Ginger People

"Ginger People" made by Marcia Switzer, quilted by Chris Landis

Isn't this a fun quilt? I saw this at the Champaign/Urbana (Ohio) quilt guild's show in October.  Marcia Switzer is an amazing applique artist...her stitching is perfect and it is only enhanced by my friend Chris Landis' fantastic machine quilting.

My only regret was that I couldn't get back far enough to shoot the whole quilt. 

Sacred Threads

On Friday, I drove to Reynoldsburg, Ohio (east of Columbus) to see the 5th annual "Sacred Threads" Quilt exhibition. Predominantly an exhibition of art quilts, Vikki Pignatelli created the juried exhibition "to provide a safe venue for quilters of all faiths who see their work as a connection to the sacred and/or as an expression of their spiritual journey. Our objective has been to create a moving display of textile art that touches those who view it on both spiritual and personal levels." (Show booklet, p. 3).

This was the first year I attended the show and it was fabulous. 216 quilts submitted by 172 quilters from across the United States and Canada. The exhibition is divided into six areas: expressions of joy, spirituality, inspiration, grief, healing and peace/brotherhood. Artist's statements were hung next to the quilt which told the story of the concept of the quilt. The booklet says "Through these statements we hope to share the experiences of quilters whose stories may provide a sense of healing, strength, and encouragement to others." (ibid.).



In addition, a special collection of 16 quilts made by the inmates of the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio were included.

The show continues through tomorrow (Sunday, June 28). I encourage anyone who can to see it tomorrow. If you are able, do put it on the list of things you must do in 2011, but it's only open for 2 weeks.

The quilts are hung in "cubbys" and one long "hall" of quilts at the Reynoldsburg High School.
When I was leaving, I overheard the lady at the desk say something about how she hoped the new people who were coming in would like it, even though there were some dark quilts.


Maybe they were, but I found all of them absolutely wonderful. Even the "dark ones" were uplifting to me as I saw that these quilts were the individuals growth and healing in working with their grief. They were sharing a wonderful and beautiful aspect of their lives, and life is not always pretty.

To be able to go forward is one of the most wonderful aspects of the human condition. To share, even grief, is another. There is that saying which is something to the effect that you can't see the mountains without the valleys.

I hope to share a number of these quilts which I thought were particularly wonderful over several posts, so do come back often.

This particular quilt is "Yellow Hat Philosopher" by Jean Farmer of Baltimore, OH. The quilt is her rendition of a photograph of her son, Bart Monk, taken by her twin sister. Bart was killed in a car accident five years ago. "Although a common, fun-loving guy, Bart thought deep thoughts. These words were found scribbled in a notebook in his room: 'Jesus once said, the kingdom of God is within. All your aspirations, all your goals, all your love, your truth, your innocence, your hope. You are the kingdom of God. Achieve it.

Then he wrote: 'We are all blind men in a cave, searching for a candle lit 200(0) years ago." (Jean Farmer's artist's statement.).

Even though this piece is an expression of grief, I see so much positive in it. The quilt is bright and cheery, and I feel that his words have a lot of truth and are sort of breath taking in their own right.


Here is "Juxtaposition, " by Geri Congdon of Portland, Oregon. Gerri is relatively new to quilting as she has only been quilting for the last 8 years and is presently 70 years old.

Gerri saw the Dome of the Rock (from the western wall ) in Jerusalem on a trip she took last May which she calls a pilgrimage, a "sacred journey, visiting places that have been sacred to many religions for so many years."

It is a calming piece and deftly done.

The last piece for tonight is "Serenity (Zen Garden)" by Kate Themel from Cheshire, Connecticut. I love the colors in the quilt. My photo didn't do the colors justice, and so Kate shared her photo with me to post here.







Kate wrote: "Serenity is based on the concept of water running over smooth stones, as in a Zen garden. Creating this composition was a meditative process for me; each satin 'stone' was placed with deliberate attention and care. During times of illness or stress throughout my life I have found comfort in meditation and prayer. I believe these moments of quiet reflection have a healing affect on the body and spirit.

The colors and shapes in this design are meant to convey a soothing, calm atmosphere. The loosely flowing ribbon represents water, a symbol of life and renewal.

I have tried to contact all the artists whose quilts appear here, and I've managed to get quite a few, but I'm waiting for others. I hope you'll enjoy this virtual tour of the pieces which I thought were particularly noteworthy, or which just spoke to me on some level.

Fiber Artist or not?

As I have noted in earlier posts, I have been struggling lately with my quilting. Often, I question whether or not I can really call myself a fiber artist or art quilter. Laurie Gravley-Novello of Laughing Girl Quilts blog fame says it's a block. If so, this "block" is more like an apartment complex for the length of time my frustration has been going on.

Then, I have to look at this silly piece which is on the wall in the family room. In 2000, I was asked by the Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society to review, research and catalog their collection of quilts. At the end of my work, the Society decided to mount an exhibition and have Ed Johnetta Miller curate it.

Ed Johnetta came in and we pulled the quilts and she looked at my notes then pretty much chose all of them to be on exhibition. I wrote the label copy. At the reception, Ed Johnetta was surprised to find that I quilted as well and encouraged me to come to the workshop she was leading the next day.

You don't say no to Ed Johnetta, even if you wanted to, not that I wanted to. Ed Johnetta's quilts are in the African American tradition and she is as exuberant as her quilts. Take a look at her website if you are unfamiliar with her work : www.edjohnetta.com Her quilts have been exhibited around the world and her list of awards is staggering.

So, I went. Ed Johnetta had brought bags of snippets and sweepings from her workshop. She dumped them out on the tables and provided anyone of any age who came in rectangles of cardboard and glue and encouraged everyone to make a collage.

I seem to recall working with an 8 year old....and Ed Johnetta came around and was sort of...um...stunned at what I had done. I have to say, this piece was made entirely without thinking. Every once in a while instead of making a planned or sketched piece, I work entirely by improvisation. I just put my thinking mind aside and just let my hands go. I suppose you might call it working by intuition.

I like this little piece, paper snippets and all. I love the colors and I have a soft spot for fishy things. I had it mounted on suede mat board and framed in a shadow box as the dimensional items would have been flattened any other way.

So...sometime soon, I hope to put aside all the concerns of the day and just let my hands "do" instead of thinking it all out.

NQA Quilt Show Columbus, OH

I've been busy! Last week, I had the pleasure of working at Betty Blais' booth "Embellishment Village" at the National Quilting Association show in Columbus, OH on Thursday and Saturday.

Betty is a charm! For those who aren't familiar with her, she specializes in patterns and embellishments for quilts. Her website is:

http://www.embellishmentvillage.com/

On Thursday, I worked with Bobbie Vance and on Saturday, I worked with Brenda Jennings. We demonstrated the use of various products.

One of the cool things I had never done was to use glitter on quilts. Betty has this really neat glue pen which leaves a fine line and does not have to be heat set. It can be used for foiling (shiny metallic stuff which comes on a sheet of Mylar which is rubbed onto glue or transferred with adhesive or fusible such as Steam-a-seam, Heat-n-bond or whatever). It is fully washable.

Here's Brenda at the "foiling/Shiva paintstick/glitter" station. That foil is the shiny stuff in the packages on her right.

If you worked at this station, you did get fine glitter on your face...

The other thing which I explored on Saturday was the use of Angelina film, in addition to the fiber. Angelina film is basically the uncut sheets of Angelina fibers. It bonds to itself and has only been on the market for a couple of years.


I admit, I purchased some a year ago, and hadn't used it. I thought all day on Friday of some inventive ways to use it because it is so new and there isn't a lot out there. Betty had done some samples of McKenna Ryan's "Sea Breeze" patterns and used the foil to great effect as well as Angelina. http://www.pineneedles.com/ I liked Betty's embellishments much better than the standard pattern.

I did take quick walks to look at the show. I was impressed by several quilts. For you traditional lovers out there, this great quilt is called "It Takes Time" and was done by Karen Kielmeyer of Bella Vista, AR. In the booklet, she said "Some of the pieces hung on my design wall for about a year. . . I attended a Marsha McCloskey feathered star workshop and the center was born."

Karen's quilting technique and her peicing was top notch. I'm very fond of the feathered star so this HAD to be in my selection of photos.



This little piece is "Mola Mia" by Susan T. Van Voorhees of Columbia, MD. The three top pieces are original Cuna Indian molas, and below the center are four original ones which Susan did. It didn't win anything, (and certainly this photo doesn't either!) but I did enjoy it and wanted to share it.

I'm sorry to say that I didn't get advance permission to show these quilts here. I did search to find the quilters, but I don't have emails for them. I also apologize for the photography, I was moving very quickly and trying to shoot without getting in the way of or including other people.

Ohio is certainly a wonderful place to live if you are interested in quilting. I'm only 5 hours from Paducah, KY (home of the big AQS show), an hour and a half from Columbus which hosts the NQA show. In addition Quilt National is held every other year in Athens, Ohio and Sacred Threads Quilt show is held the same year in Reynoldsburg! And that doesn't count the other smaller shows.

The economy did take it's toll however. Visitation seemed to be down, and certainly purchases were down. Hopefully, it will mend soon.

Doing a Group Class on the Art Quilt Workbook

Mindy Marik, a member of the Miami Valley Art Quilt Network recently finished leading a group of quilters through Jane D'Avila and Elin Waterston's Art Quilt Workbook. I started with the

group and got bogged down. So much so that I skipped two of the classes. Here you see three of the members looking at the pieces which have been completed as "homework" and sharing.

The group discussed the projects and each of the member's pieces which were brought in. You can sort of see one of the member's, Carroll Schleppi's "Framed Peas" in the foreground.

One of the things you had to do was to pick a topic or theme for all the projects. Each project was to be 9" x 12" and oriented vertically. Carroll's was "beans", mine was things with feathers (although most of what I did were actually birds, I was thinking anything with feathers---horses, angels...whatever), another did feathers, Lori Gravley did "circles" .

I found it difficult and extremely frustrating, although others in the group did some really neat pieces. I found that I balked at the restrictions. I was frustrated because it always seemed like life was pushing in and I just had too much to do to complete them...which seems like all of the "projects" I've been working on lately for the various groups I'm in.

It is a question of balance although most people say it's commitment. I have a huge garden which is weedy or in need at present, I'm pulled by my very social non-driving teenager and her activities, I'm often a single parent because of business responsibilities and I also have an in-home business selling used books on Amazon. I also am very stupid and often find myself doing things for other people that perhaps I shouldn't. In with the pots and pans, books and trowels, cars and appointments, I flit from one project to another.

The Art Quilt Workbook has you do several exercises on composition and design as well as ones which focus on a technique. I found it daunting as I felt I needed to be able to produce something worthwhile which stood up to the work of my colleagues. I also found that there is something in the way I think that when I see an example in the book, I get stuck and create something along the same lines...I can't get the example out of my head in order to get my own original juices flowing.

Instead of being inspiring, it has left me with a sense of doom and even more partially completed projects. This isn't to say that what others were doing wasn't great. It was. Mine just stunk and that just leaves me feeling even more ambivalent about the projects.

Mindy put in a lot of work and did a great job of facilitating. The group has decided to continue, but to explore different techniques or artists led by volunteers. The one book which will be used for "inspiration" is Masters: Art Quilts: Major Works by Leading Artists (The Masters) by Martha Sielman.

I'm still debating if I am going to continue or just do my own thing...like work on completing partially finished projects.

Empress of the UFO

Robbi Joy Ecklow writes a column under the title of "Goddess of the Last Minute" and has a book out under that title ( http://www.robbieklow.com/ ). If Robbi is the Goddess of the last minute, then I'm the Empress of the UFO. To those who are unfamiliar with the term, in the quilting world, a UFO is an Un-Finished Object, not a silver disk carrying little green, or bluish grey men.

Maybe I have A.D.D. Maybe I procrastinate. Actually, I don't think I procrastinate, I think that I can complete things more quickly than I really can. I also wear a lot of different hats and it is difficult to juggle all the job descriptions I have. However, that's the age-old dilemma of womankind....particularly the ones who have children and are married.

I have also made a promise to myself this year, and I'm pretty much keeping to it. this pink thing with the blue is a project I started for the Aullwood competition. I sort of like entering these competitions, or challenges, because it really gets me going. Having a deadline is a good thing as well because it then forces you to complete things. The background on this is made of little individually cut pieces of fabric. I fused them to a backing, and then zig-zag stitched on the machine over each and every one of them.

Needless to say, that took a long time. Lots longer than I ever anticipated. So, when the deadline was looming, I could have opted to fuse the wings, and make it one solid piece of fabric. While I am using the same blue on the wings, I wanted the dimensionality that having each feather made individually and appliqued down would give it. Therefore, I decided I would continue to work on it and complete it, with my original vision and attention to detail---doing it right, rather than do it in a hurry and make mistakes or come out with a piece which wasn't up to my standards. I'm tired of not having my technique and finish down right because I'm in a hurry.

This is another piece I've been working on this month. The background fabric is this years challenge fabric from the Batty Binder's Quilt Guild in Troy. I thought we were supposed to have these done last Wednesday, but at the meeting, not a single person showed one, so I guess it's not due until the fall. Again, I could have fused it and it would have been a lot faster, but I'm appliqueing it and I wanted to have it done well.

I use freezer paper on the right side of the fabric, iron it down, then turn the edges under using Roxanne's Basting glue. I then use invisible thread in both bobbin and top thread and edge stitch it down by machine. It really is hand-applique by machine and I learned this method after participating in a Quiltchat "interview" with Beth Ferrar.

I goofed on this as I didn't realize that I had my iron set too high. The freezer paper really stuck itself onto my fabric and now I have to work at getting the small bits of paper which got left behind off of the fabric before I actually start to applique.

My friend Mindy Marik wrote a blog entry entitled "Love to Start Projects." http://artventures4mindy.blogspot.com/

I think that may be part of my problem too. It is so much fun to start a project...and it takes a lot of discipline to finish them. I have a lot of projects which are close to being finished. This one is a kind of neat thing I started at a retreat. we learned how to make the circles, using Sharon Schamber's technique. I found this great graduated solid (that's the rust, kind of greyed peach an grey-green) with an almost sateen shine to it. I matched it with the black tone-on-tone and went to town.

I free-motion machine quilted in the circles with a variegated metallic thread. I found these great cowrie-shell and bead appliques at the local variety store (yes, they actually have one of those here...the real deal). All I have to do is finish sewing the appliques down, put the binding and hanging pocket in and a label on it, and I'm done.

In all, this is probably about 5 additional hours worth of work. However, I sometimes find it difficult to get my bottom sat down to do such things. I also have a non-driving, social-butterfly of a teenager who thinks up all sorts of things. I also find myself struggling to keep up with my at-home business, the housework, cooking, cleaning, and the garden is taking up a lot of time at this time of year as the weeds are getting the upper hand


Sometimes, I just am not happy with results. I find that this is what happens when I try to kill too many birds with one stone. This UFO I'm trying to figure out if I am ever going to finish, or if I am going to turn it into something else.

Here's how this started. The Miami Valley Quilt Guild had an interesting challenge. They took a cigar box and filled it with a box of 64 Crayola crayons. Each person reached into the box (held above our heads so we couldn't see what we were getting) and we pulled out two crayons. My two colors were brown and yellow. You could add some other colors to it, I think we could add one or two other colors plus neutrals....I don't remember.

I wanted to make a field of black-eyed Susan's on a blue background, and I still think I'll do this. but time was getting closer, and I had signed up to take a class from Shirley Stutz making the "wonder star." So...as I was running out of time, I decided I'd use my yellow and brown in this pattern AND the class, particularly because we had to cut up a bunch of fabric to be ready for the class.

I just wasn't happy with how it was turning out. By trying to make the one piece serve two purposes, the class and the challenge, I took all the fun out of it. I still liked the technique (and Shirley is a wonderful teacher, and her books are great too...if you ever have a chance to take a class from her DO IT!). So.....

When the Batty Binders announced their challenge fabric as the charcoal, cream and blue fabric from the Lady Liberty line by Windham Fabrics, I thought, hey, I'd like to do that with this!

This piece I do like, and I'll finish it....as soon as I can just get the garden cleaned up, the laundry done, and the new cushions made for the patio furniture, oh...and Carlos has a couple more business trips scheduled and . . . .

Finding Lost Time

This post is especially for Aswathy (Trueblue). She mentioned that not too long ago she had a new addition to the family, and that she had started a quilt but was switching over to doing it by machine since she wasn't very patient.

I really have to laugh. I hand-piece (sewing the pieces of a quilt together by hand) because I am very impatient. I spent a lot of time sitting in doctor's offices, waiting for my daughter to get done with track or cross-country practice, or...the activity of the moment.

While I enjoy reading, sometimes I have to DO something. I keep the compartmentalized sewing kit packed. All I need (and then some) is in there--thread, small scissors, needles, pins, pencils, markers, and pieces of an unfinished project. When I go out the door, I grab it and go. Sometimes I work on it, and sometimes I don't, but I have it. I even worked on a piece when I was stuck in a terrific traffic jam back in September.

Sewing by hand is terribly relaxing and you can get a lot accomplished in not a lot of time. When my daughter was little, I often took her to the park, or to some playground and brought my quilting along with me. I pieced and she played with the children. As she got older, there were gymnastics and swimming classes that I pieced in (although sometimes I did applique).


The quilt at right is one I finished last year. Most of this was pieced in the car. We often drive to Connecticut, or elsewhere, and I try to take a piece of handwork with me. It is also a godsend to work on when flying.

This particular pattern is a one-patch pattern. If all the pieces were made up using different fabrics for each piece, then it would be a "charm" quilt. Two common names for the pattern is applecore or axe head.

Working on applique by hand (where you apply an image on the top and sew it down rather than sewing pieces together with a seam) is not so good to work on in the car or on an airplane as the subtle bouncing interferes with me making fine stitches. However, I am able to get a HUGE amount of work done when we're driving....as long as someone else is doing the actual driving.

The hand project I have been working on lately has been a double wedding ring quilt which was started by one of the ladies in the Batty Binder's Quilt Guild in Troy. Jeanne Seifman started this quilt in 2008. She cut most of the pieces and got some of the "melons" done, but she had a heart attack and died in September, 2008.

She wasn't very old, and it was unexpected. Several of the women in the Guild have been working on finishing it. The pieces in my kit are hers. I was getting a little upset as I couldn't get the pieces to fit together correctly. One of the women discovered she had cut some of the pieces wrong and that's why it wasn't working.

I've made a double wedding ring before. It is a really popular pattern which only dates back to the 1910s or 1920s. I don't find it very difficult and sort of fun. Curves, generally, in quilting are more difficult than straight piecing, but gentle curves are easier than tighter curves. I like to work on curves by hand as it is easier to get it exact.

This last picture is of a double wedding ring I pieced in 2005. It is presently a U.F.O. (Un Finished Object), but I hope to quilt it soon.

The other trick I wanted to point out is that not all quilts have to be made bed sized. Sometimes small, like this little double wedding ring is just right to work on and complete....and how many bed quilts does one need anyway?

Fallen Behind

What a mess! I'm really behind...this time of year usually has me scrambling. The garden calls me to weed, divide and move.

My daughter calls me to pick her up from track,
church, whatever.

Saturday, the cat ran away and four days later, right after I put an ad in the paper, he returned....doctors appointments....I think that spring means that everything is springing on me at once and I'm coming a bit unraveled.

I wanted to get some of my other quilt projects up, especially since I've been doing most of this on the garden. Right now, I'm trying to get a Blue Heron done for a show at an Audubon Society near here. I hope I make it...but I'm really going to have to push it to get it done in time.

These three shots are of a piece I made for the Robert Kaufman Quilt Quest Challenge for 2007. I designed it after a brass rubbing I did from a reproduction brass at Westminster Abbey in 1979. The original grave brass is of Lady (Margaret, but there are other names given for her) Bellingham. I think the original is in Kendall, but I can't remember off the top of my head.

A quilt challenge is a contest which is based on a set of rules. The rules usually require you to use a particular fabric (in this case the line by Robert Kaufman called Tuscan Wildflowers---I think) and to make your own design within a specified size limit.


I'm often quilting and completing the piece right up until the last minute. I don't like to work that way, but I always under-estimate the time it will take and under-estimate the other requirements that being a mom and wife and whatever other hat I happen to wear at the time.

Anyway, I've managed to distort these as I try to move them around, but I think you get the picture. I did the face with crayons and micron pens. the "Greenman" mask at the top is sort of cool...I had to photocopy the print of the fabric in reverse onto a special fabric as I needed the leaves to point the opposite direction. In the original fabric print, all the leaves and flowers pointed the same way, but I needed mirrored images. I couldn't figure out how I was going to do this until Lyn Mosher, one of the women I quilt with every week told me that I could do it this way. The only hang up was that the fabric had a metallic finish on it which didn't translate. I ended up using gel pens in order to get the gilt back on the piece.

The quilt was accepted into the traveling show, along with 27 other pieces drawn from work submitted by an international group of quilters. I was very happy to get this piece in. It was the second Quilt Quest traveling exhibition piece I made and the third Robert Kaufman contest piece.

Art Quilt activities and the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show

Ok...while I have been doing a lot of quilty things, somehow life has interfered with me putting them up. At left is a little piece which I have been trying to work on.


It is designed in response to a "homework" challenge from the Miami Valley Art Quilt Network. Every two months or so, we pull a slip of paper from a box. On the slip is written a word or a technique and we're supposed to interpret that into a small quilt piece.

The point is that we hope to push us to work in areas we may not have thought of before, or push the envelop of our creativity in other ways. The side effect of this is that we then have a body of work which, although done by our different members who work in different styles and techniques, will hang together with a common theme.

The theme for this piece was "southwest." These pieces are made of painted batting which I then beaded. I've never beaded anything other than to repair my wedding gown which was a little shopworn. The design is based on petroglyphs from the Great Gallery in Utah and I call them "sky people." I'm working on them in two colorways....and using different techniques.

The process made me realize that I knew nothing about beading....It's more than just sewing beads on. When I looked at the list of workshops offered at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show (don't mess up those initials or you'll end up where you don't want to be), I saw that Mary Stori was giving several classes in beading. I thought, "hey, anyone who makes a quilt called Tropical Fish Sticks" is my kind of woman.

The Indiana Heritage Quilt show is wonderful. I've been two or three times, and I have been impressed by the quilts and pleased by the class offerings and prices, although I had never taken any there.

At right is my friend Susan Schaller's entry. Susan won in her division in 2007 and 2008 and so had to enter in the professional division this year. This piece is called "Flight among the Ginkgo's" and is made with Lutradur and Shiva paint sticks.

Susan is also a member of the Miami Valley Art Quilt Network

We call Susan "the golden girl" because she loves to embellish, particularly with gold, and glittery things like hot-fix crystals.

The show did not fail to impress this year. I had a hard time trying to decide what quilt I liked the best....I don't think I ever did! The quilts, in both professional and amatuer divisions were really spectacular. I loved a piece Diane Becka did. The piece is called "Transitions" and is part of a traveling show based on "Living Colour." Diane is from North Bend, Washington, and the piece was swirls of color gradations, with black.

Diane Becka's work, detail.

Another piece I really loved was Carol Taylor's "Foliage in Transition." Carol is from Pittsfield, NY and is in the professional division. The leaves were outlined in satin stitch, which was fluffy, as if cording was put beneath.

This photo doesn't really do the work justice. Photos are difficult in this space as they are hung fairly closely and it is difficult to stand off.

Here, you can sort of see the cording effect.

In the past, people have complained about it being crowded, and this year they moved some of the vendors to a building next door to the main show. I'm not sure if they were getting all the traffic they should get, but it was a masterful stroke to allow people to see without getting stuck in bottlenecks.

So, how was Mary Stori's class? Wonderful. She's a superb teacher and I learned a lot, even though my right brain makes me have difficulty understanding.

Lest you think that there were only art quilts at the show, here are a couple which were quite impressive, but more in the traditional vein. There were tons others, but I really wanted to get permission from the artist to show them here. I'm having difficulty doing so, so I am putting these up with full attribution.


This was a very nice piece by Barbara Brockett, of Portage, Indiana entitled Christine's Quilt of Dreams.

This piece won third place in the Amateur applique division.

Again, I tried to get a good shot to show her technique, but I'm afraid it got a little lost in the compression for making it to the blog.

The source of the pattern is Affairs of the heart by Aie Rossmann. Barbara made this quilt for her daughter to celebrate her graduation for her Phd. in pharmacy.

To the right is Carolyn Tully's quilt. Carolyn is from Osgood, Indiana and the quilt is called "Robert's Roses."

Faye Labanaris' Applique Rose Garden was her design source, and Carolyn's husband, Robert, chose the pattern. Carolyn said that he particularly likes intricate applique designs. Carolyn took first place in the amateur applique division. The quilting, as well as the applique was absolutely superb.

I could go on and on...but I won't because you're probably snoring already.