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Time is running out if you plan to enter your quilt into the New Quilts/Old Favorites contest this year through the National Quilt Museum.

The theme this year is Baskets and the Entry deadline is November 1, 2011. This is the 19th annual competition and winners will be featured in a book and traveling exhibition.

A number of TQS members have participated in this contest over the years.  Last year's contest, Orange Peel, was won by TQS member Robin Gausebeck.

Next year's contest will have Jacobs Ladder as its theme, so if you don't have time to enter this year, start thinking about next year!

To learn more about the contest and see some of last year's winners, click here.

Orange Blossom Special by Robin Gausebeck.

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TOOMUCHERY                                                                    Happy Go Lucky

The gifting season is just around the corner and it's never too soon to begin planning. P&B Textiles makes the task easier by offering two color-laden, contemporary fabric lines perfect for creating quilted or home-decor gifts for those special people on your list.

Stumped for a quilting idea? Check out the free patterns for both the Happy Go Lucky and Toomuchery lines on the P&B website here. Now were talking "happy!"

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As you no doubt saw in Episode 908, Dianne S. Hire is all about having fun with fabric and color when designing a quilt.  And her book Quilters Playtime is no exception.  In fact she says "the purpose of Playtime is to free your creativity via liberating games at the sewing machine and on your design wall."  But, there are a few basic topics she suggests to keep in mind before beginning to play. 

• Get your bobbins in order-Fill three to four bobbins with a neutral piecing thread:  gray, beige, taupe, or something that blends into your fabrics.  It's also a good idea to have an array of colorful bobbins for switching to applique, or any other task in which the slightest bobbin thread might show through to the surface.
  
  
• Gather your game fabrics-This is the time to use fabrics that excite you.  If you use just any old fabric to learn these playful methods, you will look at the finished piece as if it were just any old piece.  Bold fabrics work great, but so can geometrics, especially for finishing touches.  Look for bright, intense, vibrant fabrics without grayed or dulled colors.  Think large, bold prints and gutsy geometrics.  
  

• Don't forget your scrap fabrics-Gather scraps from your recent projects and gather them together in a large basket or in a pile on the floor.  Scrap baskets often offer the most striking combinations, with surprising results, as tidbits of fabric land serendipitously next to each other.

• Make a mock-up- Be sure to create a mock-up before you sew.  To create a good proportion, always cut, fold, or scrunch the unblocks to your envisioned size and shape and place them on a background fabric that is also cut to your desired finished size.

• Don't think too much-Allow your hands to be your guides, and remember, this is all about having fun!
  

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Come one, come all if you are going to be in Houston for the International Quilt Festival, you won't want to miss the TQS Dinner.

Here's the scoop from TQS Member WandaM:

The dinner will be at Don Patron Bar and Grill, 500 Dallas. This is where we ate last year and the food was marvelous! We don't have to worry about having enough room at Don Patron's since they have a huge room for us. We will have the beef and chicken fajitas with all the trimmings again. The meal with tea, tax and gratuity will be $22.00 per person. Please bring cash in the exact amount as I will need to pay in one lump sum. Mixed drinks will be available at the bar. The reservation is under Myers.

Please let me know if you will be attending at wanda@hal-comm.com

Your confirmation will be my reply to your email. So if you don't hear from me within 24 hours, please send a second email.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me.

I will turn in the FINAL count on October 29.

The dinner is November 3rd and we will gather at 6:30.

Thanks Wanda for organizing the dinner!

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The Alliance for American Quilts is a nonprofit whose mission is to document, preserve and share the stories of quilts and their makers. One major way the Alliance does this is through an oral history project called Quilter's S.O.S. - Save Our Stories. So far, more than 1,000 quilters have been interviewed: the interview transcripts are posted on the Alliance website and archived at the Library of Congress.

Alex Anderson, a proud member and supporter of the Alliance, is helping to raise attention about the Q.S.O.S. project by letting her interview be conducted in front of the crowds at International Quilt Festival. Normally, these interviews are conducted privately and quietly. Alex will be interviewed by Meg Cox, president of the Alliance, at 10:30 am on Saturday, November 5 in the Festival Theater, located in the exhibits hall. Admission is free.

As with all Q.S.O.S. interviews, Alex will bring along a "touchstone" quilt that has special meaning for her, and that quilt will begin a wide-ranging conversation about her personal quilt history. If you can't come to Houston, don't worry, the full interview transcript will be available to everyone, once it is transcribed and posted on the Alliance site. 

Just so you know, not all the quilters interviewed for the project are famous ones, like Alex. A great many are everyday quilters with terrific stories to tell. This is a grass roots project in which volunteers learn the AAQ's protocols to conduct interviews, and anybody can get involved. 

While at Houston, you may notice a bunch of people running around with lapel pins reading: "I'm Volunteering at Festival for Team Q.S.O.S." They are volunteers helping the Alliance interview some 60 quiltmakers who are all included in the forthcoming book by Karey Bresenhan and Nancy O'Bryant Puentes, Lone Stars III: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1986-2011. They are being interviewed for the Q.S.O.S. Project in a dedicated area of the hall, in private curtained booths. To learn more about volunteering opportunities with the Alliance and read some of the posted interviews, click here.

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1847 Kellum-Noble House.  It is the oldest surviving masonry house on its original site in Houston.

• Historic Texas Homes at Sam Houston Park (A short walk from the Convention Center).
  Nestled in a 10 acre parklike setting is The Heritage Society's museum complex comprised of ten historic structures from around the Houston region dating from 1823-1905. 

• Bayou Bend (River Oaks neighborhood).  View one of America's most significant collections of American decorative arts in the 1920s era mansion (known as Bayou Bend) of philanthropist and Houston native Ima Hogg.  Also not to be missed are the 14-acres of organically maintained historic Southern Renaissance gardens. 
  

• King Tut.  Don't miss your chance to see this acclaimed traveling exhibit Tutankhamun:  The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs at the Museum of Fine Arts.  The exhibition features more than 100 artworks, most of which were never shown before this tour.

• Montrose Shopping District.  Meander along lower Westheimer and you will soon discover a road featuring off beat as well as amazing boutiques that offer everything from vintage cowboy boots to fashionable designer duds.  Interspersed amongst the shops are fun little eateries and coffee bars.

• High Fashion Fabrics.  If you are looking for fabric other than quilting fabric (which they also offer) High Fashion Fabrics might just fit the bill.  Housed in an enormous low slung building this local shop has for 25 years been offering everything from beaded couture, leather, silk, linen, cotton, as well as knit wear to Houston's sewing culture.
  

• High Fashion Home.  If shopping at High Fashion Fabrics was not enough to wear you out, go across the street and venture into the 4-story (125,000 sq. foot) home furnishings emporium called High Fashion Home.  The shop offers a sanctuary of inspired choice for the eclectic, modern lifestyle. Explore the mix of exclusive furniture, fabrics, drapery, and home accessories from around the world.

• Houston Space Center.  Learn all there is to know about space and the technology that was and is being designed for travel to another galaxy when you visit the Houston Space Center. 

Of course there are many more things to see and do while in Houston, but these are just a few of the things we have discovered.  If you know of a place to visit that others might enjoy, please leave a comment. 

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The Pacific International Quilt Festival is here! Starting today October 13 and running through October 16, 2011 at the Santa Clara, CA Convention Center in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This Mancuso Show Management festival is celebrating its 20th year and fabulous plans are afoot.

Over 800 quilts and garments will be on display along with a Fashion Show, Workshops, Lectures, and of course, that amazing Merchants Mall.

The faculty this year includes:

International:

Sue Dennis, Gloria Loughman (612), Janice Gunner, Jennie Rayment.

US:

Esterita Austin (506), Tammie Bowser, John Flynn (410), Rose Hughes (413), Dierdra McElroy, Kathy McNeil, Linda Schmidt, Laura Wasilowski (303), Debi Kuennen-Baker, Kellie Rushing, Bobbie Bergquist, Jean Brown, Gregory Case (807), Kaye Moore, Virginia Walton, and Pat Yamin.

Many of these instructors have been guests of TQS. If there is a number next to their name above, that's the episode in which they were featured.

Admission is $15 (includes re-admission) and children under 16 are free. Sunday only is $13. Hours are 10-6 daily, Sunday 10-5.

To see last year's winners, quilts - click here and wearable art - here.

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Quilt drying after five washes to remove bleeding.  Photo by Lilo Bowman

I've been working on a project off and on for about two years. OK, some of you might recognize it as the 2009 BOM! I got this far (see photo above) and then hit a creative wall. 

Recently, a quilting friend visiting my studio made a few suggestions and my muse returned. As a result, I've been working feverishly to complete this UFO using pre-washed, hand-dyed fabrics. To pre-mark my bobbin work in the large triangular areas, I used wash-away thread, which requires that the finished quilt be immersed in water. Herein lies the problem: My quilt is bleeding!! Currently it is being washed (with a color catcher) for the fifth time, but the lovely, wine-colored fabric continues to "run" all over the place. All-important lesson learned? If in doubt, wash, and wash again, until all excess color is removed BEFORE using a fabric in my quilt...especially a hand-dyed fabric.

That said, there are two camps on pre-washing fabric for use in quilts. There are those who do and those who don't, and I don't want to ruffle any feathers. My intent is simply to alert you to the potential hazards of using unwashed fabric in a quilt that you plan to wash in the future. If that's your plan, here are a few suggestions to keep your colors from "mingling."

1. Pre-wash similarly colored fabrics together in cold water.

2. If you suspect a fabric may bleed, add a bit of Synthrapol to the initial wash. Synthrapol removes and suspends excess dye in the wash water so that the color does not gravitate back to the fabric.

3. If you are still uncertain that the remaining color is fast, wash the fabric once more with Retayne. This product sets the color and keeps it from bleeding.

You should be able to find Synthrapol and Retayne in most quilt stores or online.

If you have other remedies for fabrics bleeding color, we would love to hear them. Share your tips through the Forum so we all can avoid this potential hazard.

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Last fall, we shared the story of Kim Suleman and Debbie Johnson, who charmed us at Quilt Market with their period costumes and book, Colliery Days, inspired by the Edwardian Town and Railway Station at the Beamish Open Air Museum, in County Durham, UK.

Here's wonderful news! These creative women are back again with another hot-off-the-press, inspiring book of sewing projects, Shopping Days, focusing on the early 1900s. With a booth (#1503) and a Schoolhouse presentation planned for Quilt Market later this month, "Bettie" and "Florrie" are working hard to bring their new book to your local quilt shop. Before they make the trip "across the pond," there will be a book launch and signing on October 18 at the Beamish Museum where you also can meet this delightful pair in person.