Those are beautiful quilts. So happy for you.

Cheesy smiles are acceptable especially when they are in front of such a beautifully done quilt! Wonderful colors....Well, you got the ribbons. What more can be said. lol Congratulations on both quilts!

Ditto!!!!!!!!!!

I knew that your Flower basket quilt was a blue ribbon winner. I hope that my Aunt , cousin , and friend there in Hattiesburg got to see your Beautiful quilt. I am so happy for you!!!!!

Wow...Congratulations!!! Both quilts are gorgeous. My 9 yr. old Granddaughter was walking by as I was looking at your quilts and I showed them to her she said "The quilts are pretty and so is she"...which you are!

I KNEW your red quilt would get a ribbon! I remember seeing it when you did it and thought it was gorgeous!

Love your cheesy smile - both your quilts are gorgeous. You do not only amazing piece work, but absolutely amazing quilting.

Both are beauties congratulation on a wonderful job /winning the ribbons.

It's no wonder they won! Those are 2 gorgeous quilts. Congratulations on a job well done, as well as a much deserved honor.

Congratulations! Absolutely beautiful quilts!

I especially love your first quilt . The colors make it so open and airy.

That says it all! You should be so proud!

Congrats! They are both beautiful.

Congratulations on your awards! Your work deserved them. How lovely that young people are just as passionate as we older ones are. Keep on quiltin'.

Wow! You make beautiful quilts, love the quilting too! Congratulations on your ribbons.

Clapping for you! They are both beautiful quilts and those ribbons are well deserved.

Kat

Congratulations and the awards are well deserved. Both quilts are beautiful. Love the colors...the first quilt makes me think of all the wonderful things about summer. Can't believe you did that great quilting on a DSM.

Just georgeous..the baskets with the peach and blue are exceptional. Congratulations...

Your quilts are beautiful!

Jumping up and down in joy for you!! I had no doubt when you posted that beauty earlier that it would do well in the show. You are getting quite the collection of ribbons now. Excellent job and big congrats.

Stunning quilts and well deserved awards. Tell us what kind of DSM you use and how long it took you to get this skilled/talented. What secrets or tips do you have for the rest of us. I'm in awe of your accomplishment.

Thank you everyone for your congrats! I picked my quilts up today and even with the ribbons in my hand it just doesn't feel real.

Jean, I have a Janome Horizon and really, really love it. It's an all in one machine for my needs and those are hard to find. I started quilting in January of 2010 and at that time had recently purchased a little Walmart Brother that I first learned to FMQ on (so when folks say you can FMQ on any machine, that's the truth!). That's basically when I started any kind of sewing. My step mom had tried to teach me some sewing when I was little but I was scared of the machine and more interested in playing outside. :) I've taught myself as I've gone along using the internet and books for help and direction. More than anything I've learned through my mistakes and experience.

I've always been a very artsy person though. I drew a lot as a child and have always had fine motor skill things come fairly easily to me. I guess that's my strong area because physical coordination and athletics were never anything I could master. Me dancing is a VERY sad sight. :)

I really don't think there's any secret or specific tips to FMQ'ing. You just have to jump in and practice, practice, practice. It's not what I like to hear, trust me, but I really don't know how else to get better at it. Do things outside your comfort zone because I've found my greatest skills when doing just that. I have immense amounts of improvement to do, and I admire the quilting of so many that have years and years of experience and I hope that with time and practice I will achieve their level someday.

They are both beautiful....congratulations.

Wow no wonder they won! Beautiful Quilts. I love, love, love the colors of the flower basket . Thank you for sharing.

Wow! Congratulations! You deserved to win, they are both beautiful quilts and wonderful quilting.

Why shouldn't you have a grin from ear to ear? Congratulations on your winnings but also on your beautiful quilts.

Congratulations! Both quilts deserve the ribbons they received - but I wonder what the first place winner that beat your magnificent red and white quilt looks like. It must be spectacular to have won first prize over yours. Please keep showing us pictures of your quilts. You are very talented.

Congratulations! you should be proud! you must be proud! and you deserve to be proud :)

Just beautiful. How thrilling for you!

Rachel,
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions fully. It's amazing what you have accomplished in such a short time. Keep up the good work and share it with us.

Rachel, are you doing everything on the Horizon now or still using the Bernina for some things? I know you didn't like the 8 series Bernina as much as you liked the 440, so it's not surprising you have another machine now. I have an old Janome Memory Craft that I absolutely love. It doesn't do good FMQ (gets "whiskers" on the back), so I got a Bernina 180 for FMQ, which does an excellent job. Since Janome was my first brand of machine and I still use the MC I bought new in 1995, I'm very happy to hear that you like Janome as well.

Everything is being done on the Horizon now because I sold the 820 in order to purchase another machine. Quilting was becoming something I no longer loved to do because of the frustrations I was having with the 820. I've been so happy with the Horizon though, my love for sewing and quilting has returned. It was kind of an expensive lesson but we all have one or two of those in life.

My flower basket quilt is the quilt that took first place over my red quilt. :) Both quilts were in the same category so I took first and second in my category. That was the part that totally blew me away. Such an honor to receive either ribbon but BOTH was unbelievable.

HUGE - GINORMOUS CONGRATULATIONS !! Both are beautiful !!!

Wow, congratulations. They are both beautiful well done quilts.

Hurray!!! Congratulations on placing so well, you deserve it they are both beautiful!

WOW !!!! Excellent work and wonderful quilts.

So glad to hear that you're loving your Janome. I hope you love it for a very long time!

You made two beautiful quilts! You deserve ribbons! Great job!