{"id":4030,"date":"2016-05-10T15:55:30","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T22:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.road2cablog.com\/?p=4030"},"modified":"2016-05-10T15:55:30","modified_gmt":"2016-05-10T22:55:30","slug":"meet-kathy-mcneil-road-2016-directors-choice-winner-and-road-2017-teacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/road2ca.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/meet-kathy-mcneil-road-2016-directors-choice-winner-and-road-2017-teacher\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Kathy McNeil: Road 2016 Director's Choice Winner and Road 2017 Teacher"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tKathy McNeil of Tulalip, Washington, won $5,000 for Song of the Sea<\/em>, <\/em>from\u00a0sponsor Moore’s Sewing Center.\"Director's<\/a><\/p>\n\n\nBefore Kathy McNeil became an award winning quilter, she was a hospital nurse for over 35 years. During that time, she loved the community quilts that guilds made for her patients. When Kathy\u2019s daughter asked her mother to make her a quilt for her dorm room, Kathy vowed to try. They went to the quilt store to buy fabric and that is where Kathy saw her first pictorial quilt. As Kathy remembered, \u201cIt was like being hit by a lightning bolt of excitement. I still wake up surprised and excited that I have found this passion that makes me so incredibly happy.\u201d\"Kathy<\/a>\nKathy got the idea for Song of the Sea<\/em>\u00a0from a trip to the Seattle Aquarium with her grandchildren. \u00a0The octopus came out and literally danced across the glass in front of them. Kathy thought the octopus, \u201cwas so incredibly, a real diva of the deep.\u201d \u00a0Kathy wanted to capture the octopus\u2019 playful, intelligent spirit. The word \u201cdiva\u201d that Kathy used to describe her encounter with the octopus inspired the unusual setting of the quilt. As Kathy says, \u201cWhat better to show off a diva than an Art Nouveau setting?\u201d\"Judy-<\/a>\nIt took Kathy about 400 hours of turned edges using the Apliquick technique to make the quilt. Kathy is a US distributor of those tools and loves watching students gain confidence in turning the smallest little shapes so quickly. \u00a0Kathy shared her progress with the quilt in her monthly newsletter.\"Ophelia<\/a> It was her readers that chose the name of the octopus\u2014Ophelia. \u00a0The biggest challenge for Judy was figuring out how to make the suckers for the 8 octopus legs. She finally came up with making 321 tiny silk organza yo- yo\u2019s to fit the visual look and texture that she wanted.\nWhen Kathy heard she had won the Director\u2019s Choice at Road 2016, she said, \u201cI leaped, I twirled, I danced, I sang and shouted with joy\u2026.. Thank you, thank you for falling in love with my crazy octopus.\u201d Ophelia has been loved by so many people as she has traveled to different shows. She has won two \u201cBest Original Design\u201d Awards and an international art collector has purchased her to be part of a collection of \u201csea creature art.\u201d\nWinning the Director\u2019s Choice was such an unexpected gift that Kathy and her husband decided to use her winnings to make some awesome family memories. They took their daughter and her family on a cruise to the Panama Canal while Kathy was teaching.\"Kathy's<\/a>\nWhat is on the horizon for Kathy and her quilting? \u201cA wonderful balance of teaching trips, time with Mother Nature for inspiration and taking the summer off to write a new book on borders. I wake up every day feeling very blessed to be part of the quilting community.\u201d\nTo learn more about Kathy McNeil, please visit her website<\/a>.]]>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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