I have had more than my share of good news in the last few days.  I have been so busy that it really didn't sink in until this morning when I was thinking about posting again.

My good fortune started Saturday night.  Well actually it started on Friday, but i didn't become aware of that part until Monday night.  I'll tell the news in the order I received it.

Saturday night was the opening reception for Dog Days of Summer - the current show at the Loading Dock Gallery in Lowell.  During the reception, a woman came up to me to tell me how much she loved my piece, a triptych called Keep Watering that Garden.  (I've written about it in this blog.)  She said that she really wanted it, but her daughter had been telling her not to spend any more money.  She was going to wait and think about it some more.  She didn't think very long though.  A little while later she came back to tell me she'd decided to buy it.  She said she would have been just too disappointed if she came back at the end of the show and it was gone.  I was so pleased.  I still feel that happy glow when i think back about it.  (If you click on the link for the show, that's my piece on the right behind the shot of the beautiful rose arrangement.  FYI - the rose arrangement was created by Rufiya Blank.)

Monday night I got the second bit of good news when I saw a friend's Facebook post about winning the awards for Best in Seed Beads and Best in Jewelry in the Craftwear Exhibit at Sunapee.  I was thrilled for her - and then she commented back, sharing the wealth by letting me know that I'd won an award on my jacket too.  My happy dance was only beginning though.  Another friend visited the exhibit that day and brought back the news that I'd won two awards on the jacket and sold another one.  My cup runneth over.   My jacket, Aurora, won the awards for Best in Fine Sewing and Best in Creative Sewing.  Woo hoo!!!

I took a little time off last week.  My son came home to visit so we spent time just hanging out together at the lake and at home in Lowell.  I did have to do a little work though.  On Wednesday Tarja Cockell and I drove up to Sunapee, NH to drop off our submissions for the Living with Craft (Tarja) and CraftWear (me) exhibitions at the 81st Annual League of NH Craftsmen Fair.  I have both my Free Lace Scarves and my jackets in the retail section of CraftWear and a jacket in the exhibition.  Two years ago I won the award for Best in Fine Sewing for my jacket "Fruit of my Mind."  Needless to say I have my fingers crossed for this year's submission "Aurora."

This week I am getting ready for my Spirit of the Maker demonstration at the League's retail gallery in Meredith, NH - on the shores of Lake Winnepesaukee.  I will be showing how I create my Mobius Free Lace scarves.  I will be there the afternoon of August 3 from 1 to 4 pm.  I'll have my sewing machine and scarves in different stages of development.  It's a beautiful setting and there's a chance that I would be able to work outdoors.  Weather conditions have to be just right for that--no rain or really high humidity to dissolve my stabilizer and no wind to blow away my fabric bits--but it would be nice.  I have several friends who summer in that area, so I'm hoping I'll see someone I know that afternoon.

Circles, Squares & Triangles: The Shape of Things to Come is the title of the current show at the League of NH Craftsmen show in Concord, New Hampshire.    I have two jackets in this show; so I attended the opening reception this past Friday night.  As happy as I was to have both jackets I submitted displayed, I was even happier to see them prominently hung on the back wall clearly visible as you walk into the gallery.  Several people commented on the display and I left the reception with a nice glow.

Here are a couple of pictures that give you the idea.  (It was hard for me to photograph well with my little point-and-shoot since there were windows on either side.)

You can see a front view of Blue Skies & Rainbows on the League's July 2 Facebook post about the upcoming 81st Annual Craftsmen Fair.  I will have jackets and Free Lace scarves in the CraftWear Exhibit there.