Because I can, I’m going to continue my tour of Houston and the International Quilt Festival. So much happened. And really, a lot of it is worth sharing. So here go. Let’s pretend it’s Friday Morning October 31st. Happy Halloween!

The first event of my day was called Friday Sampler. It featured 29 festival teachers from across the spectrum of quilt making. Each teacher had an area where they presented a 15 minute mini-lecture aka demonstration.

My favorite talk was given by Dierdra A. McElroy. Dierdra teaches needle turn hand appliqué, a subject I know nothing about, but which she made sound incredibly interesting. Delores knows her stuff. There is just something so wonderful about listening to an expert get passionate about her area of knowledge.

Next up was pinning expert, Helen Frost. Accordingly to Helen, all of these pins belong in a well stocked quilter’s kit. I would get a B+ if this were a test. I can say confidently that I had all the pins listed except for the orange and blue headed ones made by the French company Bohin. Apparently, these guys make not only my favorite iron cleaner, but also the straight pins of my dreams.

I went directly from Friday Sampler to Bohin market booth and purchased some. Supposedly, these fancy pins bend but do not kink. Doesn’t that sound to good to be true? I will let you know soon if the French are fibbers.

Philippa Naylor had some good quilting tips including another recommendation for Bohin needles. I am always on the look out for a super sharp needle that isn’t bothered by my dense quilting.

After the Friday Sampler, I cruised the exhibitions a bit. I was so happy to see my dear friend Colleen Kole’s work showcased in the Tactile Architecture exhibit.

I knew her work was in this show, but I didn’t know I would get the pleasure of seeing it in Houston. What would have made it even better would have been to see her standing next to it.

That’s what I am hoping for next year. Really people. It would make this thing so much more fun if you would join me.

I asked an innocent admirer if she would take my picture with the quilts. I was hoping she would get both pieces with me standing between them. Oh well. The quilts are still beautiful in design and craft. Next up, I volunteered at the SAQA booth. I highly recommend this. The SAQA booth is always a buzz with members and curious show goers. It is a great place to connect with SAQA members you know as well as make new friends.

Above my head is the SAQA auction quilt that got away. I need to fix that.

That afternoon was the first of three live tours of the SAQA exhibit Celebrate Silver. I am very grateful to have been selected by the juror, legendary quiltmaker Yvonne Procella, to be part of this exhibit. Here she is at the first tour.

Nancy Bavor, who is the curator of collections at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, is the curator of Celebrate Silver. Here are the two of them together.

My piece for Celebrate Silver is called TWO-FIVE.

It is a study in black, white, and silver and really celebration of what it takes to get to a 25th anniversary–hard work, dedication, and humor.

I especially love the tulip fabric which was, believe it or not, designed by Nancy Crow back in the day.

Several of the artists were there to talk about their work.

And a very crowd gathered to listen.

This is Heidi and me with TWO-FIVE. Yes, it’s a bit blurry. The lightening was great for the quilts but not for taking pictures (which we were not really supposed to be doing in the first place….).

Heidi is a collector, and she purchased TWO-FIVE. Really–it is absolutely true–a collector bought one of my pieces. Nothing validates an artist more than that. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Heidi. it was great to meet Heidi and know that my quilt will have a fabulous home along side the work of some truly amazing quilt artists.

And now, I am at the mexican restaurant drinking tequila.

No, that’s not true. Now, I’m drinking wine in the Charlotte Airport waiting for a late plane headed to Indianapolis.

Do you see why I might be channelling Hunter S. Thompson? Check out the crazy carpets of the Hilton Houston. You know Hunter would love that.

And the lights–they are good too.

Up next–Saturday, November 1st.

Until then. Who knows where I really am. 

09 Nov This entry was published on November 9, 2014 at 3:02 PM. It’s filed under Just Plain Stories, News And Events and tagged International Quilt Festival. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.