Hi all! I haven't heard from many of you in a while. I hope that we are all still enjoying the blog. I really am.
Last week was the International Quilt Festival held every year here in Houston, TX. It was my first time going and I had no idea how much I would love it. I thought going one day would suffice, but I went EVERYDAY it was open except one. I had a blast! The festival consists of 5 days of lectures, quilting classes that range anywhere from basic skills to very complex design and specialized techniques I did not even know existed, and each class ranged from 3 hours to the whole 5 days, booths where you could learn, teach, buy, sell, and a massive area where the most beautiful quilts, ancient and modern, were on display. Above are a few of our favorites, the top being my personal favorite. The detail and obvious labor involved was truly breathtaking. I hope that we can all attend next year. It was truly an inspiring experience.
I have a few more pictures I will share later. I just wanted to share these with you all - thought you might enjoy it.
Last week was the International Quilt Festival held every year here in Houston, TX. It was my first time going and I had no idea how much I would love it. I thought going one day would suffice, but I went EVERYDAY it was open except one. I had a blast! The festival consists of 5 days of lectures, quilting classes that range anywhere from basic skills to very complex design and specialized techniques I did not even know existed, and each class ranged from 3 hours to the whole 5 days, booths where you could learn, teach, buy, sell, and a massive area where the most beautiful quilts, ancient and modern, were on display. Above are a few of our favorites, the top being my personal favorite. The detail and obvious labor involved was truly breathtaking. I hope that we can all attend next year. It was truly an inspiring experience.
I have a few more pictures I will share later. I just wanted to share these with you all - thought you might enjoy it.
forgot to mention - these were all award winners and I wanted to let you know that the first was selling for $12,000. Can you believe that?? Also, some of the reasons contestants won was because of all the beautiful and skilled labor they applied to their quilts. The bottom one (if you click on it you can see greater detail) was all designed and quilted by hand. The border around the main scene which consists of houses and trees was all sewn flawlessly by hand.
ReplyDeleteWow! Those are amazing and totally unbelievable. Cool. So, did you take any classes? What was the crowd like? I imagine a lot of old ladies...
ReplyDeleteAlso, sorry for my hiatus from the blog. I haven't done my personal blogging either. Life dumped on us a couple weeks ago and we're still trying to get our heads above water. I have a few posts up my sleeve, but I'm at least a week out from being able to spend time on them. I promise to be back as soon as I can.
they look like paintings
ReplyDeleteYeah - I took a landscape quilting class. You bring in a picture you took of a landscape and make a quilt out of it. The finished size is 16x20, so it is meant to hang on your wall. It is basically the idea of the beautiful quilt above, but on a much lower skill level! I will post it soon. I want to make it a tutorial, just in case anyone wants to make one. It was not hard. The top layer was done in 3 hours.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes - LOTS of old ladies. There was a "Husbands Room" - it was pretty hilarious - just a bunch of old men sleeping on chairs with their heads back and mouths agape. But there was actually a surprising amount of younger people, too.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine the time that must have gone into all of these. Heck, I'm proud of myself when I actually finish an itty-bitty cross-stitch Christmas ornament - sheesh. ;) Imagine how satisfying to look at one of these masterpieces and know you made it!
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