It Was a Go, and Then It Wasn't

My art quilt entry into the California State Fair had been accepted for judging and possible exhibition. The image below is how I signed this competition quilt. Those loose threads were "buried" by pulling the ends into the quilt and snipping them off. The fabric is Moda Grunge, I will be buying more of that. 

As anticipated, I encountered folds in the fabric when I was quilting it. A sharp-eyed fabric constructionist will notice how I solved that problem. I used to get all worked up when I couldn't work around the folds in the fabric. I am getting better at shrugging it off and hand stitching the folds down. 

Here, I reveal stitching without a foot so I could free motion my signature and date. This is what the back looked like - a hot mess. Hard to see against the print but trust me it is wonky. It would be overlooked by the average bear, but I know this is being judged. My resolution? I made a fabric patch that I quilted down on the backing. 

Binding and fabric patch. 

And the corner of the quilt with the patch cover up. 

The last detail was a hanging sleeve in the Hoffman Bohemian Blenders fabric. There are the irritating folds in that section of the backing (and my zoomy yellow tennys photobombing). I was hoping the sleeve would cover those mistakes, but no luck. I hope those mistakes weren't the ones that left me out of the competition. 

Rather than take the image and convert it into a grid (no, can't make it easier), I "eyeballed" it and worked it in block sections. 

I received an acceptance from the fair, and then a rejection two days later by an "Oh My Goodness" email from the coordinator. I was going to reveal this piece in all of its glory hanging at the State Fair, but that was not to be. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

Sad to say, I am not a fan of the fair anymore. Not only was my piece rejected (I get it), but my media pass was also taken away as I don't have proof of 12,000 followers. I am no where near an influencer.