Quilt Fesitval: All the days we were there...

After a two day break in Austin, I returned to Houston thinking I was ready to tackle Festival.  Boy, was I wrong.  Market had taken a toll on my lazy student body and soul.  Within minutes of entering the George R. Brown Convention Center, I was overwhelmed.  Half vendors, half quilts, and people everywhere.  In the vendor area, you basically joined the sea of people moving as a unit throughout the aisles of goodies.  If one stopped, you all had to.  In the quilt area, it was slightly more sane.  The crowds congregated around the winners, and my taste led me to the quilts with less of a following.  Here are the highpoints:

View from above.  This was on Saturday afternoon, a somewhat slower day, so you can't quite sense the degree of craziness on Thursday afternoon...

The back of the vendor area had rows of chairs set up for tired quilters.  There were motorized scooters everywhere...and I was tempted to get one by the end despite the $70 rental fee.

Great quilt by Timna Tarr.

Another awesome quilt by Timna Tarr.  I saw this at the Vermont Quilt Festival last summer and it won second place in the Art Quilt-Large category at Houston.

Bottle cap art is one of my favorite things.  This quilt by Deborah Herring and Judy Kreihn was appealing, however the beer brands they used were not.

Pictorial quilts aren't usually my thing, but something about this bicycle is just perfect. Additionally, the maker Pamela Druhen is from Northfield, Vermont, a short distance from the little town I grew up in.

Hexagons are the focus on an exhibit at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum where I am a student...Cathy Miller's piece is worthy of a place in the show.

This is another quilt I saw at the Vermont Quilt Festival last summer.  I totally love it.  And this lady, Patricia Delaney made it!  Note the white gloves, she must be a history buff. 

Are these dinosaurs trying to kill each other or hug each other?  This was the most sparkliest quilt I saw at Festival...made by Ellen Anne Eddy, thread painter extraordinaire.

While this looks like thread painting, Mary Pal actually uses cheesecloth to create the faces.  WOW!

This was one of my favorite quilts on display.  Maker = Emiko Toda Loeb. 

If I had to guess, I would say that Sheila Frampton-Cooper would be a great detasseler.  This quilt reminded me of the cornfields...

This picture does this quilt no justice, but Mechelle Currie-Walker knows how to create texture.

This is cheater cloth.  The patchwork is printed on the fabric.  Ewwww.

The cheater cloth was set up for people to hand quilt on.  Tacky.  This is a quilt festival, get somebody's UFO...

Quilting is nothing if not totally gendered.  At least somebody has a sense of humor.  The husband's lounge had comfy chairs and a football game on.  If they had beer, I would have joined.