In my early years as a quilter, I was lucky to be a member of a supportive quilt group, the Pensacola Quilter's Guild. The guild was relatively small, but had a wonderful cross-section of quilters - from new quilters like me to professionals who taught classes all over the country and authored quilt books. The guild put on a judged show every two years, and as a new quilter I was encouraged to enter a quilt "for the experience of it!".
I had been working on a quilt from Variations on Irish Chain Quilts by Betty Jo Shiell. I decided to finish the quilt and enter it in the upcoming show, scheduled for March, 1991.
I remember working feverishly to finish the hand quilting in the white center blocks in time for the quilt drop-off date!
As so often happens with quilts hanging in quilt shows - the picture doesn't do the quilt justice. The pink and green print was soft and feminine, perfect for a baby girl's crib quilt. I used both machine and hand quilting on the project, but I do remember the judge criticized my quilt for not having enough quilting in the border. I knew that - I had just run out of time to do any more quilting! Still, I received a third place ribbon - because there were only two quilts entered in that category!
The quilt was gifted to a baby girl, the new daughter of some good friends. I still have the ribbon, as well as the program from the show. It was a treat to leaf through the program and remember quilters and their quilts from "back in the day" - and reminiscing is all part of the fun on Throwback Thursday!
BTW, if you enjoy reminiscing about your personal quilt history - consider creating a TBT post and linking up via Diane's blog, Butterfly Threads!