Success.

Well, oh my colourful words. If you follow me on Instagram, you know all about this cat, and the invisible bag it is in. But oh my heavenly sparkles, I still can not even believe it. You see, this past weekend was Australia’s First Modern Quilt Show. I was honoured that they even accepted my quilt, Sparkleworks.

IT WON BEST IN SHOW. WHAT?!

I was more surprised than any one in the room. With so many amazing quilts assembled in this show, I didn’t even consider myself in the running. (Despite the fact that I didn’t even realise there was a running!) Upon climbing that stage, I was showered with glitter, and then completely lost my words. I mean, the prize was a freakin’ $1200 Bernina sewing machine. Again, what?!

I guess I now live in a two-machine household, because this baby ain’t goin’ nowhere! I’ve yet to sew on it, but it’s a Bernina, so it’s virtually perfect, right? Here are some random photos from the quilt show, but like always, I never take enough! If anyone out there has some photos of me actually on stage, losing my shit, I’d love a copy!

I bring this up, because of an honest to goodness blog post my friend Gemma of Pretty Bobbins wrote last week. In an effort to define what success means to her, she wrote down some of her own. I can see why this activity could be difficult for a lot of people. I have noticed there is a fear in our community of tooting your own horn too loudly. Now, I’m not talking ’bout egomaniacal behaviour, I’m just talking ’bout being proud of the things you’ve done and not being afraid to share them with others. Sharing does not have to be bragging. So without further ado, in support of Gemma, in support of us all, here are some of the things I define as quilting success for me.

1. Teaching myself how to quilt, with the advice of online tutorials, the quilting community, and phone calls to Grandma Sparkles.
2. Making quilts that are truly appreciated by their recipients (see above).
3. Winning Best In Show at Australia’s First Modern Quilt Show.
4. Starting the all-male quilting bee, NGAQB.
5. Teaching a class on colour and design at local quilt shop, Patchwork on Pittwater. Saturday, May 24, hope to see you there!
6. Making people laugh, smile, and believe in their abilities and self-worth.
7. Making (virtually and in real life) wonderful quilty comrades, who get me.
8. Getting points to align … most of the time.
9. Starting the Men Who Quilt Facebook group, now consisting of 150+ members and growing.
10. Providing thought-provoking blog posts about the state of quilting, and the quilt community.
11. Having more than two people read them.
12. Being contacted by Sew Mama Sew to write an exclusive article for them.
13. Being contacted by magazines to write patterns.
14. Having over 1,150 Instagram followers.
15. Doing all of this in less than two years of sewing.

Your turn! What are the things that define your own quilting success?

I fully recognise this blog post is all over the place… I’m just still shaking from the shock event of being honoured with Best In Show. So crazy, I can’t even understand it. I promise I’ll have my head on straight again soon. For now, let me thank Jane Davidson for quilting Sparkleworks, Lee Heinrich for designing the Bloom Bloom Pow pattern of the front, Mr. Sparkles for his never-ending faith and support, Bernina for judging the show and donating such a fantastic prize, all of the sponsors for their support, the Wollongong Modern Quilt Guild for organising such a wonderful show, and for every other quilter who was featured. We are all winners in an event such as this!