A whole lotta catch up!

I've been traveling my tushy off so now it's time to pay the piper and blog all about it... so fair warning, it's probably going to be a long post (but lots of pics)!

So let's rewind two weeks ago, back to MQX.  It was a blast (as always), my students were awesome, and I had a bunch of fun!

Let's start out with... S N O W
No, it's not something we see in Florida, but remember, I'm a Jersey girl and I really do miss snow!

Here's part of my class during a lecture/demo -- haha, I'm still a hands-on teacher - everyone had a chance to try something from class!  And apparently, this is the only photo I took in any of my machine classes...

A peek of me with my Prince Challenge!

I awarded my Faculty Ribbon to this awesome quilt - Big ASS(terisk) by Becky Everett - such a cool piece!

And a pic with Gods Eye and yes, Trippy was there, but I didn't get a picture with it?? - must be show brain...

 And, seriously, the best class ever - Dyeing to Cut It Part 2 - where we took all the amazing dyes that the students made in Cindy Lohbeck's class and cut them up to make little bits of awesomeness!!

And then on Friday night, Kyra Reps was using a bunch of us as guinea pigs to test out her dot painted mandalas - so we (the Gammill crew) all participated!  What fun it was!!

Oh!  I almost forgot... I had new headshots done by the uber talented Bonnie McCaffery - here's my sneak peek!  I can't wait to see the others!  New headshots were kinda a must as my grey has really grown in nicely.

So right before takedown, I had a few minutes to stitch... fun stuff!

And of course... takedown - I have the best work family!

So from MQX it was a direct (haha...delay, delay, cancel, new flight) shot out to the Mothership (aka Gammill headquarters) in West Plains.  It was our dry run of the new Quilting with Confidence 2019 Tour - and from West Plains, we headed up to the Satellite Mothership (aka Statler) - and also to the hatchery (Warehouse).  Keep reading to learn more about the tour, I promise, it's coming.  So some of these pics are mine and some are from others... and no, I can't possibly remember who I've borrowed them from, but thanks!  So... in no particular order:

So... the tour - Quilting with Confidence!  I know I've talked about this recently, but here it is again - you know because not everyone sees every single thing.  Let me start with...

I am crazy excited about the tour!

I am honored to be a part of this amazing educational team!

No, this tour is not a sales pitch - we have been working our tushies off creating educational content to make YOU a more confident quilter - whether hand guide or computerized, or both!

The tour will be traveling to 50+ cities worldwide!  The classes, schedules, descriptions, and location information can be found here.  But wait... there's more... you don't have to be a Gammill user, owning a Gammill is NOT a requirement.  The only requirement is the desire to learn and gain confidence!

So... here's the really important part - registration is open for almost half of the cities, and new ones are opening every few days.  Go, check it out, see if there is a city near you and sign up!!  Next week is the kick-off event in Kansas City -- I can't wait!  Hope to see you at an event soon!

Good News!

So yesterday was a pretty good day, considering an extremely frustrating ordeal with a customer telephone number issue, and no, that has yet to be solved, but all in all it was a good day.

Why? Email, mailbox, and facebook postings... it was actually a great day!

First my customer (and friend) Cathy emailed me to let me know that her quilt, Lavender Bouquet, was accepted into AQS Paducah.

Here is a peek at Lavender Bouquet (photo was taken while hanging at MQX-West where it won a beautiful 3rd place ribbon):

Lavender Bouquet - pieced & embroidered by Cathy Landon
machine quilted by Karen Marchetti

Well, my mail doesn't come until very late in the afternoon... but when if finally came:

Yes, one of my latest quilts, Flies and Weeds, has also been accepted into AQS Paducah!
You haven't seen much of this quilt because it the basis of an article I wrote for Machine Quilting Unlimited -- look for it in the May issue!  And to add to the excitement, this is the first public picture of Flies and Weeds:

Flies and Weeds by Karen Marchetti

So then, late last night, the finalists for MQX - New England Quilt Festival were finally posted on facebook!  Outta the Loop (a collobration with Eyvonne Smith) has been accepted - woo hooo!!!!

Outta the Loop by Eyvonne Smith & Karen Marchetti

So there you have it!  If you're out and about at either of these shows keep your eyes open and visit my quilts!!  

Floating on Cloud Nine

No, it's not the name of a new quilt... it's how I'm feeling!

For those of you that are facebook friends this is going to sound like bragging.  It's not... well, it is, but it's not! Really!  I have a lot of people over here in blogland that want nothing to do with facebook, so I've got to tell them all the fantastic news too, right?  And it's not bragging - it's tooting.  Yep, if I don't toot my I'm-so-freaking-proud horn who will?

Okay, back to cloud nine...
Over the past couple of days was a quilt show in Portland, OR... MQX West to be exact.  Wow, just to be accepted and to hang at this show is an amazing accomplishment.  BUT (there it is), to win a ribbon... honor!  Hold on... it gets better... two ribbons!  Both of my quilts took ribbons -- I am beside myself with joy.  BUT (another one) hold on again... it gets even better than all that!  I persuaded one of my customers (Cathy) to enter her quilt and she took a ribbon as well!  OMG... three ribbons - two of my own and one on a customer's quilt -- the quilty angels are definitely looking down on me, and I do believe they might be singing!

Here's a peek at all of them (again, thank you to Teri Lucas for taking the photos and for sharing them)!!

Stella Luminosa - 1st Place Wall Hanging Small

some older posts about Stella Luminosa:

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2011/11/world-quilt-show-florida-iii.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2011/10/not-quite-as-crazy-but.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2011/05/over-challenged-under-idead.html

Clouds in My Latte - 3rd Place Wall Hanging Large - Traditional

some older posts about Clouds in My Latte:

http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/08/super-secret-1-revealed.html

http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/06/tribute-honor-credit.html

http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/03/quilts-shows-and-schedules.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2011/11/world-quilt-show-florida-iii.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2011/10/not-quite-as-crazy-but.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2011/08/quilts-shows-ribbons.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2011/05/another-mqs-ribbon.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2011/03/name-finally.html

Lavender Bouquet  (Cathy Landon, quilted by Karen Marchetti) - 3rd Place Custom Heirloom Show Bed

Click here for a post on my customer blog about Cathy's quilt

The MQX West winners list is available here.  Congratulations to all the winners, there are some amazing quilts and quilters on that list -- I am absolutely honored to be included!  Also, make sure you take some time and visit the MQX website -- they have two shows East and West.  I must send a shout-out to Teri Lucas, she graciously took and posted photos of my quilts (as well as Cathy's) as I couldn't be at the show and now I get to share them with you!  Take some time and swing by her blog and check out her winning quilt, Tilde (photo to left) - gorgeous!  I borrowed this picture from Teri (I don't think she'll mind)!

See, now you understand why I'm floating!  Happy Day Quilties!

Oh, and I almost forgot!  Right after MQX West Clouds in My Latte is getting overnighted to Lisa and hitching a plane ride to Houston!  You'll be able to get up close and personal as it will be hanging in the Machine Quilting Unlimited booth at both Market and Festival!  Make sure you swing by their booth and check out a really great magazine and take a peek at Clouds while you're there!  Oh, and my other quilt, Wonderlust, will be hanging on the other side of the Brown Convention Center - on the show floor!

Okay, now.... Happy Day Quilties!!!