Preview day

Lunch at Phoenicia. At last doors opened and we poured in to  shop and I managed to look at some quilts before retiring to the bar where we toasted absent friends.

Pavement lunch

Cynthia England with her Best of Show

Sally Magee with Baltimore in Bloom, Founders Award

Unknown Man by  Brazilian quilters are Maria Landi and Maria Lucia Azara.

Detail

From Laverne Mathews retrospective

Tula Pink's La Passagalia

Detail

Hilton bar

With the great and famous

On Sunday we looked down at the Quilt Market floor

Today I gazed down on the Quilt Show floor awaiting the crowds

This morning I attended a presentation with Paula Nadelstern one of the giants of the American quilt scene although she is diminutive in stature. There was quite a strong commercial aspect to the event as she has a new Book "Fabracadabra"  and products and pieces from her last collection were laid out and before we started and during breaks attendees selected items to pay for at the close of class. I just got the template plastic. The fabrics were not at all to my taste though they are designed to be suitable for her technique. We saw slides but also the quilts were held up and laid out on our tables and we could go round and touch and look more closely. I thought she was very nice and interesting in too and not just about quilting. New Yorkers wear black to make themselves taller and thinner.

Paula's recommended products for templates and
marking. The pens are easier to get in the UK than
in the States

Trip around the World PN style

In the style of of and using the fabrics just simple oblongs
 and squares

Just simple shapes enlivened by fussy cutting

Even strips are fussy cut

More simple shapes, complex fabric

I had tried that yesterday but am in a linen pinafore today, a classic quilting lady look. I am in my hotel room sipping a small weak lunchtime G&T awaiting Tracy back from her class to go the deli round the corner for lunch. Today Tracy is doing words in quilts - we don't know what her final choice of word is yet. Belinda is making clamshells by hand and this afternoon we're going to a lecture on pineapples (the quilty sort) with Jane Hall, an elderly doyenne of classic perfect piecing. Tonight is the big one - preview night.  .
We plan to meet up with Oast friends in the bar and toast absent ones.

Workshop Day Dawns

Sunrise over the Convention Centre

I've lost all my first writing but the gist is that Tracy sey off to Anita Grosman Solonon's clas to make paper pieced strippy triangles while Belinda and I did the Jelly Roll Jive with the charming Peggy Martin who ave us lots of options and ways out of trouble if anyone made a mistake. Strangely the pieces from both classes looked similar though arrived at differently. Hext was lunch with Paula Nadelstrn of the wonderful kaleidoscope quils.

Peggy's counterchange quilt

Peggy Martin

This a log cabin type version which I like
very much

I am doing something like this also in Fassetts

Class Work

Paula's dinner setting quilt =- the plates are pieced from masses of carefully chosen pieces. In reality she has eight
such plates but not enough room to sit eight people so this is a virtual table setting.

Paula answering questions

Detail

Coach Trip

Quilt Museum

Guild raffle quilt on display in the museum -
 I bought tickets.

There were even pictures of winning shw quilts in the loo and
very nice too.

And here we in the "Grandmother's Flower Garden".

Witch ladies, mother and daughter, on the tour -
still Halloween.

Today we took a trip as part of the show events, driving out for a couple of hours to the Texas quilt Museum at LaGrange. We didn't see much as it was foggy all the way. The Museum was hosting a wonderful exhibition of New York Beauty quilts from Bill Volkening's Collection.
Next door was a beautiful Quilt Shop, The Quilted Skein wih a srong focus of a comprehensive stock of Westminster fabrics and in the room beyond more plus a long wallof C19th reproduction fabrics.W e had a lovely lunch (about the nicest meals I've had in Texas, all fresh food, imaginatively cooked) at the bistro set on a typical town square based around the courthouse where we took advantage of the refurbished loo.

the Quilted Skein

On into the countryside and the Kreische House. They ran a brewery. A husband on the tour was more than a little disappointed o find it wasn't still fucstioning. I imagine the family was considered reasonably successful but living conditions were distinctly basic - the pioneer spirit. Then on to two more Quilt Shops, Sew and Quilt and the Quilters' Emporium. Driving between the two and then back we tookin the sheer scale of Houston, so spread out. A bonus was getting back in time for cocktail hour at the hotel and enough snacks that an evening meal was unnecessary.

Courthouse in the centre of the square in LaGrange

Pioneer type house in LaGrange

View from the upper porch at the Kreische House

Crazy quilt on the bed in the Kreische House

Sew and Quilt Shop

Quilters' Emporium

halloween in Houston

Server in JoAnns today

Today we shopped. First Jo-ann's always intended to be my most major purchase shop and so it proved as I bought large and small mats, and a large rotating mat and packs of large and standard blades. My fabric purchases were relatively restrained with small amounts of Halloween fabrics to make Trick or Treat bags for or group sales table  calico or muslin as it known here and bright blenders for my Linus quilts.
This was followed by a trip round Walmart where my friend bought presents for family members while I tended trolleys. I got a few FQs destined for Linus quilts.

Belinda and me with loaded trolley

We registered for the show and checked where the bus is due to leave for tomorro Halloween.w's tour and found ourselves among a very happy crowd going  to watch the Houston rockets. Lots of razzamatazz.
Then cocktail time at the hotel. The barman took a shine to us and gave us special treatment with ameretto margarita then  Blue Hawaiian.  culminating in strawberry daiquiris.

The third and last cocktail

Now we've unpacked the shopping and prepped stuff for tomorrow and are tucked up on our beds watching films and keeping up with social media.
Over cocktails I was thrilled to chat to Victoria (Vicky) and Beverley fro Generation Q magazine, already a firm favourite with me. We ere presented with our very own advance copy.

Victoria and Beverley - we were all in free flow

The a
mericans really do know how to celebrate
Halloween

Breakfast in the hotel

Winner of the Houston
Halloween competition.

Adnother entry

And more

Ghosts in the potted plants

Houston !

Myself Belinda and Tracy at High Fashion Fabrics

The other half of the vast store

When we we got out of the taxi at our hotel we were greeted by a wall of wonderful  heat.  After mega unpacking we took a taxi to High Fashion Fabrics which didn't prove to be too far away. What a store. On entry we were greeted by a wall of printed silk and the vast space was doubled when we realised there was another hall of cottons etc. The staff were very nice. There was a warm but refreshing breeze blowing as we emerged and we walked several blocks back to downtown. It was good to get the exercise. And we then shopped hungrily for food at the very upmarket Phoenicia grocery and deli on our street and returned to enjoy a relaxing gin and tonic and lovely healthy salad and also crisps and Welsh Cheddar on crackers. Bliss!
According to my bio clock it's 4am so off to bed.

Shopping for food