A Cinderella Story

Today Rose City Quilters celebrated it's 26th annual Tote & Gloat. Every year we have a quilt challenge for members as well as a block challenge for those who attend. This year I put together the quilt challenge which was a page from a children's ecological (non-fiction) book - we had some books being deleted at work, so I pulled them apart, stamped each page, and put them into envelopes. Members were invited to choose an envelope which was to be their inspiration to making a quilt or something quilt related. We had a new category called Anything Goes so it could be a quilt that was stretched onto canvas, a book, bag - whatever! I think we had 26 entries and boy, did they look lovely (I'll  have the photos on the RCQ blog site in a few days).
My page was about keeping a bird-spotting journal. I decided to have a magpie stitched onto brocade (I thought it did resemble thick sketch pad paper) with some hand stitched notes. After returning from Queenstown all I had to do was the quilting and finishing. Last Sunday it was all ready for blocking, and look I had 4 days to spare before entries closed!
So I blocked and sprayed with water to make sure it was square and flat - BUT oh no! I had forgotten that I used water soluble pen to mark out the words, and the ink ran!
Here you can see the result:

This is a close-up of the detail:

Horrible grey smudges behind my stitching. So last week I tried a mixture of white vinegar, dish-washing liquid and water - well it did get lighter but was still very obvious. Next was a paste of lemon juice and salt, dried and then brushed off. Nope, still not 'clean' enough. By now I have 24 hours left and I'm starting to think of not entering the challenge.
Last, and totally risky thing I could do, was to 'paint' the background. Out with the fabric paints, mixing, mixing and diluting. I used a cotton ball to 'dab' paint in 3 different tones of green.
Here is the final result (passable - just!):

Now, why is this a Cinderella story?
Because I was awarded 1st= in my category!
I was sooo close to throwing in the towel (so to speak). But I always tell people that you NEVER know what the opposition is going to be like and what will appeal to the judge. Take the chance in entering challenges!
I have to admit that I think he is a magnificent Magpie (even if he does still smell faintly of vinegar!)

I also showed my 4 ANZAC quilts from the Remarkable Symposium Challenge. They were all hung together and looked pretty good. I had a lot of people come up to talk to me about them and I have been really touched. Thank you for all the support. Making art quilts is very personal but I am honoured if my work means something or touches a cord, for you.