Dressed to Impress -- The Flamboyant Hoopoe's first show

I purposely have not posted a finished picture of the hoopoe because I wanted to get a picture of it hanging at the NW Quilting Expo show. I love how the pieced background turned out because it really does give me the feeling of a misty sky.

I took Esterita Austin's Luminescent Painted Illusion two-day class so I didn't have much time at lunch and after the class to really take my time and look at all of the quilts, but what I did see was fabulous. There were so many talented artists reflected in this year's show. Esterita's class was insanely fun. Even though I struggled with the painting, she was able to keep me on track with her calm demeanor and fun personality. I highly recommend taking any class she offers if you get the chance. I'll post a picture of my project once I get it quilted.

I picked up my quilt yesterday and read the judges comments. I haven't entered many quilts into shows but one of the main reasons I have started doing so is for the comments. I'm at a point where I need to know how to get to the next level so getting suggestions on how to do something better or what I didn't do well is really appreciated. There were three judges that signed the sheet, and their comments were:

• Pieced background is well done and a great addition to piece
• Very successful composition
• Fabrics are well chosen to depict imagery
• Head feathers are excellently done
• Very good piecing and applique technique

While they didn't specifically say anything against my piece, what they didn't say may be of help to me for future projects. There were no comments on the machine quilting so I'm thinking that maybe that is an area where I need improvement. I already know that machine quilting is my weakest link and have really quilted a lot this year in an effect to improve. 

I'm presenting machine quilting The Lady, and she has stretched me greatly.