Houston... WOW! No other word describes it. The only thing I can say about attending Festival is bring several pairs of shoes! Your feet will hurt no matter what, but if you can change up the pressure points you'll do okay. Really, 5 days in Houston and my first comment is wear comfy shoes!
I do not know where to start... my mind is mental mush. I was quilting like a mad woman to get ready for Houston, got there, can't differentiate the days except for the clothing... it is all a blur! We'll start back in West Palm Beach, at the airport...
OMG that is a tiny plane! Holy crap, the walkway is almost double the size of the side of the plane! Now, that was the edited version. You should have heard the conversation between me and my husband in the minutes after I sent him this picture! Now don't get me wrong, I am not afraid to fly, I have flown many times in my lifetime... the first time on a 747 -- 3 seats-aisle-4 seats-aisle-3 seats, with an upstairs. We're talking a HUGE plane! Most of my flights have been on those normal-size planes, 3 seats on each side with one aisle. This plane had a single seat and a tiny little aisle and then two seats (like Chris from Fil-Tec said - a window and aisle seat at the SAME time). I'm talking TINY -- I have accepted the fact that if I'm flying to Houston from here I will be on a tiny little plane... all I hear is Tattoo (Hervé Villechaize) "The plane! The plane!"
So we (me & my Mom) get to beautiful downtown Houston (no, it was nighttime and dark) - this was the next day - the view from the 24th floor of the Hilton and the view from the street!
My first purchase... International Quilt Festival's Quilt Scene Magazine. WHY, you ask?...
Okay, now it's time for me to brag. Out of 752 entries, IQA selected 380 finalists, out of 380 finalists they selected 23 quilts for the magazine... OLIVER made it! Better yet, they sent out a sneak peek email -- only two quilts made that cut... guess what, OLIVER was one of them!
Here is the email link: http://e1.interweave.com/dsm?sna=fb&id=7091E023C1A704983C58D0E1439FC430F50FBD976777E7B1
I am on cloud 9... or maybe 11, if that is possible! Somebody pinch me... please! While I was there someone said to me "but he didn't win a ribbon"... I said "he is here, it doesn't matter what he's wearing!"
So, it that weren't enough for mental mush... add 1500 photographs. Yes, that's what I took. Full shots, closeups, super closeups, name cards, all of it! Now, my brain is so over-stimulated that I can't even show you my favorite quilts... it is like a cyclone of photos spinning around and around! So, my "Houston" post will actually become several posts - it is the only way I can accomplish sharing my experience with you.
So we'll start with me & Oliver, and then me & Sharon. For those of you that haven't been quilty peeps since the beginning... Oliver is the result of a week-long retreat with Sharon Schamber.
Sharon is a wonderful teacher, friend, and mentor. If you ever have the opportunity to take a class with her do so - you will not forget it! Okay, this leads us to Sharon's quilt - "Crimson Promises" which won the Master Award for Innovative Artistry.
