Houston Quilt Pics 1

These quilts are some of the quilts that were on display in various exhibits at the Houston International Quilt Festival.  The first three quilts shown below are prize winners from International Quilt Week Yokohama 2012.  Exquisite doesn't begin to describe these quilts, the workmanship and design is absolutely outstanding.

 "Lace in the Garden" by Junko Sano of Toride-shi, Japan.

"Blue Tone" by Aki Sakai of Tokyo, Japan.

"Irish Crochet Lace" by Chieko Shiraishi of Saitama-shi, Japan.  Hand-appliqued and hand crocheted.

The next several quilts were from the 2013 exhibit "In Full Bloom."

 A mosaic-pieced quilt, "Mediterranean Colors and Perfumes" by Sonia Bardella of Venice, Italy.

 "Milkweed and Hummingbirds" by Sara Sharp of Austin, Texas.  Techniques used included fused applique, threadpainting, digital photo printing, painting and free-motion quilting.

 "Camellia" by Melinda Bula of El Dorado Hills, California.  Techniques used included fused applique and thread painting.

  "Rose Garden" by Akiko Kawata of Chuo-Ku, Osaka-City, Japan.

 "Rhodendron" by Cherrie Hampton of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Techniques included painting, ink and embroidery.

"Millie's Flower Garden" by Leanne Hurley of Geneva, Illinois, quilted by Elvira Illig.

  "Benefit of Sunshine" by Noriko Nozawa of Chiba-city, Chiba, Japan.

This is only a very small example of the gorgeous quilts on display in just the exhibits alone.  The number of quilts that are there is so overwhelming, you could spend a week looking and drooling over all of them.  I will continue to post more pictures of the quilts, check back soon.

Houston, Kaffe, and Quilts

So after a week of being in Houston, a week of being sick, and the last three days spent transitioning from an eight year old laptop to a new shiny computer and Windows 8, I feel like I finally have a grip on what day it is, or for that matter, what month it is.  Funny how time flies even when you aren't having fun!  And knowing holidays are fast approaching has just heightened my anxiety levels!

Kaffe Fassett & Me

Thought I would share some of my Houston pics, now that I have finally transferred them over to the computer.  We spent three days walking around Quilt Market, seeing what is new for the next season and visiting with friends and vendors.  This is also prime time for getting over to the show and exhibit side of the convention center since Festival didn't open until after Market closed.  Seeing and photographing the quilts is much easier during Market since the public isn't allowed in at this time.  I will post some of those quilts over the next several days.



Stopped by to say hi to Kaffe, Brandon, and Liza at the Kaffe Fassett booth.  Notice the lighter colored quilt in the background in the photo above, a little softer and more understated than some of his brighter and jewel-toned quilts he is known for.  I really liked the change in color palette. 


Kaffe Fassett quilt booth

Kaffe Fassett quilt booth

These two quilts are also from the booth.  (I apologize for poor photo quality, these were from my iPhone and taken quickly, hence the blurriness!)


There was also an exhibit of Kaffe & Liza's quilts over on the show side titled "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"  I captured a couple of the lighter colored quilts, since they are what appealed to me at first glance.


Kaffe Fassett quilt



Kaffe Fassett quilt

Kaffe Fasset quilt exhibit Houston

The quilts in this exhibit were from Kaffe's new book, "Shots and Stripes."  All are beautiful examples of color relationships and  pattern using solid and striped fabrics.  Nedra at Cactus Needle captured some great photos of these quilts.  Be sure and check out her blog.  She has also featured some of my quilts there, too, be sure and read her posts!

Amidst the vendors are antique quilt dealers, probably one of my favorite things about market.  These booths are such an inspiration for ideas for coming up with new quilt designs.  And the best part is that you can touch and feel them!

This Trip Around the World antique quilt really captivated my attention, made from mostly shirting type fabrics.  And what a coincidence since it just so happened I made a quilt in the same pattern that was a finalist there at the show in the traditional category titled "Color My World."

"Color My World" by Rahna Summerlin

Market was truly a blur of color, pattern and creative ideas, definitely a sensory overload.  I am still trying to remember everything that I saw and everyone that I met and matching faces to business cards I collected.  I will continue to post more photos, stay tuned!

Come on in...the water feels great!

Remember when you were a kid standing on the side of the pool, you hesitated to jump in, worried the water was going to be too cold or even worse, that your bathing suit would come off once you jumped?  And meanwhile, your friends are swimming and splashing wildly yelling at you, "Come on. . .jump in!  The water feels great!"  You bit your lip, shook your head, hesitated again and then, out of nowhere, that kid that teased you who lived down the street runs up behind you and. . . wham!. . .pushes you in!  Next thing you know you are choking, arms flailing, but you suddenly manage to come up for a gulp of air and realize you are. . .actually. . .still alive!  Meanwhile all your friends are laughing and you think it's about you but soon realize it's really about the FUN they're having.  The light bulb in your head goes off and for a brief moment it dawns on you that it's not about being afraid anymore, it's about laughing along with them, living in the moment, having fun and enjoying what they've been talking about all along.

So that is sort of how I have finally come to taking the plunge and writing my first blog post.  I want to say THANK YOU for your patience and for stopping by.  This techy bloggy stuff isn't the easiest thing to grasp but I think I will manage from here and hopefully when I stumble, someone can give me a push to head me in the right direction again.

On that note, I want to thank Kim over at Quilt Dots for sort of bringing me to this point of "pushing me into the pool" so to speak, although she really wasn't that kid down the street!  Kim saw my quilts at Houston Quilt Festival last week and tracked me down via Facebook.  (Had I put a blog out there before now, she would have found me a little easier!)

Within a week, she has created these awesome pins and magnets from pictures I sent her of several of my quilts.  Aren't they great?  Kim has done such an amazing job and what is so cool is that you can make interchangeable jewelry out of these, she sells everything on her site, Zappy Dots.  What a great stocking stuffer idea for Christmas!  Thank you again Kim for doing such an amazing job!

So now that I am finally kicking around the pool, it's really pretty great after all, come on and jump in!  Stay tuned, I will post some pics over the next week or so from Houston Quilt Festival.


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