Pajama Quilters

A group of old friends, we try to meet-and-retreat at least once or twice a year for relaxation, quilting, food, wine, and fun. Several of the girls do longarm quilting as a business, and all of them (except me) are traditional quilters. (They let me hang out with them anyway.  ;^)

Jody, Betty, Sharon, & Barb

Betty's star quilt

Jody & Sharon, "oldest" friends.

Jody's great Singer machine.

Barb's Illusion quilt layout

Betty's Bow-Tie layout

Betty's Double Irish Chain

Sharon's Stack 'n Whack

Sharon - Overachiever

Sharon's Blue Star Quilt

Linda's Giraffe preliminary layout

Linda's Giraffe final layout

Quilt Festival 2011, Part 4 ... some quilts and friends

First, some quilts made by some very dear friends of mine ... in the category of Texas Guilds' Award Winning Traditional Quilts, 2011:

Total Eclipse, by Sharon Dixon

1950's Santa Quilt, by Barbara Wafer; quilted by Barb Knoblock

Flowers in My Cabin, by Shirley Chriss; quilted by Linda Teddlie Minton

Flowers in My Cabin, detail

Flowers in My Cabin, quilting detail

Standing Strong, by Sharon Dixon

*********************************

One night several of us walked to an unfamiliar restaurant several blocks from the hotel for dinner.  It was cold and windy (unusual for Houston!) but we had a wonderful time.

Maggie Winfield and me ... our yearly snuggle.

Best buds Sharon Dixon and Jody Gantz having a giggle ... before or after margaritas?

A tiny glimpse of the huge Food Court at the GRB Convention Center.

***************************
In yesterday's post, I showed a picture of "Alice's Odyssey", a group challenge quilt made by 16 members of the Beyond the Borders art-quilt group in Katy, Texas.  Here are some of the members, gathered at different times in front of the exhibit.

Exhibit placard -- it was a single-quilt exhibit!

Connie Fahrion, Hannah Mallon, Sara Norris, Elaine Connelly, Cathy Winter 

Sitting: Nancy B. Dickey, Linda Teddlie Minton, Ann Schaefer, Cathy Winter
Standing: Cheryl Johnson, Jo Sweet

and here's the quilt again, so you don't have to flip back to look for it:

Alice's Odyssey
Each puzzle piece was created by a different artist, based on a chosen
theme from Alice in Wonderland and conformed to a specific puzzle shape
in order to fit in with the others.  The edges were satin stitched, and the
individual pieces were painstakingly assembled onto a quilted background by
Nancy Dickey.

***********************************
On Friday night, Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison gathered all of the participants they could, of the "Space Between" exhibit sponsored by their Dinner at Eight Artists group.  We had dinner at Spencer's Steakhouse in the Hilton Americas Hotel ... a fabulous (and fabulously expensive!) restaurant worthy of our exalted presence.  We even had the Chef's Table, along with appropriately superb service.  Here are just a few of the more sedate (?) moments of the evening.

Karen Rips and Rachel Parris

Susan Brubaker Knapp & Leslie Tucker Jenison

Frances Holliday Alford & Gerrie Congdon

Barb Forrester and Susan Fletcher King

Jamie Fingal and me

Susan Fletcher King and Judy Coates Perez
(don't hate her for wearing a fur coat ... I think that's Barb's hair on Susan's shoulder!)

The Adorable Deb Boschert and the Inimitable Jamie Fingal debate wine choices.

Judy and her daughter Indigo Perez.  Indigo is a fine artist in her own right,
and always a welcome addition to our table.

Leslie starts us off with the D@8 tradition of "spoonology" ... a fine old art.

Susan B.K. shows us how it's done.

Terry Grant gets it right the first time!

Barb carries it off with aplomb.

Jane LaFazio sets up her spoon

Susan F.K. looks like she's been doing it all her life.

Step 1:  Frances misunderstands the concept.

Step 2:  Frances reinterprets the concept.

Step 3:  Frances shows us how easy it really is.

The end of a long but lovely day.

Galveston, Oh Galveston ...

Galveston, oh Galveston, I still hear your sea winds blowin'
I still see her dark eyes glowin'
She was 21 ... when I left Galveston

Does anyone besides me remember Glenn Campbell? sigh.

I've just gotten back from my second quilt retreat in Galveston and surrounds in the last month. The first time, with my beloved KatyBees, I neglected to take my camera (Bad Linda!) to the Bolivar Penninsula. Well, since none of us actually live in Katy anymore, we're not really the KatyBees, so we have gone through several different names, including the Quilty Ladies and the Pheasant Pluckers (don't ask). But since there are only 4 of us, it doesn't really matter ... we're just long-time friends. The other 3 are traditional quilters, so I'm always the Oddball ... just the way I like it!

This past week, I went with the FMLC, a small longarm quilting group ... also only 4 of us ... a good number. These other 3 are also quite traditional, although one seems to be testing the bounds of contemporary quilting. (heh heh heh, my evil influence is slowly but surely seeping into their subconsciouseseseses!) Here are a few pictures from our lovely 3-night, 4-day retreat. (Unfortunately, one of our members was unable to go at the last minute, due to a family crisis. Barb, we missed you terribly!) The only thing you can't see is all the food and drink we consumed.


Me, Betty, and Sharon


Sharon with her gorgeous batik-and-black quilt top


Betty's college t-shirt quilt (customer quilt)


We were having lunch at The Original Mexican Cafe, and this truck was parked across the street. I just had to have a picture of the local art scene!

I started two art-quilt tops, but they are only basted down. Pics to follow later.