My first Houston ribbon!

I couldn't resist entering my "Desert Rose" ensemble in the Stitch in Time Fashion Show luncheon at Houston Quilt Festival, and I was so honored to win my first ribbon in Houston! I even got to model my outfit (along with the other 30+ ladies who entered the show), and had to "walk the runway", just hoping I wouldn't break my neck in those heels. But I had to wear them, I altered my shoes to include special pincushion clips as embellishment complete with hand-made decorative pins to match the outfit, had a ball showing that little bit of humor. The whole ensemble included 7 different kinds of silk, from the nuno-felted collar on hand-dyed silk chiffon couched with a hand-spun yarn of wool 'n silk, to the hand-dyed silk velvet side panels, buttons covered with needle-felted silk and wool, hand-dyed silk ribbon adorning the hat (made from my Sun 'n Fun Hat pattern # 166), the silk tweed skirt in ice-cream colors, and even the carnation pink dupioni silk lining of the jacket. Met the most wonderfully creative ladies at the show, and I just feel so blessed that I even got to participate in this awesome event!

Houston winners!

Houston Quilt Festival was HUGE!! I had never seen anything like it, here's a photo I took from up above the show on the 2nd floor, this is only about a fourth of the entire show, and I took it Sunday afternoon, the slowest time...most of the time the crowd was shoulder-to-shoulder! They said there were 50,000 attendees, and I believe it! One day they even had to call security to clear the aisle from beside my booth, people could not even maneuver through the aisle. I wish I had a pedometer clocking the miles I walked this show...we stayed at the magnificent Hilton just across the street, and were able to walk back and forth from the hotel to the show on the crosswalks over the street. However, most of the time I was rocketing around 100 mph going from class to the booth to get food or coffee and so on. Amazingly, I only gained a couple of pounds, this with the all-you-can-eat buffet almost every night, not too bad. The buffet was always a social event, where you never knew who you would run into, from my home-friend Madeline from nearby Kernersville, to the sweetest teachers from the Silk Experience at Festival, Carla and J.J...I guess the most embararassing moment for me was the first day we set up at Market after driving through Texas that morning, lugging boxes and sweating all afternoon, who should join us on the elevator that evening but Kaffe Fassett. I was so distracted I forgot to punch in my floor number, and could not think of one clever thing to say, alas.

Anywhoo...here are some more quilt photos too, I learned when I got home that these all won ribbons as well. My favorite (and evidently everyone else's too) was "Innocence" by Hollis Chatelain from right here in NC, in her description she said she dreamed of this boy's face, and in his face were many other children in various activities...can you see the children she quilted? This quilt was absolutely breathtaking...and big, probably 5 ft. in diameter. Way to go Hollis - she won Viewer's Choice for this spectacular work of art.

Teaching in Houston

I had the most wonderful students in Houston! Everyone in my Wet-felted Wool Flower class made the most gorgeous flowers, I'll be adding a photo from this class later (with the help of my web-master) And the gals in my Wool Beads Bracelet class all made perfect beads, I was so impressed! Everyone in each class definitely put their own spin on their projects and added their own personal touch...here are just a few photos, we had such a great time!

Houston dolls

Can't forget the dolls! They were all wonderful, fanciful, beautiful...here are just a few from the Hoffman challenge collection.

More Houston Quilts

Here are some more amazing quilts from the Houston Quilt Show. I only had about an hour to really look at them, we were so busy during both shows, there was no way to see everything. But I loved this denim quilt that was made entirely of recycled denim jeans etc. And the memory quilt of the Japanese family was one of my favorites, it had the most exquisite appliqued flowers surrounding all the photographs of this very special celebration! The group quilt of the faces, "Hanging by a Thread", put my efforts at this technique to shame...I felt better though when I saw that it had won 1st place in the group category, it was quite impressive.

Houston Quilt Market & Festival

Just got back from Houston this week where I vended both shows, taught 2 classes, and participated in Meet the Faculty, the Stitch in Time Fashion Show luncheon, and Saturday morning Sampler, and it was all absolutely phenomenal! Before I go any further I have to give credit to my awesome friends and helpers, Alby, Michelle, and her beautiful daughter Kara, I could not have done any of this without their unfailing help. As much as I enjoyed it (I'm already dreaming of next Market!)it was an enourmous amount of work, and these great gals never complained once about the long hours, crowds of people to help, lack of free time, and more. And they even said they'd do it again!! Here are a few photos from the shows...enjoy them while I drift back to planet earth...