One of the highlights of the holiday season was a trip to New York City. My daughter made arrangements for herself, my granddaughter and myself to take a day trip to New York City. We were to ride a bus and have a day of sightseeing, shopping and see the Radio City Rockettes Holiday show.  We boarded a bus at ‘0 dark 30’, which is a military term of – before the sun comes up, rode 4 hours to New York.  We had 3 hours before the show to head for our first destination – The American Girl Store. 

It’s an impressive store.  3 floors of dolls and related stuff to spend your money on.  I bought my younger daughter an AG doll some 20 years ago from their catalog.  She loved it lot and I enjoyed making clothes for it. A lot of clothes.  The company has expanded the original 4 historical dolls to a dozen or more historical and a design your own doll with color choices.    We thought the store was busy but an employee stated that this was moderate and busy meant you couldn’t move.  This statement made us think of Disneyland in July.

We walked back to the Rockefeller Plaza and enjoy the store window displays along then way. We entered the Radio City lobby and were amazed by the giant crystal chandelier Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling. Everyone in the lobby had their heads looking up at this amazedly beautiful sight.  To see it was breathtaking and in addition to its beauty was the fact that it rotated!   The whole theater was a look back to the grace and décor of the 30’s.  The inlayed woodwork on the walls and inside the elevators was eye catching.   And we hadn’t even seen the show yet.

The show was terrific and we were ready for 2 more hours before the bus trip home.  The Plaza was packed with people by this time. The Plaza and the Plaza Christmas tree are so much larger than it appears on TV.  Additional trees are set along the area and lots of lights. We even saw one man propose to his girl at ring side of the ice rink.  We returned to our bus stop, boarded and watched the skyline disappear into the distance.  The weariness of the day set in and sleep overtook us for the next few hours.  I think we may make this an annual event.

It’s my opinion that the autumn colors give quilters their peak of creative energy. The cooler weather entices us to use the burst of ‘color energy’ to create a new quilt to snuggle under. As the summer events, family vacations, etc. settle down, it’s now time to quilt in earnest.  Many quilt-related act ivies also happen in the fall, which also inspires our creativity:  Houston Quilt Festival being the biggest and well known event amongst many others.

Enjoy the color and let it inspire you to create, quilt, or write about a beautiful quilt.

The quilt has fabrics with leaf prints in bright colors of greens, yellows, oranges, reds all on a cream-colored background. Sounds pretty just writing the colors. It really perks up the room. Like many people I had been collecting the fabrics for a while. A year ago I began cutting and sewing. This summer I finished quilting it with a maple leaf design. Just in time for these cool night.

This year the show has been cancelled. The storms rained several inches over the region and many streets flooded. The park where the show was to be held on is saturated and it would be impossible to set up. The poles for quilt hanging would droop and leave the quilts hanging in the mud. The tent would not hold up and booths would sink. The auto park would be a quad mire of mud with cars becoming stuck. It was the correct decision to make.

The decision was made just a few days before the event. The participates were informed
and the word was placed on the Internet to the local guilds, quilt shops, and etc. The word spread like wild fire among quilters.
We will have to wait another year for the next Sully Plantation Quilt Show. Hope the weather is better next year.

We seldom meet but 2 or 3 times a week due to schedule conflicts, appointments or teaching commitments, etc. We talk about quilting or family. Mostly the water feels good and it is away to connect and give support if needed. Our swimming will come to an end at the end of this month. One of us will have knee surgery and we will shift our activities to the indoor.

Hope your summer has been a memorable one.

Dottie's quilt will be an exhibit at the Houston Quilt Festival 2011

She made the quilt and offered it to an exhibit for the Houston Quilt Festival 2011.  Houston Quilt Festival accepted it and it will be on display this fall.  By the way, she did ask Windham Fabrics for permission also. We were happy to agree.

Most quilters do not think to ask the designer for permission. Perhaps they do not think it is necessary because they bought the pattern or perhaps fear that the designer will say no. Seldom will the designer say no. It is an ego booster to learn that someone liked the pattern so much that they entered the quilt into a contest or exhibit.

Laura, marketing director of Windham Fabrics, and I look forward to seeing the quilt in person this fall.

I hadn’t expected much color this year as we had a lack of rain and lots of heat this summer. The maple with stood this problem and gave a beautiful display of color which lasted longer than usual. I have enjoyed the changing of colors for several weeks.

I wish I could duplicate the depth and richness of color that this tree had. Quilters have ways to use fabrics to create depth of just as paint artists use oils or watercolors do. Even with an array of colorful fabrics, I fear I  could not do the maple tree justice.

The last couple of days have been breezy and I realized this morning the ‘my tree’ is practically bare of leaves. Perhaps this winter I will try to capture its beauty from the picture in my mind’s eye.

A Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Me by the 'Sarajevo Rose' quilt, Houston 2010

My friend Renelda Peldunas Harter has a quilt, ‘Sarajevo Rose’ in the ‘Text on Textiles’ exhibit. The text tells of the damage to the streets and walkways made by the mortars (bombs) during the war in Bosnia. If persons were killed by a mortar the crater is filled with a red dyed cement thus giving the crater the look of a rose. Sadly there are too many of these roses.

A sad subject but a nice quilt to honor those involved. Quilts have always been a way for the quilt maker to express emotions or thoughts.

More fun stuff in the next entries.

I too am attending Market and Festival. I am looking forward to what will be new in the way of fabrics and notions. I look forward to seeing the quilt exhibits and ponder how I can merge new techniques into my style. I look forward to the opportunity to expand my horizons with the thoughts of these possibilities.

We talked of what we were currently doing. Qur quilting and the quilting world in general. We spoke of the Houston Quilt Festival – 2 of us are going this year. We even had some show and tell. I think the few people near us enjoyed this too.

‘Jane’ bought a quilt that her husband had chosen the fabric for and asked her to make with, the ‘Roy Rogers’ collection. The quilt is inspired, her interpretation of a box television. She used fabric with a wood grain print for the television frame. Black and gray fabric for the TV knobs and for TV screen the focus fabric of the collection.

Scatter about the ‘floor’ area were qpplique horses shoes framing vingettes of the collection’s fabrics. The border was completed with a cowboy print fabric. What a talent she has and a wonderful tribute to the memories of our youth.