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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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This weekend we are hosting a wedding reception in the back yard - GRATEFULLY, Mother Nature got the memo and the weather is going to be perfect. We have known the groom since (almost) birth and Jody came into his life about a year and a half ago. the GREAT news? She is a quilter!!!!!!!! I thought you might enjoy seeing what I made for her to wear inside her wedding dress. The ribbon says their name and the date of the wedding - It covers "something new and blue". I traced the letters onto the silk ribbon with pencil (very lightly), then when the embroidery was finished I hand stitched a hand dyed silk ribbon to the back side.

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Coming to the National Quilt Museum, October 7, 2011 to January 13, 2012 is Quilting Reinvented: Longarm Quilters of the 21st Century.  This exhibit will show how longarm quilting has revolutionized the art of quiltmaking.  On display will be work from Marilyn Badger, Renae Haddadin, Richard Larson, Linda McCuean, Sharon Schamber and Linda Taylor.

You can find Linda Taylor teaching longarm quilting in our Classrooms and has a guest in Episode 604: Become a Machine Doodler.

You can watch Renae Haddadin in action in Episode 703: Tools of the Trade featuring Rachel Clark and Renae Haddadin.

And, you can take a peek at their quilts below.

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In honor of PIQF, we are highlighting a quilt by one of our own TQS Members, Sherry Reynolds (aka wyomingquilter).  Sherry's quilt, Christmas All Around, won 1st place traditional in 2010, as well as, the Viewer's Choice award. It most recently won Best Machine Workmanship at the AQS Lancaster Quilt Show 2011.  Sherry said that she designed the quilt on graph paper and wanted to capture the favorite colors, icons, and memories, and the sparkle of Christmas.  The piecing and quilting on this quilt are absolutely stunning.

It is 88" x  88" and was quilted on a 20-year old Bernina 1001.  The sparkle is courtesy of Swarovski crystals.

P.S. Sherry's entries into PIQF this year are equally as stunning, you can see them by clicking here and heading over to the Forum.

Christmas All Around - 35 pieces non-rotating

Christmas All Around - 100 pieces non-rotating

Christmas All Around - 100 pieces rotating

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Copper Shade Tree is an American fine craft destination located in the heart of Round Top, Texas. The gallery displays a delightful collection of decorative and functional crafts, all handmade by American artisans.

From October 26th - November 20th, 2011 - the gallery will be hosting Quilts by Men, an exciting event that will focus on art quilts created by 16 men from across the USA and Canada. This is a first for the gallery.  They have selected artists from outside of Texas to showcase their work.

This show will run in conjunction with The International Quilt Festival in Houston and the opening of Karey Bresenhan's, Texas Quilt Museum in La Grange.

The artwork following artists will be featured during the show:

Bob Adams, Gerald Roy, Holice Turnbow, Jack Brockette, Jim Vandernoot, Joe Cunningham, John Flynn, Larry Denning, Luke Hayes, Michael Michalski, Paul Burega, Paul Leger, Rex Watson, Richard Caro, Richard Larson, and Scott Hansen.

Do you recognize any of these names?  Some of them are members of TQS!

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(photo from http://www.quilts.org/fashionstop.html)

We all know how much time is spent on your feet at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. Well know it's time to decorate your feet as well. You've done it before, jackets, bras, badges, now it's your shoes turn to go hog wild with Quiltapalooza's "Fashion Starts Below the Knees Challenge."

So, break out your paints, feathers, crystals and get to work! Let's have a winner from TQS!

The ideas are endless and the prizes are amazing! The Viewers' Choice award winner will receive an impressive collection of quilting goodies from the corporate supporters!

To learn how to join in the fun, click here.  To see other fabulous, funky footwear, click here.

Potential Categories include:
Most Outrageous
Must-Have Pair
Most Precarious to Walk In
Boot, Scoot, & Boogie
Coming & Going
Creative Crocs
Flip Flop Frenzy
Footloose & Fancy Free
Just Stash, No Cash
Look at Those Shoes Wearing that Lady!
Slipper-y Slope
Texas Two-Step
Tip-toe Through the Tulips
Wacky & Wonderful
Wanna Play Footsies?

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Color Cascade was a delightful exhibit which finished touring with a last hurrah at Quilting in the Garden 2011. Nineteen women, known as the Sewjourners, accepted the challenge of reaching into a paper bag and pulling out a random color assignment based on a page in the 3-in-1 Color Tool by Joen Wolfrom (available from C & T Publishing).

Each member had to create a faced quilt. It had to be 18" x 40" and had to "read" as their color from ten feet away.

When they finished their quilts, the ladies got together, along with Pat Pease's Fiesta® Dinnerware, each with a place setting in their color, and enjoyed their creations.  Pat was kind enough to tell us about the exhibit as people ooh'd and ahh'd over the fabulous display of color and design.  Color Cascade is currently looking for a home where it can continue to be hung as a single unit.