Good Monday Morning!  Well, this will be my final posting with some pictures from the International Quilt Festival in Houston.  I wish I was more organized and had written down the information for each image, but if you have ever been to Quilt Festival, you will realize that that is impossible.  There is so much going on that an entire week is barely enough time to see everything and squeeze in some shopping!  So, with that lame excuse, I am going to show a small sampling from one of the many special exhibits..........Reflections, presented by the Dinner at Eight Artists.

And here are a few quilts from the quilt competition, Art-Painted Surface.

Incognito by Melanie Marr

Painting the Town #1 by Laura Wasilowski

The Pod of Life by Nancy Sterett Martin

Yellow Mellow in Paradise by Andrea Brokenshire

Perhaps the November images have inspired you to make some fabulous quilts.  I know I am always ready to get back to work after my return from Houston.  It's very inspiring and energizing!

I also want to take this opportunity to let you know about a upcoming SAQA mentorship webinar;  SAQA International Artists Webinar, which will be presented on Dec.9th at 1pm. This is a great opportunity to learn about some of our international artists and their inspirations, and is open to all SAQA members.  Here is the link to register.  https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/590156439

As always, if you have any information you would like me to pass along to our region, just let me know.
Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

Houston International Quilt Festival

Good Morning.  Let's continue with  more pictures  of the quilts in the World of Beauty Quilt competition in Houston this year.  There are so many wonderful quilts to see and I wish I could post photos of them all but with over 500 images on my camera, that would be very difficult.  As I mentioned before, you can view the winners on the IQA web site, so here I'll  post a small sampling from the various categories.  First, are some from  Art-Naturescapes, (one of my favorites).

The Afterglow of Summer by Bizhao Zheng

WaterFall by Marianne Williamson

Heaven on Earth by Ann Harwell

Skinny Dip Falls by Eileen Williams

Autumn Freshet by Noriko Endo



And here are a few  eye catching quilts from the  Digital Imagery category.

The Water Boy by Marilyn Wall and Gail Sexton

California Dreaming by Diane Rusin Doran

Jimmy's General Store by Tonya Littmann


So that wraps it up for today.
Hope these inspire you to create!

Spotlight on the 2014 International Quilt Festival in Houston

Good Morning.  I have been eagerly awaiting this Monday morning so I could continue to share some images from the Houston Quilt Festival that are not on the winners page but are all pretty amazing works of art.
One of the fun things about the Houston show is the variety of special exhibits.  There were over 40 different special exhibits and here are a few shots of one the was fun and lighthearted.

 I really don't envy the judges their job.  With so many excellent and innovative quilts, the selection of the prize winners must be difficult.

Here is an example of a very wonderful competition quilt from the embellishment category.  It is all designed with buttons.

Red Sunflower by Susan Bianchi

These quilts are some competition quilts from the Art-People, Portraits, and Figures category.

I Love You More! by Laurie Mayo

Chasing Bubbles by Hiroko Miyama and Masanobu Miyama

My Son by Chi Chen Wen

Darn, I can't find where i wrote the title and maker of this quilt.....sorry.

The Flowers Which Bloom Someday by Kumiko Ishii

 I'll post more next week.. Until then, if you have any news to share with other members from our SAQA region, let me know!

Good Morning Everyone,
Well, back from Quilt Market and Festival in Houston, and what a whirlwind of activity it was!  If you have never been to Quilt Festival, I would highly recommend that you put it on your list of things to do and places to go.  There are thousands of quilts to see and they are so inspirational.  There is something for everyone; from traditional, antique, and modern quilts, to abstract and realistic art quilts.  There are classes and continuous free demos (open studios) and mini lectures.  One of the highlights this year was NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg who gave a talk and slide show about her experience of quilting in space.  This year celebrated 40 years of great quilts with their Ruby Jubilee exhibit, and wow, it was spectacular!

You can see the winners from IQA's 2014 A World of Beauty quilt festival at.
http://www.quilts.org/winners.html

Meanwhile, I'd like to leave you with some pictures of some other quilts that you may not get to see on the web page.  I think I took over 500 pictures so I obviously can't post them all, but during this month I'll try to post a small sampling.

Red & White by the Numbers by Barbara Black

Ruby Jubilee Exhibit

Here are a few from the Pictorial category.

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I could just kick myself for not writing down the name of the artist of this breathtaking quilt.  I was tempted to not show it for that reason, but it is too beautiful not to include.  Sorry

Royal Thistle by Helena Scheffer and Marion Perrault

Maui Gold by Karen Donobedian

The Pelican Sisters by Eileen Williams

Climate Change by Ann Harwell

Ole' #9 by Donna Severance

Droopy Dawg by Carol Cote

So, that's it for now.  Check the blog for more pictures next week.   And, as always, Let me hear from you, especially if you have a special event or announcement or anything at all you would like to share!