An intriguing beginning...

Happy New Year - well, 2013 is 4 days old, and I hope that you are embracing the return to routines that work and the start of new routines that will bring an improvement to your life. I've got several of those new routines at the moment,  as well as some expansion ideas that I am very excited about, but this afternoon I wanted to share my excitement that this weekend is the return of Downton Abbey! 

 

Downton has such a widespread following amongst women of my age group (over 18 with a pulse, that's all I'm admitting to) that putting together the first quilt challenge was a natural, and we had a lot of interest in that round. Here's my entry (based on the star inlaid in the floor of the Titanic) which I donated to the Channel 11 winter auction for Downton in the fall.

 

 

 

I heard from a lot of quilters that they would have been interested in it had they known about it sooner.  (That right there is a big bullet point on my to do list for 2013, but more about that later.)

Well, here we go...announcing the SECOND Downton Abbey Quilt Challenge.  The 'prompt' for the second Challenge is that I'm asking you to draw your inspiration from the show's costumes...which can be anything from the hats, to the jewelry, to the uniforms - anything you would like to use as inspiration. If you would like to have your item donated to public broadcasting, that's great - but it's not a requirement. You can keep it.  There'll be an online forum (still under construction, more coming later) which will be a place to showcase and talk about all things Downton.

I'm very pleased to be hosting a kickoff event (read that party, and fabric sale) at Quilting Away in Amherst, NH on Sunday, January 6th from 2-4.  I've worked hard with Bette Belanger, the owner of the shop, to put on a great time for you - and there'll be a few surprizes for you as well. The shop website for directions is 

I'd love to hear your ideas - do you like the idea about a new version of the Challenge? What is Downton's appeal for you.

I will have pics of the event here next week - in the meantime, "Keep Calm, and act like Cousin Violet"...