International Quilt Show Houston TX 2011

Nov 2,2011 I attended a lecture by Cynthia England called "Making The Most of Your Stash. She lives in Dickinson TX and has a company called England Designs. She made you look at fabric at different angles for different designs and uses of color. I got a kit from her called For The Birds. I got another kit in Paducah called Life is a Beach. The class was an hour from 9-10. I wanted to get into Melinda Bula class which was Texas Bluebonnets but it was full. I found out in her blog she had about 3 people in the class give her a hard time about the way she teaches and they left the class. You go to a class to learn from the teacher not tell her how to do it better. She had a waiting list which I was one of them. I decided to bring a project to sew on from 10-12. They had a room set up with 20 Brother machines for sewing. It was great to have some place to sew for awhile. I worked on a Sew Oregon Shop Hop block from 10-12. I went over to show Melinda my Coneflower that I decided to bring to show her. It was near lunch break and was able to see her. She really liked the quilt and showed it to the class. She is a great teacher and person. I did buy the Sunflower pattern from her. Her husband Joe was there so it was nice to see her hubby. I went to lunch at Chick-fil-A and then back to the room for a rest. The VIP Preview for the Show opened at 5:00-10:00. I decided to look at the vendors and get some shopping done. I shopped for about 2 hours and then went back to my room. The Hyatt had Einsteins Bagel which had great turkey sandwiches. I will post 2 quilts that Melinda had in the show. She should have won an award but didn't.

International Quilt Show Houston TX 2011

International Quilt Show Houston TX 2011

It was great to see the winners announced for the first time and their reactions. I sat by a fellow quilter Suzanne Kistler from Visalia, CA. She had a quilt in the show "Through the Waters" which didn't win a prize. She was a friend of Sharon Schlotzhauer that I meet on the shuttle ride. Sharon won 2 1st place awards in Art-Whimsical called "Really Wild Flowers" and 2nd place award in Art-Miniature for "America the Beautiful II". She had a quilt called "Uninvited Guest" in the Celebrate Spring! 2011 section. There is a article in the Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine about Sharon. It was an enjoyable evening for my first day. I was ready to get back to my room because I was very tired since I have been up since 2:30 am. I will post pictures of Sharon and Suzanne quilts.

International Quilt Show Houston TX 2011

I went to the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX from Nov 1-6. This is the 2nd time to the festival with the last time in 2008. I knew what to expect this time and had a super time by myself. Here is an account of my trip to IQF.
Nov 1, 2011 We left home at 2:30 am to get to the airport by 4:00am. I flew Continental to Houston from 6:00am and arrived in Houston early 11:40am(12:08). I took the Super Shuttle to the Hyatt Regency(downtown). I shared a ride with a fellow quilter from Colorado Springs.Her name is Sharon Schlotzhauer and she had 3 quilts in the show.It was great to meet her. I arrived at the Hyatt by 1:30 and then headed to the Convention Center. It is a nice walk of about 8-9 blocks. The weather was sunny and warm/humid with temp in mid 80's. I got checked in to get my tote bag and commemorative program. I checked for classes but not much available. I signed up for a lecture with Cynthia England for the next day from 9-10. I walked over to the Houston Shops to have a Chick'Fil with waffle fries. This is a treat for me because we don't have any of these resturants in Oregon. I went back to the room for awhile and then took the quilt shuttle bus back to the convention center. I attended the "Academy Awards" 2011 WINNERS in QUILTS A World of Beauty from 6:00-8:00pm. This is the presentations of category awards which had 21(1st,2nd,3rd and honorable mention) and the majors prize winners which has 11 category. To be continued.

Fall International Quilt Festival Houston TX

I have always like the fall season the best because of the fall foliage, cool and crispy days/nights, fall cooking with apples, pumpkins, squash etc and rain. It is a great time to sew/quilt.
Tuesday, Nov 1 I'm flying to Houston to attend the biggest quilt show in the world. This will be my 2nd time to attend the festival. I went with my sister-in-law Mary in 2008. This is my celebration for my 60th birthday to go to Houston again. I'm so excited to see over 1,000 quilts, vendors and attend classes and lectures. I will stay at the Hyatt Regency downtown Houston where Mary and I stayed in 2008. I will be there from Nov 1-6 and then I will visit with my college girlfriend Jan from Nov 6-9. I'm looking forward to a great time in Houston. Hope to meet alot of quilters from all over the world. More later about the trip and pictures when I get back.
Happy quilting!!!

Machine Quilting Expo

Machine Quilting Expo

The heron quilt was the front and the back of it. I loved the Christmas quilt with the glitter on it and the scalloped style/praire point binding. I have a few more pictures of the show.