packing....

Just a quick note to let you know I have not forgotten about my blog. Our house has sold and the movers are packing us up even as I type. We will be spending Thanksgiving on the road, Patrick, myself, mom and 3 dogs. I will post again from Houston.

quilts, quilts, quilts...

I have been neglecting my blog. I am sorry, things have been very hectic. Our house in Maryland is under contract and we are moving in 10 days!! I am taking a break from list making, phone calls and organizing for the movers to post the promised pictures of the quilts from the show.

There were quilts of every kind. The creativity and talent were both awe inspiring and a little daunting.

simple and beautiful

An amazing portrait made completely of fabric yo-yos.

The points on this quilt were perfect.

This quilt was created using lots of small pieces of fabric that were placed
on top of a larger piece of fabric. It was all then covered by
tulle and the quilting was done on top of that.

I love red and white quilts and am collecting reds for one of my own.

The focus of this year's show was Baltimore Album Quilts so applique like this were around every corner.

This hand pieced beauty was made up of approx 23,000 pieces. Can you imagine?

Wow right?

 I saw many,many beautiful quilts, each made my heart happy. This next quilt was awesome and thought provoking. With all that is happening in Haiti and the hurricanes hitting there as I walked the floor of the festival this quilt tugged at your heart. I can not get this quilt out of my mind. Painted then quilted by Hollis Chatelain this quilt brought tears to my eyes. You absolutely must click on the next to photos to see them larger. The painting is beautiful but the quilting is incredible. The quilting shows images of other children...

Amazing!!

the quilt festival

After a weekend spent running around Houston like crazy it was time for some fun. I was so excited to go to the quilt show. I have wanted to go for so long. I had my supplies all packed up the night before and I was up before the sun without complaining. On Monday and Tuesday I spent my days in classes. When I was checking in I told the woman behind the desk that it was my first show and I was more excited than a kid a Christmas. She was so sweet she gave me a ribbon for my badge and gave me lots of helpful hints to make the most of the festival.

Monday morning was the 2 for 1 Hula lesson class where we learned to cut a Hawaiian quilt. It is much like making paper snow flakes. I also learned a better way to machine applique. Yeah!

My Hawaiian quilt has palm trees on it, this one is the sample from the class. I will share a photo when I get it appliqued ( which by the way is also when it is quilted. The applique acts as the quilting. Double Yeah!)

  My practice machine applique.

On Monday afternoon I took a class that taught how to emboss bamboo quilt batting. If I did more scrap booking I would do a lot of this. It was very fun to learn but I am not sure it is something I would do a lot of. (The finished product will cover a book.)

Tuesday I took an all day class on paper piecing.  I think I am going to be hooked. Paper Piecing is a wonderful way to create very intricate quilts. I started the tree skirt in the class and I am hoping to finish it before Thanksgiving. I also bought a kit for a paper pieced quilt.  The instructor was a wonderful lady named Deb Karasik. If you interested in paper piecing, need patterns or tools or just want to see some beautiful quilts take a look at her wed site.

(tree skirt in progress)

One of the best parts of an all day class is the time they allow you to get to know the others in the class. I made a new friend. Marika came all the way from Sweden to visit the quilt festival. She quilts and is interested in starting her own fiber arts business making handbags.  Not only did we spend a day taking a class together but we were able to get together later in the week too.

Me and Marika ( taken by the valet )

Next time I will show you some of the extraordinary quilts!!!

some assembly required

I am here in our new apartment. I landed Friday evening, came to check out our new digs and unload the luggage, then we were off and running. We had dinner at the local Rosie Carabbas (apparently the Carabbas family live locally), then headed to Target to begin stocking the apartment. I think I set a world record for Target shopping. I over filled a cart in 20 minutes. After that we headed back to our soon to be  less empty apartment, inflated our air mattress and went to sleep. Saturday morning I put away most of our Target purchases and realized we had forgotten some things. Back to Target. We dropped off those packages and headed for the mall. JC Penney's and Sears were the next to receive a little love from our wallets. A new TV, pillows and towels then back to the apartment. Big shopping in a convertible means lots of trips home to unload the car to make room for the next trip. The cable guy came on Saturday and set up our cable tv, phone and internet. That took a few hours and our new phone is making out going calls but incoming calls are not coming through they are going to voice mail. A project for my next trip. Time for more shopping, this time at Ikea. It was packed!!! They had apparently had a costume contest/trick or treating event. We ordered a bed and a TV stand to be delivered the next morning. We purchased two chairs and a footstool which we took home with us. Patrick assembled those while I ran to the grocery store. It was wonderful to finally have something to sit on when I returned with the groceries.On Sunday morning the bed and TV stand arrived and again Patrick did the assembling. Anyone who knows us know this is not the norm. I am usually the one who put things together. I was happy to hand over the tools. While he built furniture I ran out to the mall for a few other things. By late Sunday afternoon all the basics were in place. The bathroom and kitchen are functional, we have a place to sit, and a bed to sleep in and Patrick has a TV and I have the internet. All in all a good start.