I’ve reached that point in life where my parent’s health is failing and they need our help. I’m so grateful we can be there for them, even if it means I haven’t been in my studio much this summer. So when Mike needed a pair of jeans hemmed I looked forward to going downstairs and sitting at my machine. As I glanced around my eyes landed on the bulletin board that’s been with me through most of my sewing journey.

It’s so full, and this time the big yellow sunflower is what caught my eye. It is easily the most unique ribbon I’ve ever won. It was an Originality award given out at the 2003 Wisconsin State Fair.

Isn’t it delightful? The petals on the flower are wired and the cow is sew much fun (especially her little “moo” ears).

Something you may not know about the Fair is that the prize money (premiums) for the winners is a small amount. So local guilds are asked to sponsor different categories and then provide additional monies and special ribbons. In 2003 a Milwaukee area group named Quilters Anonymous sponsored this category and I was very blessed to be the recipient.
The sad part is I couldn’t remember which quilt won that award. This was going to take a bit of sleuthing (sorry about the photo – I couldn’t resist 😂).

I began by searching my computer for photos of quilts made in 2003. Oops ~ I have folders for 2002 and 2004, but no 2003 (how’d that happen?)

Next I grabbed the big three ring binder of quilts I made early in my quilting life. It was fun to look through, but I was disappointed to find that it only had photos through 2001.

So now what? I have a box that holds all the ribbons my quilts have won over the years. Perhaps I could find the State Fair ribbon that went with that quilt. Eureka ~ it was about a third of the way down in the box.

What a blessing to see that I’d written the name of the quilt on the tag: “Blessings” 😊. I must admit I didn’t remember it won that ribbon at all. It’s a quilt included in my lecture “Silhouettes and Shadows” and the reason is pretty obvious ~ it contains two large silhouettes of parents holding babies.

The part that was original was the photographic overlays. I’d read about a technique in which you iron a sheer fabric (in this case organza) onto freezer paper, cut it at 8 1/2″ x 11″, and print photos on it by running it through an inkjet printer. I decided to try it with black and white images of my kids when they were little. It worked! And once printed they were fused to the silhouetted background, and quilted around to hold them in place.


I’m sure those images are not washable and would probably disappear if the quilt gets wet, but I have no intention of washing it. Have you every played with printing on unusual fabrics? Please send photos if you have.
I’d like to send my thanks to Quilters Anonymous. I’ve known some of their members and am wondering if anyone remembers who made this delightful ribbon?!?
Oh, in case you’re wondering, Mike’s pants did eventually get hemmed 😄.