Houston 2011

This year I really outdid myself, not only vending Houton Quilt Market & Festival, but also teaching 2 classes, participating in 2 round-robin samplers, giving 2 "Meet the Teacher" lectures, and even taking 3 classes myself, what in the world was I thinking?! I enjoyed it all immensely and am still cherishing the memories of meeting Jinny Beyer, chatting with Eleanor Burns (shown in the photo above in period costume, as she was promoting her new book about quilts of President's Wives), networking with my fave silk velvet dyer Brooke (on Halloween, see photo above), & teaching my Wool Geode class and the Texas Birthday Candle-mat class (the students were great! A true joy to teach, and their projects turned out awesome, as can be seen in the photos above.) One of the highlights of my stay there was visiting with my friends Patti, Michelle, and Danielle, some of whom live in Texas, what a breath of fresh air they brought to my visit! Always good to reunite with treasured friends. I really enjoyed the classes I took, too, all of them involving color on silk (lol imagine that!) Tuesday morning I took a painting on silk embroidery class with the very talented JB, and learned lots of extra tips and tricks for coloring silk with Colorhue dyes, plus made this fabulous silk piece I'll turn into a little purse someday. As I sat next to the awesome Diane Ricks (what an artist! puts me to shame..), I found out Diane was teaching a silk chiffon dyeing class the next day, so I signed up for that too! OK, my piece turned out a bit bright, I'm saving it for the next Grateful Dead concert lol or maybe I'll overdye it to tone it down, but we sure had fun and learned lots too. Then Friday night I took a class on decolorant with June Colburn, learned lots and we also got to see real silkworms and silk cocoons in June 'n JB's classes, what a treat! Saturday night we finally got to unwind a bit at the "Gala on the Green" in the park across the street with some authentic Texas-style BBQ and live music,yeah!

Of course I always love visiting with others who share my passion, this year I was so blessed to win an award, my first Houston blue ribbon! My little Flower Fairie Quilt won 1st place in the Sleep Tight Doll Quilt 'n bed contest in the art quilt category, you can see it on display in Houston at the very top. My most talented daughter Maxi Clontz actually made the bed out of vines she gathered and branches from my dad's peach orchard that had blown down in a storm, they were perfectly gnarled and crooked as you would imagine a fairy bed would be. Maxi also gathered up flower blossums and dried them, and I made a sheer organza mattress in variegated greens and browns which we stuffed with the blooms. This was covered with my art quilt, a nuno-felted concoction of hand-dyed silk chiffon,hand-dyed merino wool fibers, curly mohair locks, hand-dyed cheesecloth, gold metallic mesh, wet-felted flowers, beading, vines, and even a wet-felted fairy teacup resting on a felted leaf saucer. The piece was full of textures and mystery, and one of the nicest compliments I received was that it was full of stories, I love that! I also heard from fellow felters that it was their favorite piece in the show, wow! I know I really enjoyed making it.

With all this going on, I barely had time to run around and do any shopping, much less see all the quilts. But I did manage to take a few pictures, and am posting them for your enjoyment, may they bring you much inspiration! I know I'm already looking forward to my trek back to Houston next year!