Pioneer Museum Award! In 2008, three years after opening my quilting business, I found time to quilt a king-sized quilt for my son and daughter-in-law as a house-warming gift.  My daughter-in-law chose the pattern, and then she and I spent 3 hours selecting just the right fabrics.
After a few weeks I completed the quilt, and just before giving it to them, I revealed it at a local guild show-and-tell. One of the officers of the state quilt council was in attendance, and highly recommended that I enter it into a local quilt show.  I went back and forth about whether I should enter it.  After all, I make quilts to use and give as gifts, not for show.  But, why not?!  Entering it on the last day, I gave it the moniker, Grandmother's Trellised Garden and it garnered "First Place, Individual Primarily Pieced" - a cash award - and hung at the museum for about two months that fall.  The only problem was that my son and his wife couldn't snuggle underneath it for quite some time....

The 2011 Denver Capitol Quilt Show
A few years later, last summer in fact, I entered a quilt in the Capitol Quilt Show just for fun, and it was accepted!  The name of this one was Grandma's Feather Bed and hung from June-August in the State Capitol Building.  The description for the quilt went as follows:  

I found the center of this vintage '30's quilt antiquing.  After adding two borders of same-era vintage fabrics, I machine quilted it with 'voluptuous' feathers.

No awards are given these quilts, other than the obvious reward of seeing your quilt hang in such a grand venue.

For those of you with a quick eye, you've already noticed this quilt serves as the background for my blog!  So, considering this, it always works and never retires!  Pretty good for a quilt whose top is going on 90 years old....

At the Capitol, quilts hang on three floors, most of them visible from the banister of any floor, but the top floor is the most breath-taking.  

I took my mother, who isn't a quilter, but certainly enjoys these fun days together.  We highly recommend Jason' Deli nearby in the 16th Street Mall.

The view from the floor, looking up at the quilt!

The only drawback to the Show is that it opens every other year.  It's a huge undertaking, and I'm sure this is why.

Approximately 250 quilts are shown at this Show, and have been featured in the Capitol since 1988!!

Another quilt that was accepted was pieced by a client and quilted by me, shown to the right.  What a double thrill!!

I've decided to enter quilts whenever I can, regardless of whether the shows or fairs give out awards.  I still don't make quilts for the sole purpose to show, but I can enjoy the journey every now and then...and so stay-tuned for those journeys to be shown here in the near future!