So all day I've been thinking about this quilt for the Council show.  The theme, "Hearts & Hands, Thimbles & Threads" is posing a real challenge for me.  I want the pattern to be original, but I also want to lean on something from quilt designer Pat Sloan because she is one of Judy's favorite designers, and Judy will be finishing the quilt on her longarm machine and she has also, very generously, provided me with the majority of the fabric for the project from her shop, JudyAnn's Quilting.  So I have a plan I'm trying to stick to.  So here's my idea: blend the best elements of my favorite patterns from Pat Sloan into a "semi-homemade" version of her designs.  Let's just call it lazy quilting.  So here's quilt #1:
I really like the summer-y aspect to this pattern, but I've got to make it fit the bill.  As you can see, there are no hearts, hands, or thimbles,
but there is plenty of thread holding the whole thing together.  However, I doubt that is the only way the judges will want thread represented.  So I looked at a few of her other patterns and found some hearts that I liked, so check these out and let me know what you think. 
This set of blocks is really cute, and incorporates hearts in a unique way.  Now the trick will be to take one of these blocks and plug it into the design of the first one.  Maybe I can even change the bottom portion to include a hand in the middle, instead of the extra heart.  I think that could be a nice touch.  Now to find something with thimbles on it...Maybe I should be thinking more 3-d.  Instead of using some cute buttons to pretty up the quilt, I could use a thimble and some pretty gloves artistically sewn into/onto the quilt itself.  I'm going to sleep on all of this, and then let you know what I think.  Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow to get started on this project.