Houston Trip Part II

Before going to Houston, I had such fun making the first Button Buddy that I had to make another. This one is all done in plastic buttons and although I gave it to Gianni, she has left here for safe keeping.

The other picture is a few things I picked up on the way home from Houston at an antique/junk mall in Nagadoches, Texas. I probably did not spell that right. It was a very good mall and held lots of treasures, but the coffers were low after the IQF show.

I could not leave this young man without any relatives. You know you find lots of sweet little girl pictures in books to use for images, but little boys seem to be rarer unless they look like Lil Lord Fontleroy. The 2 small crochet pieces may work on those candlestick pincushions I hope to make in the near future. They will be put on the top to cover where the seams come together.

The sweetest little vase in green was too cute to resist. Sorry, Pat it is in my kitchen window with my other green objects. Maybe I will show that in a future post.

Houston Trip IQF

At the last minute I decided I could not miss Houston this year after all. On Wednesday the 15th I traveled half-way to my sister's house in Henderson, TX and then drove the rest of the way to the IQF show on Thursday. Lola (my GPS) and I made it fine - she took me straight to the George R. Brown Convention Center and to the valet parking.

The picture above was the entrance I walked into - a Fairyland of quilts. It was one of the most beautiful sights to my eyes!!! The quilts were spectacular, inspiring and no display was any greater than the other. You had to see them all and I did three times while I was there.


One of the great things that has been added to IQF is the Make-It-University (MIU) headed by the Quilting Art's Team. They do a fantastic job of organizing. The Open Studios where you can see the Artist who contribute to QA and see them work their magic with their favorite techniques. MIU also gives 25 lucky people per session the opportunity to work with these artist. You put your name in a fish bowl and be there when Pokey Bolton pulls them out - then when they call your name - your scream and everyone moves out of your way so you can get into your seat. I don't know if they moved because I was screaming or just because I was coming through. (I did remember to say excuse me - mother would have been proud). I only put my name into 2 bowls on Friday - and joy I got both of them. One was the postcard using images, gel stamps, and Misty Fuse on a postcard. The other one was using the wonderful TAP paper images on a journal page. I even came home and immediately stitched it down and put a back on it. Unusual for me to finish things.
Every year when I leave Houston, I say it will be my last year - it is just so tiring. However, this year I decided to drive down again next year, if I am physically able. It is just the most wonderful place to be and to have fun.

Houston Trip Over

I am combining my Friday and Saturday time in Houston to one post because I don't want my readers to fall asleep and be totally bored.

This bag is my Friday half-day class taught by Jenny Rayment from the U.K. She is funny, fast paced and totally organized. This was a whole day class that she taught us in 3 hours and almost everyone got the bag done, even me!! It is a small elegant tote bag and is so fun to make.

Friday afternoon it was my time to begin shopping. Now with all the vendors there you can spend a bundle - unless you get organized and pace yourself. My object was to look for those things I could not buy locally at home and I would have to pay shipping to get them to Arkansas. This is a picture of some of the wonderful beads, threads and other things to work on in the upcoming year. Angelina fibers, Angelina film, Lutradur, TAP, beads and some variegated threads. My friends Jim and Tom encouraged me to be creative and get "out of the box". Tom recommended Sharon Schamber products (http://www.sharonschambernetwork.com/)

to help me get free with my machine quilting and to make it easier. She should know what works with her Best of Show win at Houston. Pictures DO NOT give the quilt true justice.

I purposely made a picture of the bowl of beads - actually "bead soup" The artist who create these ideas are so generous in sharing their ideas. Quilting Arts magazine had a "Make -It University", which I did not attend, but during the day they would have different artist from their magazine demonstrating their articles or books. During the week
I had the opportunity to meet a few of them. One of these artist Frances Holliday Alford shared her love of "bead soup" with me. You can find her Christmas wreaths Quilting Arts Gifts magazine Holiday 2008-09. Thank you Frances for you assistance.

I hope you have had fun on this trip with me to Houston. Maybe you will get to go someday too. But if not there is so much out there to play with and even in your own back yard. That is where these artist sometimes got their start. So "have fun" - you know it is never too late.

Day Two at Houston

Day 2 at Houston I took a class. If you ever go to Houston Quilt Festival there is a class for every technique imaginable. You can bead, applique, paint, quilt, and best of all to me this year - mixed media. The class was an all day class hosted by Cloth, Paper, Scissors Magazine and the instructor was Lesley Riley of the magazine. It was a perfect opportunity to PLAY and have FUN!!! Use mixed media things in the right way and not have to buy everything that I wanted to try.

We painted on watercolor paper, fabric and Lutradur. Let me first of all say Lutradur is the bomb and paints so well. It adheres to Angelina fibers and can be burned and melted in a controled way. Just a plug for Lesley. She has book coming out in January, 2009 entitled "fabulous Fabric Art with Lutradur" A must have book to play and use this wonderful stuff in your art.

There were several other products I was introduced to that are so versatile and fun. TAP is a transfer artist paper that can run through your copy machine. You use a gel medium to transfer from the paper to fabric, Lutradur, watercolor paper,etc. The transfers come out in color or in black and white depending on how you printed them. The lady in dark green was transferred to cloth. The flowers are done with a molding paste, stencil and watercolor paper. Let them dry and then paint them. The little shapes are a combination of Kunin felt, chiffon, Lutradur Wonder Under together, burned, accented with gold and cut into shapes. I want to put a backing on this piece and do some beads.

Lesley told us something that I appreciated about gold - she said "it is only an accent, it should not be your main color". Another new item I used, that I had never used before and will use again is oil pastels. They give you controled color and can be blended with just a damp application of water. You can use them to color the TAP and then use the gel medium to transfer onto your base.

The picture at the very top of my page is all of the leftovers that I still can play with on another day.
Still more to come about my wonderful trip.