Where to start...

...in reviewing my trip to Quilt Festival in Houston?

It was great. Seriously, I could try to be eloquent and thoughtful and inspired, but I'll just run down some basics. Let's start with the shopping.

This is an overview of the vendor area -- about a quarter of it. Huge!


I was so delighted to meet Marcia Derse. Mel gushed about her recently and I'd been studying her website and drooling over her fabric.

Her booth could not be more beautiful. Every detail is carefully considered and stunning. Even those lights! Look how retro and cute they are! But even more beautiful than the booth (and the fabric) was Marcia's enthusiasm. She was cheery and happy to meet me and friendly and real. (Not all the vendors exhibit this kind of attitude.) I left her booth with a few sample packs of her fabric and a nugget of great wisdom. I don't think she even realized she was sending me an important message. Marcia's got a new empty nest and is redefining her life as as artist after years of mothering. She said she misses the days when her kids were small and that I should make the most of this time! So true. Everything in it's own time.

Surely you've heard about the amazing Fiber Art For A Cause program. Look at all these stunning postcards and happy buyers making donations.


I was ecstatic to come across these two treasures on my first stop by the booth.

That's Terry Grant's work on the left and Lesley Riley on the right. Both are members of our Artful Quilters Webring -- and artists that I adore! Can you see the text on Lesley's card? "Home is where your story begins."

Here are my other purchases.

Charms from Artgirlz. The sample packs from Marcia and an excellent chalk pencil set with several refills in various colors. I really needed something like this since I am so impatient that when I need to mark some fabric I often use whatever is handy -- like a ballpoint pen. (Bad!) I used the chalk just yesterday and it worked great.

Speaking of Artgirlz... so inspiring! (They have a blog, too!) What a great little company. They have superfantastic stuff and I stopped by their booth several times.

Over the next week or so I'll post about the quilts. (Obviously.) And about Make It University and the classes I took. Plus a bit about some of the great people I met.

In the mean time, you can view the prize winning quilts here.