Houston Quilt Festival 2012 - Part 2

I was able to stay at the Hilton during the IQA Show, which is connected to the George R. Brown Convention Center.  Across the walkway, up the elevator and down the long halls can seem like a long painful trip on my tired feet each night, but it sure beats a long drive home.  Not to mention getting up before dawn to travel downtown, in traffic, for any morning classes.

My girlfriend and I had a blast, attending luncheons, classes and lectures.  We saved plenty of time to spend with the Vendors (Oh, Yeah) and the Quilts, of course.

I took a class with Karen Linduska.  www.karenlinduska.blogspot.com  If you have ever wondered what to do with all those decorative stitches on your machine, see her blog and books.  I had so much fun.

The Lobby of the Hilton.  Each piece on the chandelier is hand-blown glass.

 

Quilt Artist/Teacher:  Karen Linduska

Above is some of her art displayed during the class.

 

This is my class project.  I need one more flower and three yo-yo flowers.  I plan to take off the felt circles.  The yo-yos are my way of making it uniquely mine.  This was a quick moving class and it took all of my "Old dog learning new skills" concentration.  We changed threads and stitches at lightening speed.  I was using a very new Baby Lock machine with all the bells and whistles which was wonderful, but all new to me.  Combine unfamiliar with machine and speed, with "Old Dog", and I feel good about finishing everything that we were suppose to, in class.  I look forward to finishing this art quilt and playing with the new skills that I have acquired. 

 

 

I was fortunate enough to attend a Discussion/Questions & Answer Panel with Paula Nadelstern, Jo Packham, Liz Kettle & Kaffe Fassett which was moderated by Lesley Riley. Wow, I was blown away at having all that talent in one room. The wisdom they shared is priceless.

 

left to right:  Paula Nadelstern, Jo Packam, Liz Kettle, Kaffe Fassett, Lesley Riley

I have been a big fan of Lesley Riley for many years.  I fell in love with her art through lalasland, years ago, when she was making and selling fragments.  She was nice enough to take a photo with me after I gushed all over her.

 

 

BQ Quilt and Retreat Part 3

I spent three days with 23 talented quilters.  I thought you might like to see what some of them were working on.

Note the Black and White and Pink machine cover.  Jackie made it at the retreat after looking at one brought by one of the ladies . 

Isn't this pretty.  The white blocks are hand embroidery by the quilter.

This is a little blurry, but I wanted you to see the lovely batiks.  We had Sally Schneider as a speaker at our August Guild meeting.  This was her workshop the next day.

This is the BQ Quilt I worked on.  I finished the center on Saturday afternoon, then decided it was time for a change.  It still needs three borders.

This is my BQF, Judith, she decided to spend the weekend working on her stump work.  It is exquisite, I'll have to get a better picture for you.

Ruth had some issues with her machine and decided to hand quilt awhile.

This is what Ruth was quilting, isn't it awesome.

Selvedges sewn to prequilted fabric.  These are going into an item or two for the Guild Shop at our Quilt Show in April, 2011. A tote bag or machine cover were some ideas tossed around.

BQ Quilt for Retreat

I walked into my LQS on Friday and saw a beautiful quilt in the BQ pattern put out by Maple Island Quilts.  It was made in fabrics designed by Paula Nadelstern for Benartex.  They were out of some of the fabrics in the quilt.  That was ok, because they contained a lot of green.  Green is not my favorite color.  However, there was a set of fabrics with blue and purple.  My favorite colors. 

The larger piece with the selvedge attached is the last border.

I'm making some progress. 

All the pieces cut for twelve blocks and two of the borders.  I just had to put together one square to see how it looked.

I'll put together the other eleven blocks at a Retreat in three weeks.  I like to have everything cut for my projects before the retreat.  It makes things go faster and I am less likely to make a mistake or run short on fabric.