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.

 

 

My Flower Pot Won!

There were 14 entries in the Flower Pot Contest last night at Guild.  I WON!!!  WOO! HOO!  I get a ticket for entering and 20 tickets for winning.  I can put these tickets in the flower pots at our quilt show, www.whqg.org,  in April to win one of the Flower Pot Raffle items.  I have my eye on several prizes.

We need more pots, so the contest will be held again in March.  I wish that I had taken my camera last night, there were some really cute entries.

A Productive Week

I finished the Six Placemats and Tablerunner for the "Flower Pot Raffle" entry by my Bee.  Yeah, now I can breathe.

Yesterday, I hot glued all the flowers on my Flower Pot Competition Entry.  They will be judges on Wednesday night at our Guild Meeting.  I only have one war wound.  It has been a while since I have used the glue gun.  I forgot to put a bowl of water and ice beside me.  After the first blister, I remembered.

This is where the tickets will be inserted during the show.  

At the end of the show, the pot will be turned over and a winner will be drawn from each pot.  The pot has to look good, upside down and right side up.  I glued a Wildflower fabric on the top of the pot, because it has to fit into the saucer.  The thick flowers would have caused a problem.

Thank you and a BIG HUG to all the ladies that posted fabric flower tutorials on their blogs.  I looked at a lot of them and used parts of several and yo-yo flowers to fill in any empty spaces.  The leaves on the saucer and top are two pieces of fabric, steam-a-seamed together and cut out.  Then I sewed a vein down the middle.

The Flower Pot Raffle

I mentioned "The Flower Pot Raffle" in my last post.  Our Guild use to call this "The Tin Can Raffle".  The theme for our Quilt Show this year is "In A Quilter's Garden".  Thus, the name change.  We are replacing the tin cans with decorated flower pots. People buy tickets and put a ticket or many tickets, if you really want to win that item, in the flower pot that goes with that item.  At the end of the show, a name is drawn from each flower pot to win that item.

We are having a contest for the best decorated flower pot.  The winner gets a large amount of tickets to go into the flower pots.  Remember that quilt that must come to live with me?  Below is a sneak peek at what I am planning for the big win.  Don't tell anyone.