My Missouri adventure was over and my Houston adventure was about to begin, ohhh the excitement…..
The ‘high’ continued as I flew from Kansas City to Houston via a quick flight change at Dallas. I got a cab to my hotel in downtown Houston, it was only 5 blocks walk from the Convention Centre where the Houston Quilt Festival was being held.
I checked in, dropped my bags into my room and headed straight out again to visit the Galleria and buy a few gifts for the family from shops that were not at the outlets.
The next day was Wednesday and I was eagerly waiting for Thursday when I would attend a class at the Quilt Show, however I had a day to kill and what’s a girl to do but more shopping, so off to the outlets I went…
I shopped until I couldn’t carry anymore and then I found a luggage store and bought another 2 suitcases because I knew that I could easily fill these at the outlets and the quilt show. When I had finished shopping, I went back to my hotel and did all of my washing (I never travel with too many clothes, they take up valuable fabric space!)
It’s Thursday, yay, I was up early and couldn’t wait to go to the Convention Centre, I felt like a 5-year-old on Christmas morning. After breakfast, I grabbed my rucksack containing all the things I had bought in Missouri for my Quilts for Scrap Lovers, Unique Techniques and hard to use fabrics class which was being taught by Judy Gauthier and off I went.
It only took 10 minutes to walk to the Convention Centre, I went in and found where I needed to register and collect my pass, which I did, the ladies were very friendly and efficient. I then collected my cutting mat and large ruler which I was hiring for the day and found the room where my class was being held.
I was early so could pick my desk, I sat at the front, because being under 5 foot is no joke when trying to look over other people’s shoulders! I was joined at the front by the lovely Candy, who was from Houston and had bought along many supplies to use.
Everyone was given an Elna sewing machine to use and we were taken through a few technicalities of the machine and the rep from Elna stayed with us for the day in case of any issues.
Judy Gauthier is a lovely woman, she talked us through some of the quilts that she had brought along for us to see and various techniques that she was going to teach us that day. She gave us 3 different rulers 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5” squares as part of the course and her book Quilts for Scrap Lovers. We learned to make a Sugar Bowl Block, a House Divided Block, A Modern Anvil Block and a Star Baby Block.
Halfway through the day we had a 2-hour lunch break, so I grabbed a sandwich and decided that I would go down and see if I could find the Missouri Star Quilt Company (MSQC) stall and meet Jenny Doan as she had already left Missouri when I got there the previous week. I looked on the map and found the aisle number and off I went to the hall. OMG, the hall was massive, so much bigger than FOQ which up until this point was the largest quilt show that I had been to. I found the aisle and headed down it, as I approached the MSQC stall I saw Jenny standing there signing items for shoppers, with Ron, her husband, standing just behind her. I stopped in my tracks and thought I need to buy something to get it signed. I picked up a few small totes and a Block book which MSQC publish monthly. The issue that I selected had a photograph of a quilt placed on the bed that I had slept on in Mari’s Place, which is the B&B that I stayed in when in Hamilton, Missouri.
I joined the queue of people waiting to get items signed and then it was my turn, Jenny was so warm and friendly, she listened to what I was saying as she signed my items. I asked if I could have a photo taken with her and she was more than happy to do this and called over Ron to take the photo, which he did. I thanked her and moved on to pay for my items. I was so chuffed and happy as I walked away from the stall. I visited a few other stalls before I headed back to the classroom.
The rest of the afternoon was spent making blocks and seeing how the same block could be laid out to look different in each setting. It was well worth attending this course and I felt that I had learnt a lot of useful techniques and some short cuts too. Judy also talked through the importance of colour and how to work out which colours will compliment other colours using a colour wheel, something that some quilters tend to struggle with.
As I prepared to leave the Convention Centre after the course had ended I stopped to adjust and rearrange the items in my rucksack, as I did this I saw Jenny and Ron exit the hall and walk through the reception area hand in hand, it was so sweet to see that after so many years of marriage they still hold hands when walking along, they both quilt together too……just saying!
The next day was a shopping day for me, so I loaded up at breakfast and headed back to the Convention Centre. I was a little early so I sat and waited for 10am and then headed in, luckily I had my pass so could bypass the long queue that wove up and down the reception area. Having seen the size of the hall yesterday I decided that I would begin at the far left of the hall and work my way up and down the aisles to the right.
I saw so much that I could have easily bought but decided that I would only purchase fabrics that were not readily available in the UK or that were much cheaper at the show, and gadgets, rulers etc that I would use and any items that I had on my list, I took a deep breath and started shopping.
First on my list was a Supreme Glider, I found and bought a large one. I use a Trucut rotary cutter and the blades are very expensive, I came across the Trucut stand and stocked up on blades, more cutters and a sharpener so that my blades can last a little longer. I bought a pair of batting cutting scissors that are fantastic. I got some Bloc Loc rulers in sizes that I did not have. I found a cute sewing machine clock with scissors as the pendulum, for my sewing room. I got some long rulers for strip cutting and so much more. My large rucksack was full and so were my hands when I reached the last aisle on the right.
I was exhausted, so I headed back to the hotel and what do you know, it was happy hour when I arrived, I dumped my bags and sat down to enjoy a glass or two of wine, just what I needed.
The next day was Saturday and I had planned on looking at the quilts and they did not disappoint they were stunning, I can only aspire to be this good some day. I posted pictures of my favourite quilts on the UKQU Facebook page earlier.
The quilts were displayed really well with comments from the quilt designers added close by and the aisles were not crowded close together but spaced out to keep the ‘flow of traffic’ comfortable so everyone could see the displays without crowding.
Whilst looking at the quilts I met and had a chat with Paula Doyle, she is a UK quilter and had 20 (I think) impressive quilts on display at the show.
I also met Barbara Ann McCraw who had a collection of quilts displayed and seemed to be well known at the show.
Another quilter that I met was Jennifer Bowker whose quilt ‘After the Last Sky’ was displayed.
Although I felt like I had covered several miles already, I quickly went back to the stalls to buy anything that I couldn’t carry yesterday, before heading back to the hotel and doing more washing, as I hate returning home with dirty washing.
It was Sunday, the day I was returning home, I packed up my 4 cases and headed to the airport, my adventure over, my purse empty and my head buzzing with ideas for what I was going to make with my US haul.
To see what I produce you need to watch this space…….
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