Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving that includes an extra piece of pie! (maybe I'll have this little runner finished for next year)!

We're  going a bit non-traditional this year with salmon and crab cakes. And sticky toffee pudding cake. And a nice bottle of Pinot!

I'm working on several cute snowman projects, so I'll be back soon with some fo's!

Take care!

Favorite Booths & some Shopping!

For me, Quilt Festival is all about the shopping! I love 20 rows of booths full of fabric, and patterns, and notions, and sewing machines, and anything a quilter could ever want and some stuff you never thought you would need (but do)!

I should have taken pictures at Preview Night when it wasn't crowded, but I was too busy looking and touching. But I did end up with a few pictures of some favorite booths, just to give you a peak at the wonderfulness that is Festival.

Unfortunately, I don't remember who's booth this was, but they had a wide variety of patterns and kits available. Seeing patterns made up is so tantalizing!

Farmhouse Threads  had a cute  booth. I like that many of their patterns are small so I will actually finish them.

Lynette Anderson's booth is always a popular one.

Primitive Gatherings is usually my first stop. This was Saturday afternoon--Preview Night they had a long line at the check out.

Red Button Company has some very cute patterns and kits. Good thing I checked at home after preview night cuz I almost bought kits I already have! Guess I should get those made up!

This guy was too cute! I remember when the pattern came out a few years ago--loved him, but he would be REALLY hard to stuff!  

This was a booth full of nice wool. You can see where my interest lies--if it is wooly or dark, I'm there!

I'll share a few of my purchases with you. Think I showed some restraint, which is never easy, but I'm trying to adopt a shopping plan where I have to" love it vs like it" and know it will haunt my thoughts if I walk away.

Everything on this mat speaks to me.

Had I not seen this made up, I would have walked right past it. In fact I did! It was made up in one booth--no kit--then when I went back to Primitive Gatherings looking for needles, the kit--no sample--was right next to the needles. Figured that was destiny so I didn't even hesitate.

This was one I thought about overnight and couldn't get out of my mind.

Last, a few patterns. A couple I have already started on (yay me!). " Wish Upon a Star" isn't new, but I've admired it online quite awhile and just never ordered it . I plan to make both the banner and table mat. The Halloween cats are another that looks best made up. They are just kind of silly looking and perfect for Halloween.

I've never been a big kit person, but am finding that with wool it is much easier. You get the colors you need in the amounts you need without having to search all the booths for just the right pieces. I did  bit of searching for one project and it just takes a lot of time.

So that is Festival for another year--my house guests who came from Colorado for it have already "reserved" their rooms for next year, so the anticipation will begin anew!

International Quilt Festival 2012

One of the best things about living in Houston is that this is home to International Quilt Festival! I don't have to get on a plane or worry about getting  all my purchases in my luggage and I get to sleep in my own bed at night!

Two cousins from Colorado came for the event and I think I can safely say that a good time was had by all! One has been here before, but for the other it was her first visit. Petty sure she had a good time!

We went to Preview night to shop, back Thursday morning to buy what we missed the night before. We stayed home on Friday--it gave us some time to regroup and rest up a bit, then we went back on Saturday, just because we could!! And of course each time we found stuff we had previously missed.

 We have our traditions--we get there early so we can get a good parking spot in the parking garage across the street. We go upstairs to Starbucks, get our coffee and sit on the floor people watching until the show opens. This year we got smart and left our lunch in a cooler in the car rather than lugging it around all morning. We went to the car, unloaded our purchases, got our non-squished lunch and sat on the patio at the convention center and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

It's a wonder I even remembered to take any pictures, as I was on sensory overload, so please forgive the lack of detail accompanying these photos.

Shopping for buttons.

This "booth" was by a batting company--the waterfall and all the flowers are made from batting. It was pretty impressive.

Best of Show quilt. Pictures can't do it justice. There were over 5,000 crystals on it and everything represented something, nothing was on the quilt without a reason.

 Two more winners.

 Another winner. There was such depth in his eyes.

 The top one was really pretty, the middle one I loved the turtles, and the bottom one has wool on it ! I'm sure better pictures and information on the winning quilts can be found on the quilts.com website.

Stay tuned...up next will be pictures from some of my favorite booths and a peak at my purchases.