Houston International Quilt Show 2010

I am very envious of all those quilters who are going to be attending the International Quilt Show 2010 in Houston, Texas this week! Having been there in 2001, I know what a spectacular week they will have. I have been monitoring some of the posts from there.

• Susan Brubaker Knapp has posted a few pictures of Quilt Market on her site, Blue Moon River. Quilt Market opens October 30 - November 1. This is a Trade show only and not open to the general public. The International Quilt Festival opens to the general public November 4 - 7. Susan has beautiful art work on her site so don't forget to have a look. It's very inspiring!

• Rose Hughes from Raven Speak Quilts already has two posts with photos. 

• Alex and Ricky from The Quilt Show have updates from Houston too.

• Lisa Walton, textile artist from Sydney, Australia shares some of her Houston experiences with us. 

I'm looking forward to seeing more of the posts as the week progresses.

Ginkgo Tree

I saw my first ginkgo tree in London, not far from my hotel. Its fan shaped leaves are very beautiful. I can see some future art on the horizon - maybe! Until now, I didn't feel like using the ginkgo leaf as it wasn't from my own experience. That is not the case anymore.
Apparently the ginkgo is the oldest known species of trees on earth. Check out the links for more information on these magnificent trees.

bark of Ginkgo tree

Some art using the ginkgo tree for inspiration:
Nancy Cook
Gladys Love (scroll down)
Denna Hardin
Fabric pile 
Ann Fahl 
Stained glass / quilt pattern  (scroll down)

Find My Fabric

Just when I was wondering what the next blog topic would be ... I get an email newsletter with an idea. This bit of inspiration comes from Superior Threads. 

hand woven Guatemalan fabric

What if you ran out of a specific fabric for a project and needed a bit more to complete it? None of your quilting buddies has any! Not only that, you don't remember the name of the manufacturer, collection or designer of the fabric. Well, now there is an innovative fabric search engine, Find My Fabric, that finds fabric and quilting supplies from online sources. Either scan your fabric or take a photo of it and upload it to the search engine (it's easy to do, just click on the camera icon and follow the directions), and if the fabric is out there, an online retailer is located for you. How easy is that?

#2 Textile Art from Knitting & Stitch Show, London

Just Photos

Textile Art from Knitting & Stitch Show, London

Here are a few photos I took at the Knitting and Stitch Show, Alexandra Palace, London.

Raphael's Sistine Chapel Tapestries

While in England, I had the opportunity to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The focus for the visit was on four outstanding tapestries designed by Raphael for the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican and the Raphael Cartoons  from which they were woven. 'The Cartoons have been on display at the V & A since 1865 but the tapestries have never been shown before in the UK. This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to see these stunning designs and tapestries together - something Raphael himself never witnessed. The Acts of St. peter and St. Paul are the only surviving tapestries designed by Raphael and were commissioned almost 500 years ago by the Medici Pope Leo X for the Sistine Chapel. Both the Cartoons and the tapestries are renowned masterpieces of High Renaissance art'. The photo shown is from the V & A Web Site.

While catching up on my email (I had lots to read), I found that Mary Corbet's Needle 'N Thread - October 1 newsletter, made reference to these same tapestries. But the best thing, she had a link to an online video about them. Have a look! Photos of the tapestries were not permitted.

World Quilt Competition

I'm still trying to get through all the emails I received while in England. I just came across a video from The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims which I want to share with you. The quilts are just stunning! Apparently, every year at the Pacific International Quilt Festival there is a World Quilt Competition. Check out the gallery at this site.

I'm Back!!

Home again! I left Heathrow Airport at 10 am London time and got home around supper time here in Newfoundland. London is about four hours later than here so it is well past my bedtime. I had a marvelous time traveling throughout England. My finger is tired from clicking so many pictures. Thank goodness for digital photography as I took oodles of photos which I will be sharing on future posts. On this trip, I did meet several textile artists whose work I have admired. More on these special artists later.

City of York - UK

Today I walked around the older part of York. The architecture is fantastic. I just love the old, old buildings as they have so much character. This afternoon our group had a special presentation by the museum curator of the Quilters Guild of the UK. We saw such wonderful quilted pieces as well as the quilts in the gallery. After that we did a bit of shopping and walked back to the hotel via the old wall that surrounds the city.

I'm writing this blog on my new ipad while on the road. It has been a learning experience. I will post photos when I return home.