HMQS giddiness... "It's Magic!"

It's time for the Home Machine Quilting Show here in Salt Lake City next week!!  Woohoo!

This is my 6th year on the HMQS board - what a crazy, fun, great bunch of gals!

I'm a little giddy, getting ready for the show.  Here are a few reasons this is my favorite, most exhausting week of the year:

1)  Working as a volunteer to scribe for the judges - Not only do I learn so much from being scribe, but it lets me get up close and personal with amazing, inspiring quilts.  I have been known to cry over quilts, they're so incredibly beautiful and tell such a story.

"America, Let It Shine" by Sherry Reynolds - Best of Show 2012

2) Hanging quilts, setting up the quilted garment display.  This quilted wedding dress is a fabulous example.

Quilted Wedding Dress
by Renae Haddadin

3)  This year I'll also be teaching 3 classes!  I've been cutting out endless kits and have made several extras since I'll be teaching some of these again this summer.  I'll add some of the kits to my Etsy shop after the show, just in case you'd like one but can't make it to Salt Lake!

"Sheep Shape" Quilt Workshop

"In a Bind?Fabulous Finishes & Alternate Endings Lecture/Demo

"Magic Instant Blocks" Workshop

4)  In the past, I've entered a few quilts in the show, but I have usually stayed with the Design Challenge category, and mostly with a group consisting of myself, my friend Debbie, and one, two, or six other friends.  We called ourselves the "Midnight Quilters", usually getting things done at the last minute, lol!  But it has always paid off!   The fun part of the challenge is selling the quilts at auction for charity at the end of the show.  Over the years these quilts have raised more than $3000 for varying causes.

Counter clockwise from upper left:  2007 Blossoms & Beyond,  2008 Wrapped in a Quilted Past,
2009 Ellie's Scrapbook, 2010 Every Quilt Has a Story, 2011 Isabella's Bonnets, 2012 Smart Quilt,
2014 Hexagarden, 2013 That's Amore'.

This year, I entered the challenge alone, using one of my favorite designs from the previous years.  Here's the fabric, can you guess which design I used?  The pattern will be available soon!! Stay tuned!

5)  And finally, well, this is no reason to be excited, but it does give me the jitters!  For the past 4 years, they make me sing the opening theme song. Yep, they know I like to sing.  In a crowd, that is.  They don't realize that I die of stage fright if I have to do it alone...  Maybe I can just hide behind the curtain!  Or, maybe everyone will know this old 80's song and sing along:   "It's Magic!" 

♫♪ Oh, oh, oh, it's magic, you know,

      If you quilt or embroider or sew ~

      You'll find magic, you know,

      At the Home Machine Quilting Show!♪♫

In giddy jitters,