The NC Symposium Quilt Show!

The show was really beautifully laid out which is always a challenge.

This was The Viewer's Choice winner as well as one of the first prize winners.  Inside the little nine-patches are prints of postage stamps.  It is called "Waiting for the Mail" by Mary Wirchansky.  It also had transferred pictures all over the back and was hand quilted!

This quilts was just stunning with wonderful machine quilting.  It is actually a raffle quilt for the Sandhill Quilters Guild!  I believe it won a Best of Show also.  It was a very large quilt!

 This one is called "Here There be Dragons" by Bobby Fitzsimmons!  I believe it won a first prize.  I did love the way this fabric looked as a kalaidoscope!

Of course I always like One Block Wonders and this one is called "Out of this World" b y Carolyn Baker.  Nice composition!

 I believe this was a prize winner as well.  It was huge and beautiful use of color.  It is called "Dragonflies in Flight" by Lois Griffith although quilted by someone else.

This and many of the following quilts were not given ribbons in the show which I found quite surprising (mine didn't get any ribbons either).  The above quilt "Curling Colors" by Margaret Applegate was beautifully done with the tubes all stuffed and standing out.  Can't imagine why the judges didn't give an award for this one.

 This one was called "Geese in the Parking Lot" by Phyllis Tarrant.  Also can't imagine why it didn't get any ribbons as it is a visually stunning quilt and was beautifully made!

"Batik New York Beauty" by Mary Steimle.  Don't know whether it had ribbons or not.

"Sealife" by Chris Balchunas .  Can't remember whether this had ribbons or not but a fun quilt!

 "Rhapsody in Sequin Bay" by Pamela Burke.  This was another original design beauty that had no ribbons!

"Rainbow Abstract II" by Karen Preston.  Don't remember whether it had ribbons or not.  It was a nice improvisational piece and my guess is that it didn't.

You will note that I didn't include a lot of the prize winners as they were nice quilts but in many cases would not have been my choices!  After having that nice lecture on NQA judging, I had expected complexity to count for a little more!  I had to almost laugh at the comments on my quilts (calling one of the serendipity quilts a "stack and whack" when it is far far more complex than that ).