I had a blast!! For ya’ll that don’t know why I went…. Last Christmas Frank, my bro-in-law, gave for Christmas Beth, my sister, airfare for us BOTH to attend this years International Quilt Festival in Houston!! The funny part is that I don’t quilt…I have tried and failed… I enjoy fabric and stitching so this it was tons of fun… We flew in on Wed, Oct 29th… and thru better luck than management Beth and I met up at the car rental terminal… Houston’s airport is HUGE… trains from terminal to terminal…. Beth flew in to Terminal A and I flew into Terminal B. So we were very luck to meet up quickly… Once we got on the road we checked into our hotel…dropped off our bags and made a b-line for the show….
Wednesday (Day 1) - For 5 hours we walked the isles and checked out the vendors….there were approximately 900 vendors…. The first day we got thru 2/3d’s of the vendors… As I was checking out the vendors and I found one that had TONS of Tammy DeYoung stuff... Hmmm could this be Tammy's booth.... could Tammy actually be here at the show.... I look over at the gal running the booth... could she be Tammy? OH my... my heart starts racing and my palms get sweaty.... I wait for the booth to empty... I ask the gal... Are you Tammy? She replies, "Yes I am", (add a cute Texas twang when reading)... I was so proud of my self I didn't jump and down and scream.... I did let her know that I am one of her biggest fans and have been for years....and I did ask her to take her pic with me... see below...I have been a fan of hers since I first started borrowing her patterns from my sis-in-law.... then I fell in love with her clipart at PCcrafter...
I have to say that Tammy is one of the nicest (previous) PCcrafter artists I have ever met...okay she is the only one I have met....But honestly she is so sweet... I think she may think I am a stalker because I did go and see her 3 times while I was at the Quilt Show.... each time she was extremely nice...and I didn't even buy anything.... opps I forgot too. We left the show ate dinner and came back. We both wanted good Mexican food… we found okay Mexican food at Ninfa's, at the Houston Center….a mall in the bottom 3 floors of a skyscraper. Yes I brought my camera and I have been taking pictures…. After we ate we went back to the convention center and continued shopping…. We closed the place down!!
Thursday (Day 2) – We first finished checking out the rest of the vendors then we headed over to the quilt show. WOW!! There are some amazing quilts… there are some pretty ugly ones too. When I could take pictures I took some pictures of the ones I liked…. I also took close-up shots of design elements that I could see as digital art…. For lunch/dinner we walked back over to the Houston Center and went to the Long Horn Café and had a GREAT hamburger. The soda cups were Texas size… like as big as ½ quart!! HUGE!!... Man was I full when we left… I was glad we went back to the show and walked some more… we finished the quilt show and then we went back to the vendors…. When we left the show we were diving back to the hotel and I see Rice’s Epicurean Market… (Gourmet market)! Beth and I have found that we both LOVE poking around gourmet markets… When we were done at Rice’s and headed back to the hotel…I noticed across there was another market… so we headed there…OH MY!! This market was fabulous…. It was called Central Market and we spent 1.5 hours going thru each section… the produce section alone was the largest I have EVER seen… it had every type of veggie or fruit you could think of…they even had miniature summer squash and zucchinis… When we came to the bakery we sampled so many types of freshly baked breads…the number of samples made Sam’s Club look cheap!! We decided to pick out a dessert from the dessert side of the bakery!! I picked Crème Brule…and Beth pick Chocolate Raspberry Truffle… I loved mine… Beth ate the whole thing, but won’t get it again…. When we were done…we fell into bed and crashed…
Friday (Day 3) – We headed back to the quilt show to poke around the venders again… Hey there is approx 900 vendors… we might have missed a few… and we did. We would ask each other do you remember this booth… I purchased a few more items. I went into Little Stitches and the owner, Debbie, reads my name tag and she asks, “Do you have any relatives in CA!” I smile big and reply…”Karen Abreu is my sister-in-law!”. I knew she would know Karen from all the time she spent at Calico Station in San Marcos. She asked me to share with Karen that she misses seeing you!! I also went into Bit’s and Pieces by Joan…love her stuff too!! I have decided the next quilt I attempt, the key word being…attempt, will be a woolie quilt. With the hand appliqué squares… I saw several that I really loved…. Today we actually left the show before it was closed… we headed back to Central Market to buy food for our dinner tonight and lunches for Saturday… We spent another 1.5 hours making decisions… We got some apples, and a loaf of sour dough bread, some REAL butter, some nice dry salami, some really delicious thinly sliced Montreal seasoned rare eye of round roast beef, some tomato boccachini & basil salad, some couscous with mint, spinach and goat cheese, brie cheese, peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies… that was for lunch. For dinner we got salads from the salad bar, I got some baked potato soup… a crusty Baggett to eat with my soup… and of course dessert again… This time I chose a lemon meringue cupcake… and Beth got a slice of Italian Cream Cake… both were yummy… We also found a $3 insulated bag to keep all our yummy food in….we rolled out full tummies into bed early…. We have a long day tomorrow
Saturday (Day 4) – We had to be up and out the door early this morning… Today is CLASS DAY! We are both signed up to take full day classes. I am taking the “Market Basket” class and Beth took the “Photos, Fabrics and Words”. The morning part of my basket class was very frustrating… at the beginning of the class the teacher says to relax that this class is not for those who are perfectionist… I sigh a big sigh of relief… because I am NOT a perfectionist… but as the class goes on I sure wish I was a tad bit more of a perfectionist… I am stringing the bottom of my basket and it is too loose… so I start to go back and tighten it… moving the looseness to the ends… then POP the round reed breaks… I have to take extra time and fix it…. Now I am behind and getting more and more frustrated…. The bottom of the basket has these cute little feet that are part if the design… and I am thinking my basket it NEVER going to turn out looking like the example… I continue to weave and created….My tablemate… Kaitlyn is from Houston and is a CPA and a very encouraging person… we hit is off right away… and we talk and talk and talk…. Early on I see that I forgot my towel… she tells me no problem she has an extra… Since she was so sweet I invite her to come and eat my gourmet lunch with me and Beth… I tell her it’s from Central Market and she doesn’t hesitate and says “Yes! Thank You!”. It’s finally noon and we break for lunch… We enjoy a nice lunch out in the open air patio… the weather here has been just beautiful. Beth brings another friend she has met up with to have lunch with us too… so we all just sit and chat…. After lunch Kaitlyn and I head back to our class and get back to work… I am feeling much more confident in my basket making… I can see my little basket legs starting to form… I am chatting and weaving… The day progresses fast… and it takes me an hour longer than the class to get my basket completed… We help the teacher clean up and decide where we want to eat dinner… Kaitlyn suggests a restaurant called Tortilla Lupe… and I invite her and her husband to join us… I ordered Cheekin Lupe … it was so good. Beth had Carne Asada and she wasn’t happy with it… I told the waitress it was Beth’s birthday and they came and put a sombrero on her head and sung Happy Birthday to her in Spanish… I don’t think she really enjoyed it!! She was good about it anyway!!
Sunday (Day 5) – No specific plans today! We get up slowly and decided that we want to head over to Galveston to see the beach and the devastation from Ike. We were very surprised that we were able to get over to the island. The devastation was amazing, there are still sailboats sitting next to the highway. The beaches are strewn with debris… We were able to walk along the shoreline. But you would see doors, and other items deposited there by the storm. We drove up and down the strand just looking in awe at what Ike did… By late afternoon we were ready to head back to Houston. But on the way back we saw a Ross Dress for Less. I had forgotten how much I love that store. I found a toy for Angel and 2 outfits for Abby. We also saw a Garden Ridge store and made a run thru it to see what it had… We quit shopping because we decided we were hungry… we hadn’t eaten so we found a Mexican restaurant, Poppasita’s and had dinner… I had fish tacos and Beth had fajitas… we were so full when we were done… we rolled back over to hotel and started getting ready for the crack of dawn departure…
Now I am home and right back into the everyday grind!!
Wednesday (Day 1) - For 5 hours we walked the isles and checked out the vendors….there were approximately 900 vendors…. The first day we got thru 2/3d’s of the vendors… As I was checking out the vendors and I found one that had TONS of Tammy DeYoung stuff... Hmmm could this be Tammy's booth.... could Tammy actually be here at the show.... I look over at the gal running the booth... could she be Tammy? OH my... my heart starts racing and my palms get sweaty.... I wait for the booth to empty... I ask the gal... Are you Tammy? She replies, "Yes I am", (add a cute Texas twang when reading)... I was so proud of my self I didn't jump and down and scream.... I did let her know that I am one of her biggest fans and have been for years....and I did ask her to take her pic with me... see below...I have been a fan of hers since I first started borrowing her patterns from my sis-in-law.... then I fell in love with her clipart at PCcrafter...
I have to say that Tammy is one of the nicest (previous) PCcrafter artists I have ever met...okay she is the only one I have met....But honestly she is so sweet... I think she may think I am a stalker because I did go and see her 3 times while I was at the Quilt Show.... each time she was extremely nice...and I didn't even buy anything.... opps I forgot too. We left the show ate dinner and came back. We both wanted good Mexican food… we found okay Mexican food at Ninfa's, at the Houston Center….a mall in the bottom 3 floors of a skyscraper. Yes I brought my camera and I have been taking pictures…. After we ate we went back to the convention center and continued shopping…. We closed the place down!!
Thursday (Day 2) – We first finished checking out the rest of the vendors then we headed over to the quilt show. WOW!! There are some amazing quilts… there are some pretty ugly ones too. When I could take pictures I took some pictures of the ones I liked…. I also took close-up shots of design elements that I could see as digital art…. For lunch/dinner we walked back over to the Houston Center and went to the Long Horn Café and had a GREAT hamburger. The soda cups were Texas size… like as big as ½ quart!! HUGE!!... Man was I full when we left… I was glad we went back to the show and walked some more… we finished the quilt show and then we went back to the vendors…. When we left the show we were diving back to the hotel and I see Rice’s Epicurean Market… (Gourmet market)! Beth and I have found that we both LOVE poking around gourmet markets… When we were done at Rice’s and headed back to the hotel…I noticed across there was another market… so we headed there…OH MY!! This market was fabulous…. It was called Central Market and we spent 1.5 hours going thru each section… the produce section alone was the largest I have EVER seen… it had every type of veggie or fruit you could think of…they even had miniature summer squash and zucchinis… When we came to the bakery we sampled so many types of freshly baked breads…the number of samples made Sam’s Club look cheap!! We decided to pick out a dessert from the dessert side of the bakery!! I picked Crème Brule…and Beth pick Chocolate Raspberry Truffle… I loved mine… Beth ate the whole thing, but won’t get it again…. When we were done…we fell into bed and crashed…
Friday (Day 3) – We headed back to the quilt show to poke around the venders again… Hey there is approx 900 vendors… we might have missed a few… and we did. We would ask each other do you remember this booth… I purchased a few more items. I went into Little Stitches and the owner, Debbie, reads my name tag and she asks, “Do you have any relatives in CA!” I smile big and reply…”Karen Abreu is my sister-in-law!”. I knew she would know Karen from all the time she spent at Calico Station in San Marcos. She asked me to share with Karen that she misses seeing you!! I also went into Bit’s and Pieces by Joan…love her stuff too!! I have decided the next quilt I attempt, the key word being…attempt, will be a woolie quilt. With the hand appliqué squares… I saw several that I really loved…. Today we actually left the show before it was closed… we headed back to Central Market to buy food for our dinner tonight and lunches for Saturday… We spent another 1.5 hours making decisions… We got some apples, and a loaf of sour dough bread, some REAL butter, some nice dry salami, some really delicious thinly sliced Montreal seasoned rare eye of round roast beef, some tomato boccachini & basil salad, some couscous with mint, spinach and goat cheese, brie cheese, peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies… that was for lunch. For dinner we got salads from the salad bar, I got some baked potato soup… a crusty Baggett to eat with my soup… and of course dessert again… This time I chose a lemon meringue cupcake… and Beth got a slice of Italian Cream Cake… both were yummy… We also found a $3 insulated bag to keep all our yummy food in….we rolled out full tummies into bed early…. We have a long day tomorrow
Saturday (Day 4) – We had to be up and out the door early this morning… Today is CLASS DAY! We are both signed up to take full day classes. I am taking the “Market Basket” class and Beth took the “Photos, Fabrics and Words”. The morning part of my basket class was very frustrating… at the beginning of the class the teacher says to relax that this class is not for those who are perfectionist… I sigh a big sigh of relief… because I am NOT a perfectionist… but as the class goes on I sure wish I was a tad bit more of a perfectionist… I am stringing the bottom of my basket and it is too loose… so I start to go back and tighten it… moving the looseness to the ends… then POP the round reed breaks… I have to take extra time and fix it…. Now I am behind and getting more and more frustrated…. The bottom of the basket has these cute little feet that are part if the design… and I am thinking my basket it NEVER going to turn out looking like the example… I continue to weave and created….My tablemate… Kaitlyn is from Houston and is a CPA and a very encouraging person… we hit is off right away… and we talk and talk and talk…. Early on I see that I forgot my towel… she tells me no problem she has an extra… Since she was so sweet I invite her to come and eat my gourmet lunch with me and Beth… I tell her it’s from Central Market and she doesn’t hesitate and says “Yes! Thank You!”. It’s finally noon and we break for lunch… We enjoy a nice lunch out in the open air patio… the weather here has been just beautiful. Beth brings another friend she has met up with to have lunch with us too… so we all just sit and chat…. After lunch Kaitlyn and I head back to our class and get back to work… I am feeling much more confident in my basket making… I can see my little basket legs starting to form… I am chatting and weaving… The day progresses fast… and it takes me an hour longer than the class to get my basket completed… We help the teacher clean up and decide where we want to eat dinner… Kaitlyn suggests a restaurant called Tortilla Lupe… and I invite her and her husband to join us… I ordered Cheekin Lupe … it was so good. Beth had Carne Asada and she wasn’t happy with it… I told the waitress it was Beth’s birthday and they came and put a sombrero on her head and sung Happy Birthday to her in Spanish… I don’t think she really enjoyed it!! She was good about it anyway!!
Sunday (Day 5) – No specific plans today! We get up slowly and decided that we want to head over to Galveston to see the beach and the devastation from Ike. We were very surprised that we were able to get over to the island. The devastation was amazing, there are still sailboats sitting next to the highway. The beaches are strewn with debris… We were able to walk along the shoreline. But you would see doors, and other items deposited there by the storm. We drove up and down the strand just looking in awe at what Ike did… By late afternoon we were ready to head back to Houston. But on the way back we saw a Ross Dress for Less. I had forgotten how much I love that store. I found a toy for Angel and 2 outfits for Abby. We also saw a Garden Ridge store and made a run thru it to see what it had… We quit shopping because we decided we were hungry… we hadn’t eaten so we found a Mexican restaurant, Poppasita’s and had dinner… I had fish tacos and Beth had fajitas… we were so full when we were done… we rolled back over to hotel and started getting ready for the crack of dawn departure…
Now I am home and right back into the everyday grind!!
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