International Quilt Show - Houston

This past weekend I went to the International Quilt Show in Houston with my friend Melissa.  I've been a few times in the past (when I lived in Houston), but decided to take a trek back to hang out and check it out.

There were many, many pretties, but unfortunately, they are also kinda strict on pictures.  It's understandable, most quilts can be deconstructed by people who are good quilters.  I am not an awesome quilter, so I did take a few pictures, but mostly just bought a few things.

We didn't get into the actual quilt show area - it took us an entire day just to walk the floor, and we didn't feel like coming back the next day.  

Fortunately (?) the 'Stros were kind enough to win the World Series, and there was a huge parade downtown as well.  The George R Brown Convention Center is just down the way from Minute Maid Park (the baseball stadium/park), so the parking/driving was a bit of  a mess, but the attendance was lighter than Thursday (we're spit-balling the idea that people either went to the parade instead or just stayed away from downtown).

We got to look at quite a few things and venture into the booths and there weren't too many problems with bumping into people.

So here's my haul and/or entertainment:

One of the things I suck at with regards to fabrics/sewing, is changing colorways.  It's funny how easy it is for me in stitching, but quilting breaks my little brain.  So I found this pattern I liked in another color scheme and took a picture for reference (not that I'd use the aquas, but I like the idea better than the original).

These are two quilts I just really liked.  I'm not sure I'd do them, though.
The "Wrented" one just gives me a giggle, and I found the preponderance of raccoons somewhat surprising at the Festival.  There were a lot of raccoon quilts, but I really liked these guys best.   I thought they looked like they might mug you for your Christmas prezzies.


This quilt I straight up bought the kit for... Ok, I didn't.  I thought about it for an hour or two and went back to it, hoping it was sold out because I really love the colors in it.  It's in a very different color way than the pattern (Poppin' In).  I loved it in the hot pink and I have a great place to display it in the Lady Lair.  Plus, I thought the kit was more than reasonably priced, especially because I wouldn't have to go hunting for the fabrics myself.
It was at a booth that sells those crystal bits, and while they were really pretty and sparkly, I won't be embellishing my own quilt.


Oh heck, here's the pattern from the interwebz:
There's a "Poppin' Out" pattern that is it convex instead of concave, and I nearly bought that one, too.

There was a booth with a lot of pincushions: Cats, Mice, Dogs, Pigs, etc.   They came in pretty small and fairly large pieces, and I just loved this mouse so I got it.   He's huge.  And all mine (and added more than a little weight to my overly burdened bag!)

I stopped by the Missouri Star Quilt Company booth, because I had to.  If you haven't been to their site, or checked out their youtube tutorials and you're into quilting (or want to be), they're my favorites.  So easy and not annoying ;)

This is Tula Pink's "Spirit Animal" layer cake.   I just kept saying "SPAAAACE OTTERRRRS!" because they make me laugh.  I have absolutely no idea what to do with it, I just wanted space otters.

I didn't pick up much in the way of fabric, because it's heavy, and to be honest, I wasn't seeing a whole lot that was so unique I had to have it.   Plus, the quilt show is a little pricey and I come from a state with tons of quilt stores (and FQs that are typically 0$.50-1.00 cheaper)

But there was a nice place that had really pretty metallic fabrics, and I thought these would make a fun table runner for Christmas:

The very first large purchase (so clearly my camera roll isn't set to chronological) is this quilt, Weeds in the Sidewalk.   They had this one displayed and I HAD to have it.  They had it in the pure black and white, and another with a yellow splash of color.  Melissa is a bad person and found the very last kit and presented it to me.   And of course I bought it.   At least it will go well with the white fur from Mona.

Oh heck, I'll stick them in here, too:  The two colorways.  I think the yellow is pretty, I just like monochromatic designs a lot more.


And then we stumbled upon a shop that does a lot of dish towels and pot holders and the like
A lot of them were really cool, and a lot of them were also Texas themed.

First off - I grabbed their very last UT dishtowel.   Of course they were the first school sold out ;)

And then I grabbed these three pot holders - sorry they're a little fuzzy.  I thought they were all cute, and I got duplicates to give out as Christmas gifts as well:

We swung by a shop called "Treasures of the Gypsy" that I remember from even my first quilt show in Houston.   The show sells 'exotic' fabrics and dolls (and patterns) by Arley Berryhill.  His blog/sale site is here.    Treasures... doesn't have a website, and it's full of really cool soft-sculpture dolls.  My only complaint is that the owner can be really rude sometimes.   They could also improve their signage re: not touching anything, because they're soft sculptures, people touch, and their signage is crappy.  More than a few people came away from that shop muttering/talking about 1. rudeness and 2. the need fore better signage.

*ahem*

Anyway, I saw a doll with a raven's skull, which I would have loved to purchase, but was priced for more than I was willing to spend. 

And I had bought a lot of the patterns for the dragons back in the day and they were lost or stolen, or who knows what, so I was looking to replace them.  But you know what?  I suddenly didn't feel the need to really sew them, and then I saw the firebird:

You can check out more/better pictures here - scroll down - (because again with the no picture taking), which I highly recommend.  I'm looking forward to using fashion fabrics - dupionis and jacquards to really make this special.  I love it.

And I also grabbed this six image panel - part of Fabric Fiesta by Dan Morris.  I'm thinking about cutting and sewing it into a long panel as as a dining room table runner, and embellishing them.  If there's a panel left over (size, y'all) or something, maybe I'll make a super blingy, embellished wall hanging.

And finally, a couple of patterns - this one is a sloth pattern;  I have a lot of friends who are obsessed with sloths, so I thought I could make a single panel Sloth Pillow for them - the pattern is fairly easy and straightforward and I think it looks like fun.

And the last of the quilt patterns - "God Bless Texas"
I've seen this one around quite a bit, and I was happy to grab this.  Fairly easy again, and I think fun for a smorgasborg of fat quarters.  I think I'd go with something other than white for the background because that section of the "supposed to be white re: the flag" is already so close; maybe a nice light blue.   It's hard to see in this photo (or the pattern itself), but they've actually quilted the Alamo, roses (presumably yellow roses ;) ) and other Texana into the backing.  Quite pretty.

I went by the Silver Needle, but sadly, they did not have what I was looking for in stock.  Their booth was in an odd location and seemed kind of small this year, but it's been a while since I've been there.

We also swung by the Bohin booth (on purpose!) and in fact, had cash in hand because they do not take cards.  I bought a few packets of needles - I usually buy them in bulk but have not found my bulk needles to take with me to Houston, and I grabbed a pair of bunny (er... "hare...") scissors.

They also had some hand made scissors for more than $500, but I managed to stay away from those, though they were STUNNING.

So that was the one day quilt show extravaganza.

The next day we swung by ABC Stitch Therapy, a stitching store on the NW side of Houston (fairly close to where I grew up, actually, though they weren't there back then).    They are pretty close to where 3 Stitches is, but since I've had nothing but bad experiences at 3 Stitches, I never darken their doorway any more.

Everyone was super nice at ABC, and lo'!  They were having a Primitive Hare trunk show.   I really LOVE her designs, but I know I'll never get around to stitching them, so I haven't bought a lot.

But I did find this, which I think would be perfect for the kitchen:

While I was at it, I went ahead and grabbed Dog Pile from Ink Circles, which I've been meaning to grab for a while (I always try to purchase from Brick and Mortar stores, and tend to get my yearly's wish list at the get together every year at Stitcher's Paradise in Vegas, but since I was here...)

I found this older Sweetheart Tree April sampler - I was actually looking for a biscornu to grab me, but this did instead :)

And my last grab was this:
They had different gates, but I liked this one best of all.  And it fit within my rule which is now: "Will this work with any of the mountains of fabric you already own"  haha.

So that's my Quilt Show weekend extravaganza/purchasing fest.  It was a lot of fun, and I hope to go again in the future (though not as soon as next year).

And one last final thing:  The scrap metal sculpture I picked up at the grocery store.  Because who doesn't need a longhorn santa that you then have to figure out how to transport home ;)