I Was at Festival!

Have you ever dreamed of

running through a enormous warehouse and

having only five minutes 

to collect as many prizes as you could?

 That's what it was like for me last Thursday
at the International Quilt Festival in Houston.

I had one day to find the best vendors

and look at all the marvelous quilts on display.

To be honest it was a bit overwhelming,
yet totally exciting.
Running Man dropped me off at the
Convention Center and then
it was...Ready, Set, Go!

With such a limited amount of time
I had my planned list and the number of each booth.

First stop,
Somerset Patchwork & Quilting
and Karen Styles.
She was such a delightful person.
I was too excited to get a photo
of her and the booth, but
here's what I brought home.

It's her new line by Marcus Fabrics,
"Loire Valley".

Next,
Dutch Heritage
with Petra Prins from the Netherlands.
(I'm barely containing myself by now.)

Unfortunately,
she could only take cash or a check.
Otherwise,

 

I would have gotten a lot more
of these awesome chitzes.
I was down to digging for change in the bottom
of my purse!
I didn't get a picture of her either.
I didn't want to act too bush league.

There were wonderful antique
quilts to look at,

 

shops that many of us recognize from online,

and the free Mystery BOM

by Buttermilk Basin.
I mentioned to Stacy West
I was following along each month and
 probably a gazillion people had already told her that
but, she was so genuine in her enthusiasm it was
truly heartwarming.

Saw a few quilting celebs,

Ricky Tims passing something
secretively to this button guy,


Carrie Nelson, of Miss Rosie's Quilts,

Jamie Wallen who has lots of YouTube videos

on machine quilting,
 

Lynette Anderson,

and Lisa Bongean

of Primitive Gatherings.
(Stop #3)
Everyone was willing to take the time
to talk with you, or show you how to do a stitch.

I took quite a few picture of the quilt shows,
but I won't post many.  There's better places on line
to see the winners.

Ewe Are My Sunshine
by Janet Stone.
(The grand prize winner)

But here's what you do
if your husband that has tagged along.
You find the husband's corner.

and they can watch TV or take a nap.
In Running Man's case he went and
found a park and took a simple 16 mile run. :0)

And when you've hit the wall
you can literally

 go sit up against the wall
until you've regained your stamina.

I saw gals wearing matching hot green T-shirts
calling themselves the Psycho Quilters
and then these gals wearing matching hats.

I guess it was so they could quickly find each other
in the crowd.

It was a wild place at Festival.

With awesome quilts

Pennsylvanian Star of Bethlehem by
Mickey Beebe

 Deconstruction
by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

and

828 Valance Street
by Laurie Tigner

and
The Collection for a Cause
by Moda

Just to mention a few.
Phew!

Until Next Time-