Home From Houston

It's been a wonderful week in Houston at International Quilt Festival. It was such a learning experience for me to see how much work it takes from set-up to take down to make this event happen.
Long hours are put in by the participants, and yet everyone was cheerful. Great energy just to be with other quilters, doing the things we love.

Every day around 1:00 members from all over the world who have joined The Quilt Show met in the booth. It was an opportunity to meet face to face after spending time together on the member's blog.

Before the Festival ended, Ricky and Alex came with a filming crew to interview their members.

If you haven't joined The Quilt Show, you can watch a free episode on their web site.

I think it's a lot like Alex's previous show "Simply Quilts" only better. They have 13 episodes per season, where they interview guests and show us so much of what is happening in the quilting world. But instead of being limited to the 1/2 hour for TV, (actually 20 minutes when you minus commercials), you have an Internet show that runs usually around an hour. You can watch the show anytime you want, over and over if you like, with a new segment being introduced every two weeks.

Plus there is so much more on the web site. They offer a Block of The Month, daily blog, Forum, Chat Room, Projects, Show & Tell, Newsletter, Quilt Gallery, and of course The Quilt Show Shoppe where you can purchase items from the shows you watch.

It was a delight to work for Alex Anderson. When I was a new quilter, and in the old days of VHS I think I taped just about every episode of Simply Quilts. (I still have them tucked away in a closet somewhere.) She introduced me to so much of the quilting world.

Ricky Timms was recently selected as one of "The Thirty Most Distinguished Quilters In The World". His partner Justin Shults was always so helpful every day, making sure things were running smoothly. The "behind the scenes" people's work and dedication was impressive.

Within hours the Festival was dismantled, packed up, and everyone was heading back to their homes.