troublesome, and how quilts are folded by others also. A lot of shows are really good about that, but Hoffman Challenge uses many untrained volunteers in the packing and unpacking and repacking of their quilt trunks. Not much you can do, but it's so nice no one will care. I handwashed and reblocked mine when they came back from travel or steamed them if they weren't washable. I found over the years of Hoffman challenge participation that for small quilts, like Hoffman Challenge sized ones, do better in these problems with wool batting. By the way, it's the same ribbon I won in 2011 with my quilt "Quiet Celebration." Way to go!

Tribblemom wrote:
Kathy,
Are you our 'resident thread helper'? I know I can go back and fix a post that I've made, but can you help someone else out?
Luann
I'm not totally tech illiterate, just some things elude me, and it's easier to just ask than to flounder about.

Learned something new today, I thought of trying to turn your avatar upright, but then we might not recognize you. LOL

Kathy

Kathy, thank you so much for turning her upright! You are too cool!

When I sent her into Hoffman, I made sure to fold her in thirds, so as not to crease her face. Well, before Hoffman took the pictures for their site, someone folded her in half right down the middle, and must have place a pretty hefty amount of quilts on top of her. Now she has a distorted chin, nose, and mask. I had trapunto in those areas, and they squished.

But, I will learn from this! I will be more sensitive to where a quilt might be folded along the way, and make sure that those areas are heavily quilted. Like I said, it was my first face, so, I guess it needed more quilting than I had done. You learn as you go!

And, yes, Kathy I am thrilled to have won a top award in a national contest with hundreds of entries! I've looked back over the past few years, and there are some big name winners, that have repeat wins!

Again, thank you all for your kind words! I am still smiling!

Dawn

Forgot to add, that is awesome! A win at national level against hundreds of entrants must be thrilling. Congrats.

Kathy