Houston is but a blur...

Last week at this time we were on a bus for our return trip from the Houston Quilt Festival.  Five of my quilting buddies and I boarded the bus shortly after 7am and it was close to 11pm before I arrived back home.  It was one very long day, but worth every minute.  Although we had until 6pm to get back to the bus... we were all so exhausted, I think we were sitting in the chairs by the door at least 1/2 hour before.

 We all brought back many treasures.  These bright yellow string backpacks helped us spot each other in the sea of people.  I had embroidered each of my friends names on their bags.  It is very important to have your hands free, and it helps to have a place to keep your purse safe from being left behind.  Now next time, I'm going to look for a pair of bionic legs.

I think the people who lived in our house before must have hung a few stockings above the fireplace... there were hooks left behind that haven't had anything hanging from them in a while. I  finished this kitty block back, maybe a year ago or so.  For a couple months the block was on my design wall.  I was going to make a whole quilt with various kitty blocks, but after I finished this one, I started the second one and I didn't like how it was turning out... so I set the project aside.  I thought I would get inspired to pick it back up and run with it at a later date.  Well, when I got it out again, I couldn't make a decision for the next block, so I hung it on the design wall.  A couple weeks ago I had an idea pop into my head.  Out in the shop I found a piece of foam board that I cut down to fit the block.  I used spray adhesive to adhere the block to the foam board, then I used a piece of ribbon that I attached with 2 pins. Couldn't get much simpler than that. I hung it on two of the mantel hooks.  So now my kitty cat block is suspended over the fireplace, and it looks like I planned it that way from the very start.

Some of my purchases at IQF

I saw lots of treasures as I walked through the aisles of the Festival... in fact there were so many vendors it was difficult to focus in on what I should purchase.  Two or three of the items that one of the other ladies had bought created inspiration when we ran into each other through the day, we'd say "what'd you find"... then we had to find our way back, sometimes with difficulty, to the booth that offered the item.  With only one day, it would be almost impossible to see all the treasures that were hidden among the sea of booths, so splitting up and finding different treasures, we all got to see more.

 

I did not have any projects in mind to buy fabric for, and I have many kits waiting to be opened, so the only fabric I bought was a handful of fat quarters.  I always buy a few fat quarters, no matter what quilt shop I'm in.   I cut up some scrap fabric the next day to try out the new tool I bought... the CD was the instructional video.  So the red item was a practice piece I started, not a purchase.

 

The very first purchase I made was the blue rotary cutter.  It closes automatically when you finish your cut.  It was at the Kai Scissor booth, and I love my Kai Scissors, so I knew I had to have that rotary cutter.  My sister had told me to look for the Fiskars little finger cutter... I haven't had it out of the package.  The two different ruler sets were both one of those purchases made after someone else found them.  There were many great demos going on to show all the fancy tricks you could accomplish with these neat rulers.

I made a few other purchases, but these were the items I could put my hands on quickly.  I missed some real good fabric booths.  A couple of my friends found some really great buys on some batiks... and I did see some really nice kits, but adding to my stockpile of kits was not in the plan.

In two days the Once a Year show opens and I think I have everything ready... this week is going to be crazier than last week.

Houston was great

It is Monday and I'm still in awe of my day last Thursday at the International Quilt Festival.  I would have liked to take a class or two, but by the end of the day on Thursday, I was ready to go home.  Of course if I was going to be there for more than one day, I could have taken more rest breaks to relieve my legs and feet.  There was so much to see and I knew it was going to be a feat to see all there was that I wanted to see.  I went with 5 other ladies, so when we compared our finds, there were a few things I didn't get to see myself.  I didn't buy much fabric... I only bought a dozen fat quarters, but I bought several different rulers and a really neat rotary cutter that closes itself when you are not cutting. 

The highlight of the afternoon for me was
to meet all the quilters at the TQS booth at the Meet 'n Greet at 1.  I had not realized that Alex was as tall as she is.  There were too many names and I don't remember who everyone was, but there were a few that I clearly remember because I have exchanged messages on TQS, or have seen posts by them.

My friends from Mississippi.  Everyone was really enjoying the opportunity to meet lots of great people.

I missed getting a picture of the six of us - my friends that went to the show with me on the bus.  We all had a really great experience, but there were very few times when we were all together.  We kept in touch via our cell phones, letting the others know when we found something really neat, and when we were heading to the food court.  This is one of my friends who was at the TQS booth at the right time to get Ricky to sign her book.  I got my book signed too.

We are already talking about doing it again next year.  The bus ride was great... no worry about driving or parking, and finding our way there.

Only two more days...

plus a few hours... then we leave to go to Houston.... that would be Thursday morning. There are six of us going in my little group.  We are all getting on a bus at 7am.  Of course we are leaving an hour before that to be able to get to where the bus will be picking us up... and of course getting up about an hour before that.  Hopefully we won't be too wound up on the bus ride back so we will be able to sleep for a while after a long hard day at the International Quilt Festival.  We are all very excited to be going.  I'm sure to have some neat pictures when I get back.  I have monogrammed 6 yellow backpacks for me and my quilting buddies.  I will have to get someone to take a picture of us.  The key here is to be hands free at the show.  No heavy purses and not having to hold onto something when you are looking at all the treasures they will have for sale there.

Today at quilting I showed a couple ladies how to make a block that I learned how to make last week.  I don't know the name, but it was a really neat trick to get it done, and all the ladies were impressed.  I'll maybe post a picture when I get a few more blocks done, as they look pretty neat when you lay them out together.  The other item that was discussed today was about the sweater stocking that I brought to show them.  I wanted their opinion about the bows.  I wanted to embellish the stockings, but not sure how.  I should have known to leave the bows off.  If I make something and I look at it and think it looks nice, usually it works.  Well these stockings looked good, but I was not sure about the bows.  They all thought the stocking was neat, and they all also agreed to ditch the bow.

Almost time for Houston

Is anyone getting ready to head to Houston?  This will be my first year and I was not able to find a hotel room close by, so I opted to board a bus with a lot of other quilters in San Antonio and only be at the Quilt Show for the one day this year.  I can get a better feel for just how much time I want to spend there next year, and hopefully be able to make hotel reservations close to the show.

I am participating in a show in two weeks.  I hesitate to call it a craft show because that conjures up a vision of booths and tables.  This is a juried show with only a set number of artisans.  The hall is setup like a gift shop where all the same type of items are displayed together.  There is a Christmas tree where everyone who made ornaments hang them all together.  Jewelry is in one area, and so it goes with all the other categories of items.  This show has been going on for 20 years and it is an annual event for many of the patrons.  People try to get there early on the first day to have their choice of ornaments.  No one who is a participating artisan is limited to what they can sell, but it must be made by that artisan.  I have only been to the show once because I have not lived here that long and was not aware of it until last year.  I was asked to submit my application for consideration... I'm not real sure what I have got myself into.  Hopefully all of the items will be good sellers.  I will be happy if I sell half of what I take there to be sold.  If my husband decides there is something he can make for next year... my membership permits my husband to also create items for sale.  There are several couples that are part of this organization. 

I have done some quilted items, a few stuffed animals, lots of ornaments, several stockings, some toy items, and lots of other miscellaneous creations.  I did some calculating earlier today and at the moment I have over 100 items and I think I'm almost out of steam to start a
nything new at this point.  I may leave it where I'm at and start planning for next year.  Once you are in, it is your decision to opt out for the following year.  For me, the option to do this next year will depend on how well I do this year.  It requires a fair amount of time and effort... I do have to consider that everyone else had almost a whole year to prepare for this upcoming show and I had half that amount of time considering when I knew that I had been voted in.

I am at countdown to the Houston show followed by countdown to OAY (Once a Year).  I'll be very happy when this year's OAY is finished so I can get back to some serious quilting.