Have I told you how much I love my job? I get to travel to some incredible quilt shows to demo the best quilting machine in the industry and meet all kinds of wonderful quilters. I get to eat in great restaurants and see old friends. But the best part is being able to walk through the aisles of the competition quilts for inspiration. By the way, this is part 1 of posts from this show. A few weeks ago I attended the 2014 Mid-Atlantic Quilt show in Hampton, VA. Here was the Best of Show quilt. I hope you are sitting down... It is called and was made by Laura Trenbeath of Pavillion, WY and is called "Tink's Choice" Stunning.

I love the crosshatching she did in these spikes. It is so effective. Don't miss how she used different colored green threads in that cable design in the border to make a very effective design for the eye.

There is so much over the top bling on quilts these days they can be blinding. Take a look at these brass studs reminiscent of high quality furniture. It catches the eye but in a subtle way.

Take a look at how she painted the scrosshatching in this wide border. Sometimes taking a border and creating your own piecing by using the quilting lines to break up the space breaks up that wide space effectively. This shot also shows the feathers and the color choices used in the thread to bring the feathers towards the eye while pushing back the neutral background even though there is a variegated thread in that stippling. It is all about the balance of the two sizes of the motifs. A small gutter provides the eye space to rest before it ventures out into the background too. Amazing, right?

Here's another ribbon winner.

This one was made by Sharleen Fields of Buxton, ME and was quilted by Margaret Solomon Gunn. It is called LZ8

I find I'm really drawn by quilts that have used ruler work to break down spaces into new boundaries to create alternative piecing lines. It creates patchwork on top of patchwork.

Do you see how the ruler work gave a gutter and new boundary for the filler design in the center. So impressive!

Okay, last one for this post. I'll try to share more in a couple days. My kids tell me that most of the photos on my phone are of my cat and quilts. :)

This one didn't win a ribbon but I thought it deserved one.

It was made by Kathleen Baden of Kernersville, NC and quilted by Gina Allen. It is called Dresden Sampler.

Don't you just LOVE it? I'm especially in love with the lime green centers of one of the plates. I've got more photos from the show! Here's page 2 that includes the Best of Show winner! And... here's page 3 with a fabulous Jack Nicholson quilt!