Festival Photo Finish

These are the last of the photos that I took at the Houston Quilt Festival before the batteries died.  Unfortunately, I had my sister's camera because I forgot mine, but I didn't have the charger.  I did get some great photos, though, and hope you enjoy them.

I spent the entire day in the studio today.  What a pleasure!  I finished up a baby quilt, finished making silk flowers, and worked on the sewing kit/pincushion jars, all are going to the craft fair at the Natchitoches Light Festival on December 3.  I finally heard from the festival folks and will have a booth, so I'm trying to build up my stock.  


Angie and Sid bought me a pattern to make baby boots and some darling fabric to make the boots with.  I've made two pair of boots using different fabric in an attempt to figure out the pattern.  So far, I'm not satisfied, so tomorrow I'll give it another try.  Hopefully I'll get it figured out in time to make a few pairs of baby boots for the craft fair.


I've also started a few other projects, all for the craft fair, but nothing that I'm happy enough with that I'm taking photos.  Sorry about that.  


I hope you had a wonderful Veteran's Day and that you took a few moments to say thank you to the Vets in your life.  We treated our veteran son to supper at one of his favorite restaurants.  Have a great weekend!


Happy quilting,
Mary

More Festival Quilts

Here are more of the pictures I took at the Houston Quilt Festival.

I hope you enjoyed these photos.  I certainly enjoyed seeing the quilts!

Festival Haul

I really didn't spend much time at the vendor booths.  First, I didn't want to spend too much money; second, I wanted to see the quilts; and third, I'm not a very good shopper.  I did, however, have the opportunity to speak to a couple of the winners.  


One lady was an absolute darling, answering all of my silly questions and recommending a couple of her favorite products.  


One of those products: Bottom Line Thread, which I found at the Superior Threads booth.  So, I picked up a few cones of neutrals to use in bobbins.  My plan is to fill several bobbins in the next few days and to try to use only this brand, assuming it's as good as it claims to be about creating very little lint.


I also found this pretty lime and orange that I'm hoping will match the colors in Audrey's quilt.


While at the Festival I also signed up to become a member of The Quilt Show, an online show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, which includes a subscription to The Quilt Life magazine.


Although I would have liked a fancier holder for my rulers, I don't have many rulers, so I picked up this small holder to help organize them.

And that's my haul from the Houston Quilt Festival.  Not much but awfully close to $100 anyway and definitely topping off my budget.


What was your last quilting purchase?  How do you control your spending when it comes to quilting?


Please do me a quick favor and click on the Picket Fence button on the upper right.  I'm still trying to get votes.  I've moved up to page 21 with 150 votes!  With your help, I'm sure I can make to 200 votes in no time!

International Quilt Festival

A few more pictures from the Houston festival.  These are some I took using my sister's camera.  She sent them to me via Facebook so that I could post them for you here.  

I apologize for not being able to include the title or quilter's name.  I just didn't have enough time.  

What do you think?  Aren't they stunning?  

Would you like more?

Home again, home again

Sharon Schamber's Best of Show Quilt
winner of $10,000

From the International Quilt Festival in Houston, that is.  What a blast that was!  My sisters, Angie and Sid, drove to Houston with me on Friday.  We stayed at another sister's house so that we could be at the show early, but of course the GPS got confused and we ended up circling around Fannin and San Jacinto streets for a while.  In the end we figured out that the GPS had the wrong address, found the correct one and drove the few blocks to the George R. Brown Convention Center.  


I made every effort to see as many quilts as possible.  I knew that there was no way I'd see them all.  There are just so many of them, and they are all so beautiful that missing a row caused me to backtrack despite the soreness in my legs.


Five or six hours later, and I still had not seen all the quilts in the show.   However, I had worn myself out trying.

A Great Combination....

Scarves and beads make for a very nice accessory.  Of course, a beaded scarf can serve two purposes--they're warm and pretty!  


When I designed these scarves, I really wanted to be able to use them as jewelry and clothing.   


The fabric is quite unusual, it has a stripe of variegated thread that adds a little sparkle, so when I choose beads, I try to keep in mind that there's already some color.  Couple that with the monochromatic colors of hand-dyed fabric, and we have lots going on.  


It was easy enough to find the beads, however.  Most are beads in my stash, but a few are some I picked up especially for this design.


The red fabric doesn't have a deep a range of colors in the dye, so I felt comfortable using a bigger variety of glass beads.


I like the added weight that the beads give to the scarves.  I've made a few scarves with beading on the edge so that they hang well because of the weight.  But I really like the look of the beads connecting the sections of the scarves.


This final scarf is a sheer fabric with French words written in a beautiful script.  I've had the fabric for a long time and ran across it while looking for fabric for a different project.


When I saw it, I just had to make a few scarves.  I ended up with three and decided to add beads to this one.  It has a loop at the opposite end so that the beaded edge can be slipped into the loop for closing. 

No tying, no loose flapping ends (well, only one, anyway) and a nice false knot that never unties.  I have a couple of scarves like this and love the look.  Generally I wear them with the loop a bit high so that the opposite end drapes down comfortably.

Book Review: Angle of Repose

After a teacher friend brought in several boxes of books to donate to the school library, I thought I'd pick up a few to peruse.  I read one last week, and though I was a little disappointed, I completed the book and picked up a second one for this week by an author I didn't know, Wallace Stegner.  When I saw that Angle of Repose is a Pulitzer Prize winner, I debated whether I wanted to chew on it.  I've found Pulitzer's to be difficult reading and, since I'm still trying to stay ahead of a class by reading and analyzing several essays weekly, I debated the sensibility of reading a  difficult book as well.

I shouldn't have given it a moment of worry.  I'm finding Angle of Repose an absolute joy.  It's not easy reading, necessarily, but it certainly is enjoyable reading.  I suppose all the analyzing that I've been doing for English 1001 has my brain well-trained, akin to runner's legs that are muscular and strong.


The story is about a retired history professor who researches his grandmother's life.  I've gotten all the way to page 81, of 563.  So, there's not much I would say about the novel, yet, except that every page is filled with literary devices, rich language, beautiful descriptions.   


 In one scene, Oliver holds Susan by the ankles so that she can enjoy the dizzying heights of a waterfall.  As one who is terrified of heights, I felt a great deal of anxiety while reading the scene.  My mind's eye so clearly saw what Susan experiences!


And so, with that, I'll leave you to read someone else's brief description of Stegner's novel (taken from Amazon.com)

Stegner's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel--the magnificent story of four generations in the life of an American family. A wheelchair-bound retired historian embarks on a monumental quest: to come to know his grandparents, now long dead. The unfolding drama of the story of the American West sets the tone for Stegner's masterpiece.