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I’ll probably have at least 2 posts of the quilts at this year’s Houston International Quilt Festival. Stay tuned as I may have more than one post/week for just awhile. It was not until I began to go through my photos that I realized 2 surprising things: I was drawn to applique (which I do not do!) and I’m shocked at how many of the quilts I liked that were made by international quilters. Walk with me through the show: This tribute to Judy Murrah brought tears to my eyes. Judy headed up the Education for Festival and was an…
I’m still pretty much levitating from the excitement of the Houston Festival and Market. This was my first time to attend Market and what a thrill to promote my book to a targeted audience! Market is for industry professionals only and it’s an opportunity to see what’s new and to establish relationships with others in the industry. As a first-timer I was a little bit clueless but it was well worth my time. I made new friends and created new relationships. The biggest surprise to me was that I connected a several people to each other-how cool is that? I…
I will be on a plane by the time this posts-yippeee! Prepping has been excruciating this year and for some reason has gone on and on. But it’s done! Truly, prepping is the hard part. Once I get teaching my adrenaline kicks in and the fun begins. I am a little concerned that I’ve overbooked myself. I’ll be gone 11 days and I KNOW I will be excited to be home again! Want a good laugh? Let’s look at the things I thought I would finish before Houston: This was such a small project-a bit of cutwork on a denim…
There’s so much prep for an event like the Houston International Quilt Festival and Market. I’ll be gone 11 days this year and will attend Market for the first time. I’ll be promoting my new book (squeeee!) and see what is new. It’s not just about quilting, there are wardrobe and grooming tasks too. So: hair, check; nails-next week; shoes-as good as it’s gonna get; chiro-check; theraputic massage to try to get this foot under control, check. Right now THIS is my biggest problem. The right foot is swollen both top and bottom. Every step holds discomfort. The swelling is pushing…
Warning: I unabashedly overuse superlatives in this post. I could not help myself. What a surprise this one was! I am not that familiar with Southern California and “Westside” to me meant just another area of Los Angeles. I had no clue that Westside meant right next to and including Beverly Hills. I really did feel like Jed Clampett half the time. If you don’t know who that is, read about him here. Pat, Westside Quilters Guild‘s Program Chair, picked me up from the airport and we had a grand few hours touring the area. There wasn’t quite enough time…
I had a free day before my evening lecture to the Monterey Peninsula Quilters Guild. I visited the iconic Back Porch Fabric first thing in the morning. Based on their recommendation, I drove to Monterey to visit the Monterey Museum of Art. What a treasure! It is a smaller museum but top-notch all the way. The front desk person greeted me with enthusiasm and was quite proud of the museum and its current exhibits. These were Big City Museum exhibits in a smaller space. Much of what I saw that day was ethereal-loved that! I swooned over the Amanda Salm…
What a treat-spending 4 days in Pacific Grove! I had a fabulous visit with the Monterey Peninsula Quilters Guild. They asked for a 2-day workshop which absolutely delights me. Spending 2 (or more) days with my students is heaven-we bond, we laugh and all the while free motion skills improve dramatically. It’s a tough 3 1/2 hr drive (traffic) but once I arrived the evening before the workshop, I was greeted by this scene at Lover’s Point. Blissssss. They kindly put me up at the Centrella Bed and Breakfast, (forgot to take photos), my first B&B stay. I am always grateful…
It was a beautiful day for the annual outdoor show, Quilting in the Garden at the Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore, Ca. There was just enough breeze to flutter the quilts and abundant sunshine. Viewers were sheltered under huge Heritage Oak trees-such a bucolic setting! Eleanor Burns was the Featured Artist and she did not disappoint. Eleanor has enough personality to fill a room and the crowd could not get enough. This was about as close as I got and I couldn’t really tell what she was demo-ing. She had a whopping 119 quilts on display and I think all…
As a teacher at the Houston International Quilt Festival, I have the opportunity to donate a quilt no larger than 25″ square to a silent auction to raise funds for the non-profit IQA that supports the show. I am delighted to donate and it’s always fun to see how well your quilt does in bidding. There are some truly spectacular quilts auctioned off each year. I didn’t have a lot of time to devote to this as my fall is pretty booked, so I went with the tried-and-true Start With a Square technique as my inspiration. I pulled some gorgeous…
I had no idea how much fun it would be to tape for The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. I had a blast! TQS is a well-oiled machine, with 20 professionals dedicated to making the presenting artist look good. I’m pretty sure I ended up on TQS through Barbara Black‘s referral-thank you Barbara! It is an opportunity that I never expected to happen and I was grateful for the opportunity. I don’t know when my segments will air, but I will be sure to let you know when I find out! Many of these photos were taken by…