The Sky, the Moon, the Universe and Everything

The Sky's the Limit exhibit in Houston included a wonderful diversity of subject matter, technique, color . . . here is Hot and Exhausted, made by Patricia Anderson Turner, Charlotte Harbor, Florida.



Click these thumbnails of other quilts from The Sky's the Limit 2007 for larger images, titles and quilter information, or check out my photos labelled The Sky's the Limit (with more detail photos, too).



Enjoy . . . then let me know if this is a better way to blog bunches of quilt show photos?

Misses and . . . Misses

I was sure I'm meet Debra and Rian in Houston. Amy, Vicki and I were exactly where we were told to be . . . and waited for a half hour or so. It was great to meet Amy and Vicki (along with Mr. Calico Cat and Vicki's mom). Still no Debra; no Rian; no entourage. Lots of time standing in front of Debra's quilt for the Hoffman Challenge, Little Flower Urchins. No photo of Debra with her quilt, or chance to finally meet Debra.



I was sure I'd catch up with Dorothy, AKA Doro, a quilting forum member I've known for a while and met earlier this year in North Carolina. Although we didn't have a plan, I knew exactly where to find her (in one of the vendor booths), but got mixed up on when and missed her. Sorry, Doro.


I was sure I didn't need to make a plan to meet Maggie. Her flamboyant style makes her easy to spot in any crowd. Except I never did spot her and I went to lunch with a friend and missed her Meet the Designer session. This is Welcome to My Garden, her design for the Bernina Fashion Show which I also attended. I was confident I'd see her there, too. But I missed her.

I'm pretty sure that I'll catch up with Maggie at Spring Festival in Chicago . . . we're already planning for it ;-)

I did manage one meeting that was a hit–not a miss–with another quilting forum member, Jonna (JDO). We shared some shopping show & tell and a great meal at the original Ninfa's. I'm still craving Tex-Mex.

Stash, Stashing, Stash-busting

I almost never buy fabric with a specific purpose. Everything goes into my stash and nearly everything I use when I'm making quilts comes from my stash. I wonder, does that make every quilt I make a stash-buster?

My stash feels pretty right-sized these days and–with the exception of the museum sale a couple months ago, I'm not buying much fabric. I was surprised how UNDERweight my luggage was on the trip home from Houston. (I didn't buy any patterns at all.) However, even though I didn't buy much fabric in Houston, I did PRINT some, in a Thermofax Basics class.


I'm itching to use this in something, though I probably won't chose it for my response to Amy's Project Runway Challenge. And I want to print some more handwriting fabric with thickened dyes . . . sometime soon.

Whatcha Reading?

A book order from Amazon arrived today. I'll be . . .

Eating healthier,



Thinking makeover,



Building better websites



and . . . making really hard (quilt) blocks that take a long time to make.



What are you reading?

A World Quilts Tradition

On Saturday, I went to the Greater Chicago Quilt Exposition with a busload of other quilters from the area. It's a four hour drive each way, closer to five on the bus. I go for the World Quilts. Yes, I took yet more photos of quilts, but not so many because I left behind the spare battery in the charger at home and the one in my camera wasn't fully charged.

Last year, I drove with a friend and brought a camera with no batteries at all. It seems I've started my own, frustrating tradition when it comes to this show :-(

Mixing It Up

Here's a detail photo from Too Much Soul to Control, by Cynthia Souder, Annandale, Virginia. The quilt is from the Mixed Technique category of Quilts: A World of Beauty at the International Quilt Show in Houston .

It was a memorial quilt made for Linda Lee Kaye to honor her late husband, Michael Kaye. Taking in the details of this quilt, I couldn't help but think he must have been quite a guy.



In a workshop I took a while ago, Beth Ann Williams said that when she designs a quilt, she wants people to enjoy her work from far away and close up. I love that quilts can provide that dual experience and I enjoy taking them in, first from afar and then up close and personal.

You can see the rest of this interesting quilt and other photos of winners and others from this category on flickr, tagged Mixed Technique.

Beauty in the Details

From Mamaw's Puzzle by Valli Schiller, Naperville, Illinois.



From On the Wings of a Dream by Ana Buzzalino, Calgary, Alberta, Canada



From F2 - A Colonial History, by Diane Sehorne, Round Rock, Texas.



These quilts are from the Traditional Pieced category of Quilts: A world of Beauty at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, 2007. You can see the rest of my photos of selected quilts in this category on Flickr, tagged Traditional Pieced.

Speaking of Handmade . . .

I received email from Sheri saying she keeps checking for those 1000 photos I took at the International Quilt Festival. It could take some time . . . but here's a start.



I have never made a quit entirely by hand; I don't know if I ever will. But I was blown away by this group of quilts at the show. I loved this quilt–She, by Tomoko Matsuura. Amy mentioned another favorite from this group, A Brighter Garden, by Megumi Mizuno. Here's one of my detail photos of it.



There were amazing hand-pieced quilts, too, like this top two winners in this category. Check out the rest of my photos of the handmade quilts here.

Pay it Forward Challenge

When Jenny G posted the PIF challenge on her blog, Scraps. I couldn't resist playing this round. I've been a mostly quiet fan of Jenny's work and her blog for a long time. I loved the posts she does (used to do?) featuring fine artists and their work. When I read, I should warn you that I have a practical nature, so you will probably get something you can use, I was reminded of a favorite quote by William Morris,

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet–though my intention is to make something for you that you will know to be useful or believe to be beautiful–and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Happy Birthday to Me

My birthday gift to myself came from The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. It's a wonderful. happy little quilt made by Melody Crust.

I couldn't resist gifting myself when I walked past their booth just before the show closed on Friday night and heard that they were very close to reaching the $20,000 mark in their fundraising effort. I was happy to push them over the top. We celebrated with photos. I apologize for forgetting the name of the woman from an Alzheimer Research organization on the left.



This is my second quilt acquired from this wonderful effort. In the October online auction, I won Amy's fabulous little art quilt, The Ties That Bind.

I can't wait to hear the grand total from the booth at Quilt Festival and I'm very happy to be able to say that I helped.

Accepting My Limitations.

At Quilt Festival, I took a needlefelting workshop with Toni Carroll. Toni describes herself as an artist who sews. Her garments and hats are wonderful. In class we made hats from wool roving using hand and/or machine needle-felting techniques. It was fantastic.

I love taking classes and learning new things, but a large, noisy classroom is not the best environment for me to make creative decisions. So, accepting my limitations, I stuck to creating the base hat in class, then brought my hat-in-progress back to my quiet hotel room and worked on it there. It was a really enjoyable Saturday night.



I stopped here. I'll add more shading, some stitching and probably some beads. My plan is to block it for a better fit, add a ribbon headband inside and create a shaped brim.

Copyright

Recently, Bonnie and Judy have been blogging about copyrights and how it feels to have their free designs stolen and repackaged for commercial use.

When I was in Houston, I couldn't help but take a few photos of the infamous carpet at the Hilton, subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit by quilter Paula Nadelstern. The carpet designs were taken without permission from her book, Kaleidescopes & Quilts.

The Kaleidescopes appeared in the carpet on the main floors, artfully wrapped around the escalators, in between the elevators and on the walkway to the convention center.



This carpet and the lawsuit it prompted is an interesting copyright story with a happy ending–the lawsuit was settled on October 5, 2006 in Paula's favor. Couristan, who produced the carpet, features it on their site and credits Paula's kaleidescopes as the design inspiration.

Taking Photos

I take a lot of photos at quilt shows–I took more than 1000 at the Interntional Quilt Festival in Houston last week. Here is Hollis Chatelain and her Best of Show quilt, Hope for Our World, at the preview Wednesday night.



This quilt was always surrounded by a crowd, whether Hollis was present or not. On Sunday morning, I was surprised to find a clear shot and was able to take a clear, almost square photo, a pole with lighting directly in front of it was the only thing in my way.



The dye painting element of the quilt is done in shades of purple ONLY. All other color you see comes from the incredible quilting. There are quilts that I could look at forever. This is one. Because time is limited at any quilt show and there are many quilts I wish I could stand and stare at longer . . . I take photos. Here are some detail photos from Hope for Our World.





I'm organizing and labelling my photos from Houston and hope to be able to share them soon.

NaBloPoMo

November is National Blog Posting Month. I joined–the link is in my sidebar, if you're interested–knowing connections and time to post in Houston might be scarce. Although I have already technically failed, I'm hoping to redeem myself with 30 posts in 30 days–a huge task for this occaisional blogger.

Jingle All the Way?

Sunday night, I arrived at the Metro Detroit airport, home from Houston. I picked up my bags, took the shuttle to the off-airport parking, got into my car and started it and heard . . . Christmas Carols. I knew that one of the Detroit radio stations (WNIC) plays non-stop holiday music during the season, I just didn't know the season started right after Halloween.

After initially being taken aback, I happily sung along until I drove out of range of their transmitter.

My first trip to Houston was exciting and more than a little overwhelming. I have many photos and memories to share . . . please stay tuned.

So Many Quilts . . .

. . . So little time. And where to stgart? Here's Feather Study #30.



And Carryl Breyer-Fallert talking about her amazing quilt at the Preview, Wednesday night.

Priority Alzheimers at Houston

When I walked past the Priority: Alzhemier booth during the preview of the International Quilt Festival, I had to stop and see if any of the quilts made by the about.com group were there.

Almost immediately, I saw one of Pat's quilts.



One of the ladies working there told me that her other quilt had just sold. Then she looked at my badge and asked, "Didn't you win a quilt last month?" She was right. I bought Amy's wonderful quilt, The Ties That Bind.