Mid-Atlantic Championships 2011

A good competition for us.  It felt like the best we've ever danced.  Our placements were good - we made 3 of 4 finals, and had a 3rd place in Sr1 Silver Standard, 6th place in Sr2 Silver Standard, and 5th place in Sr2 Gold Standard.  We were 9th in Sr1 Gold Standard.  Altogether, these were our best results yet.  Changing our dance frame and the technique differences that has created are starting to pay off.

On the "still to work on" side, looking at the video shows that there are still some fundamental things that need fixing - I kept dropping my right elbow.  I think I was letting myself get too centered in turning figures.  And, darn it, I was looking down still in the promenade sections of the tango oversway---I was even thinking - "look up".  Of course, when I watch the video, I see the things I did wrong, rather than the things I did well.

Judges' marks were all over the place - which also suggests that we were being inconsistent in how we danced.  One dance may have been rated anywhere from 2nd to 7th depending on the judge - which may mean either something particular the judge looks for, or what we happened to be doing when the judge was looking at us.  More fodder for Karen at our lessons for the next few weeks.  

We have six weeks until Nationals, so there's time to focus on a couple of key points (like more of "stay left") between now and then.  I think this also calls for some routine gym time between now and then.  Dancing silver and gold means more dances, and I was about done in by the time we were finished.

The weekend was fun.  The new venue was beautiful (North Bethesda Marriott).  We had the largest floor we've ever had for a competition, and this only used half of the Marriott's Grand Ballroom.  It was great having David's sister, Kathy, come with us again this year.   There was beautiful dancing to watch while we weren't dancing ourselves. 

Stash report - week 9, February 27

It's been a busy week.  I did get my Johnny Jump Ups quilt quilted, and used some stash to make the binding.  I got that applied on Friday afternoon, and started stitching it down before we had to leave for Bethesda.  That will be my project for this afternoon - to finish that binding, so the quilt is done.

IN this week:                  0 yds
IN YTD:                    11.0 yds

OUT this week:         0.44 yds
OUT YTD:              20.37 yds

NET for 2011:           9.37 yds BUSTED


Check out Judy L's blog to see how everyone else is doing with their stash report for the week.

Stash report - week 8, February 20

I got some sewing time yesterday, and made progress on my #10 - the fall tablerunner.  I hope to have that finished today.  Yesterday I got it quilted and made and applied the binding.  It's ready to have the binding hand sewn on the back, which I plan to work on during the road trip to Delaware for the women's basketball game.

Once I got the tablerunner to the point I wanted it, I put borders on my Johnny Jump Ups top I started last weekend.  I also made and loaded a backing for it, and picked up batting and quilting thread in a pretty yellow King Tut.  I think I'm going to do a meander with butterflies for the quilting.

The 2 yds in were a purple crocus print intended as a border for the Johnny Jump Ups, but I decided not to use it for that, and instead used stash.  The purple crocuses ended up on the back of Johnny Jump Ups, along with some green from the stash.

Since the borders, most of the backings and bindings were all from stash, I made a nice dent in my stash report for the week:

In this week:                    2 yds
Used this week:              7.25 yds

In YTD:                          11 yds
Used YTD:                     19.92 yds

Net for 2011:                   8.92 yds OUT