The Giveaway Quilt is Quilted!!!! Keep those entries coming!

Another busy, busy couple of days but I got it quilted and Thomas the cat says it's going to be a big hit...He is always my partner in crime (Quilting) in the sewing room...Now just in case you win, and you don't appreciate cat hair I will say that I always wash a quilt and wrap it up pretty before sending it on it's way. I love the quilted look it gets as everything comes together...Boyfriend and I went to another baseball game last night and had a great time and then today, we went with Julie and Steve and baby Jace to the Utah State fair...There are some rockin' quilters here for sure! I shouldve brought a camera, but of course I didn't. My favorite is always the animal barns though. I love the goats and the chickens and bunnies. So did Jace until a rooster crowed and he got scared and screamed bloody murder... I am leaving Monday morning for Portland. I will be gone for a week and I am so excited to see my babies!!!!!!! I will probably cry my eyes out when I see them. Julie is driving with me so it should be fun. Road trip...mmmmmmm..I hate riding in the car, but it will be worth it to see the kids! I am going to announce the quilt winner a week from Tuesday..I am having more fun doing this. I have been so blessed to make such good friends through blogging, and I am hoping to make some more! One of my good friends is Tonya at http://tonyassewingroom.blogspot.com and she had a post about how "where and How did we start quilting?' and "What started us on this wonderful endless journey" So, I thought I would write my piece too...it first came from Daisy at http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com. I have said it before and you may have read it, but I flunked Home ec sewing....Looking back I think it moved to slow and the ole ADD thing kicked in and I was bored...I honestly didnt think I would ever enjoy sewing but I liked the idea of it. When I was forty I started scrapbooking and became obsessed and then I started looking at fabrics...It isn't a huge jump from paper to fabric. At least it wasn't in my mind. I told my boyfriend James that I wanted to make a quilt and needed a sewing machine so he took me on a shopping trip and loaded me up...(what a sweetheart huh?) I was worried when it took me a day to thread the thing. I taught myself to sew and quilt using a Joanns block of the month quilt...I made two from start to finish, including free motion quilting them under my machine and I fell in love. The first quilt I finished is downstairs on my couch now and yes, it is a hot mess, but I love it. I had given it to my grandma and she adored it and showed everybody and even entered it in the Tillamook County Fair ( much to my horror)....It got a mercy red ribbon...When she passed away my dad gave it back to me and I treasure it. I went from quilting to art quilting and fabric art...My favorite part is picking the fabric and the piecing...the binding being my least favorite though by then I am excited to have it finished. I machine stitch it all including the back of the binding. I also am not a meticulous quilter but what I am is a joyful quilter...I think to me it means expressing myself in fabric and having fun. I love bright colors and a lot of pattern. I would have a hard time working with some of the more traditional lines of fabrics. I have always said that someday I will be making quilts to giveaway and I think I am about there. I love giving them as gifts and my quilts are made to be used, loved and get worn out. They will never be in a quilt show but they are made with love while I am singing and dancing my little heart out...And why do you quilt?