2011 Houston International Quilt Festival

  I am back from the festival, but don't have a lot of photos to share. 

From the grand prize winners, I only selected one quilt to share with you.

Loading Dock

by Mary Buvia

Greenwood, Indiana

The festival this year seemed to be all about art quilts, heavily embellished and masterfully machine quilted.  Although I admire these artisans, my interests lie in the traditional quilts, which there were very few of.

Challenge 2

by Georgina Buschauer

Houston, Texas

This quilt was one of the few traditional quilts that really attracted my eye.  Its design source is Elly Sienkiewicz and won a ribbon for Merit Quilting, Hand.

And her hand quilting was exquisite!

Star Garden

Ardie Skjod

Found in the small exhibit of American Traditional Quilts.

I loved how she fussy cut her fabrics.

I did enjoy the exhibit "Texas Quilts Today...", but could not take photos.

And, I missed the doll quilt and bed exhibit. 

This small exhibit of houses designed by a variety of fabric artists was visually rich...

and very whimsical!

But after a whirlwind walk through the quilts, I headed to the vendors.

It didn't seem as crowded as I had remembered, but I still would start down one aisle only to collide with a mass of determined shoppers and quickly retreat.  The number of choices I was faced with was totally overwhelming for me.  As a result, I came home with very little, which actually makes me happy.

I did brave the Primitive Gatherings booth, but escaped unscathed when I saw the long line at the register.  I picked up and put down several patterns in the Country Threads booth...when will I ever make all the quilts I already have patterns for?

Lori Smith's booth was also very tempting, but all I purchased was some wools from Mary Flanagan Woolens, where she gave me permission to photograph her wool version of one of Lori's patterns.

I also picked up some fabrics and hexie papers to get started on my daughter's wedding quilt.

There was a large number of antique quilt vendors with high quality wares.  I came very close to coming home with one, but my budget just would not let me make the leap.  In Mary Koval's booth of beautiful antique quilts, I had the pleasure of meeting Linda Collins from Quilts in the Barn.  We chatted briefly, but I forgot to get a picture of us together. 

Going to Houston for me this year was more about reconnecting with old friends and meeting a few new ones.  My host and hostess were the best!  I lunched with my old tennis partner, laughed the afternoon away with my friend Lori, caught up with other quilting friends, played Chinese Checkers with Rosie's precious grandson, dined on delectable home cooked meals, and even took in the King Tut exhibit. 

Now that I am home, it will take dynamite to get me to leave for at least 6 months!  I look forward to the upcoming holidays and some simple family times... 

at home!

Fall, please come soon!

We returned home this weekend to a wall of unbearable heat....116 degrees. 

But I shouldn't complain...I'm not on the east coast dealing with Irene.

I pray everyone there remains safe.

Needless to say, I spent a lot of time indoors this weekend and finished this adorable shop sample by Country Threads...Pumpkins 4 Sale #220.

The girls at TOWQS have it kitted.

Also spent some time trying to applique the leaves on the willow tree in the very last block for my Autumn Houses quilt.  Learned a valuable lesson...don't change something that is working.

I had been using DMC 50wt machine embroidery thread for most of the applique, using just these 3 colors. 

Don't ask me what made me decide to switch to a 60wt. green Mettler thread, but I did.  The small stitches I needed to use were impossible.  So I switched back to the DMC and now those points are much easier to accomplish! Good thing, because I have over a dozen more of them to do!

Our dive trip to Florida Keys was a success, for the most part...

boy, their mosquitoes were obnoxious! 

Our daughter and her fiance.

Our son and his newly dive certified girlfriend...GO SARAH!

The younger crowd and my husband did a few deep dives to wrecks and had a blast.   I got up close and personal with a harmless 8ft. nurse shark and survived the onslaught of the moon jellyfish that plagued the surface of the waters.  But, I count our blessings that Irene left us unscathed.

That is me!

I am anxious to return to the mountains this week.  My favorite time of year, Fall, should be arriving there soon.  September is full of joy for us...our daughter will put her feet in the sand on Coronado Island in San Diego and exchange wedding vows with the love of her life! 

I have chosen a pattern for a wedding quilt, but it is all hand pieced, so they may get it on their 1st anniversary, OR maybe their 2nd.  

Hexies, here I come!

A Weekend's Work

I decided to get at least one of the samples for TOWQS done to take back with me. 

This is Winter #577 by Country Threads.

It is fusible applique, so the next step is to decide how to anchor the shapes...

buttonhole stitch around them all or

stitch them down as I quilt.

The second choice will be faster, but I will let the girls at the shoppe decide which finish they want.

I also managed to catch up with my Civil War BOWs.

Ladies Aid Album

Calico Puzzle

I have been talking about a red and white quilt for some time now, so I finally started it.

I am fascinated by the illusion created by these two color HSTs.

Half the block looks like white triangles on red and the other half looks like red triangles on white.

I'll be using this illusion in my setting design.

I only have 540 HSTs to make and 57 more of these 3" finished blocks!

Better get busy!



Flying the Coop!

We are getting ready to make our summer journey north to cooler temperatures, and like a true blue procrastinator, I have tons of things to get done in the next few days.  It didn't help that a stomach virus knocked me for a loop this weekend, but I am back with a venegenance today.  Besides all the chores involved in leaving your home for months at a time, there are a few other pressing matters that need my attention.

First was getting the block drafted, made and the pattern written for this week's 1880 Sampler Quilt.  Oh, how I love this one.  These little detailed blocks are like a quilt in and of themselves.

Then I got distracted by a new book, Fat Quarter Winners, by Monique Dillard.

Added to the distraction was the arrival of Judie Rothermel's new line called the Bancroft Collection. A technique that oversizes and then custom cuts the units is right up my alley!  The Fit to Be Geese ruler and technique seemed like extra work until I realized that I am always checking the grid dimension and trimming up my flying geese even when I don't make them oversized, so this method does save me the time of marking diagonal lines on the backs of all those little squares. 

Since I missed work on Saturday due to illness, I will spend this morning finishing up the kits for these two projects from Country Threads.

I like to take some projects to do over the summer that will be shop samples at TOWQS in the fall. 

And if I have time left over today, I will head to Kinko's to do some copying for my Autumn's Bounty quilt pattern.  Yes, you guessed it.  I have left it to the last minute.  But honestly, I work best under pressure!