Houston 2017 I

It wasn’t in my plans for this year, but then it happened anyway: a trip to one of my favorite towns (if not my favorite) to the yearly Houston quilt events.

I can spend a lot of words describing all the fun, the inspiration but best to just show you:-

The main prize winner: Garden Variety Sampler by Janet Stone:

A quilt inspired by a cause close to my heart:-

This was a rather random selection of just a few of the quilts on show, in my next post more on some of the special exhibitions.

Phyllis

Houston..... I've got a problem....

I miss you!! Soooo much!!

There are years when during this week…. You could find me in Houston. Alas, not this year.

Houston in the fall is just wonderful. Full of these colors….

 

 

Of course I am more than very, very lucky when I get to go to Houston in this week of the year. I have visited Houston in the spring, in the summer and in this week of the year, and really, this week is the best!

The weather is always superb (much better than those steamy hot summers), those bright blue skies, those wonderful temperatures. The area I stay in is beautiful and totally ready for Halloween, people put so much effort in decorating their houses. Not to mention the fun of Halloween night itself, the place goes crazy.

So, I miss my early morning walks through the beautiful The Heights area

 

Where the houses are decorated for Halloween (not to mention Halloween itself, it is such fun, even the dogs are in fancy dress)

 

I miss the morning cue at the George Brown Convention Centre before the Quilt Festival opens, with the friendly sheriffs keeping an eye out (sweet, but not necessary, the quilters here are a friendly, patient bunch)

 

The excitement of all this, it is huge!

 

Meeting the quilting celebrities,

Yoko Saito

Linda Hrcka (click)

And the sellers

Like Ronnie from Cindy’s Antique Quilts (click), such a nice man.

 

And the fun of meeting friends from back home over here

 

like Yvonne (click) , Hubertine (click) and her sister Annette (click) at the terrace of the Convention Centre, where you can enjoy this view

 

 

But I also like to take some time out in the afternoon on my own for some R&R and to take it all in… I buy a latte at the hotel where the barrista’s are creative too…. with my name..

 

 

and sit in the park Discovery Green across the street for half an hour or so..

 



And after about three days at the Festival there is the weekend in Houston, to enjoy a bit of shopping

 

 



the yummy food and the delicious margarita’s

 

College Football night in a bar.. our waiter’s team was losing, poor guy..

Surprise, surprise, running into more friends from back home at my Houston 'local'!

 

Do your recognize them? Ingrid (click), Laura (click) and Dorry (click), who by the way is about the open up her new shop in a few weeks (click)!

And spending time with my friends who live there, which means so much to me. Although I love Houston, it is such a shame they live so far away and we miss them, which is why we flew to London to meet them a few weeks ago (click) .

Sooo, about the quilt at the beginning of this post? I have not blogged about it before and thinking about Houston and the Quilt Festival this week, this is the best time to show it.

When I go to Quilt Festival I stay with our friend Ranelle in her lovely house in the equally lovely neighborhood The Heights. She is not a quilter, so a few years ago I made her this quilt. The fabrics reminded me of those fall colors I see during my walks in her neighbourhood and the Halloween decorations on the houses.. The pattern is by Brannock and Patek, the fabrics were in a kit from The Stitch Cottage, my lqs at the time (unfortunately no longer in business).

 

It was my first machine-pieced and machine-quilted quilt.

 

The quilt at its new home…

Lucky thing it gets to live there!

Yes, I am missing this week in Houston, but I enjoy all the wonderful memories of my previous visits, they always put a smile on my face. If you are there now, have a super-duper time and enjoy everything there is to enjoy! If you have not been yet, do try and go one day, it is the biggest quilty party on earth!

Phyllis