The Texas Quilt Museum.

 Yesterday we took a day bus trip to see some of the areas surrounding Houston. First we visited the Texas Quilt Museum at La Grange. The exhibits change every three months and the current exhibition consists of 45 quilts collected by Del Thomas. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos but the diverse type of quilts were stunning modern quilts. Next door to the museum lies a quilt shop - the Quilted Skein. They also sell lovely yarns too and they have a wonderful selection of batiks. Some retail therapy was indulged in before lunch.
  We ate a delicious fresh lunch in La Grange and then drove to Round Top to see some historic buildings. Sadly no quilts were involved. On our way back to Houston we stopped off at another quilt shop - Quilter's Emporium. We were warmly greeted and it is another lovely shop with a wide variety of fabric, including lots of civil war reproductions.
  It was a fun day but a long 12 hour day so I slept in until 9 am today. Now I'm enjoying some stitching time before going back to the Convention Centre for the announcement of the winners in the different quilt categories.
  Hugs, Jan Mac

Spectacular Quilt Snippits.

I'm waiting for my flight from DC to Houston  and the internet is fast at the airport so I've uploaded some moe photos of the DAR exhibition. The quilting on the pink and cream quilt was extraordinary. The quilters of those days quilted feathers in the borders as well as other symbols which had meaning for their family. Sorry I hasn't had time or internet access to post the photos in order but you can get the general idea of their workmanship and beauty. 

D.C. Has had beautiful warm weather and now I'm off for more quilts inspiration at Houston. 

Hugs, Jan Mac

More Fabulous Quilts at the DAR.

 

 Another wonderful day of studying and appreciating the Baltimore and Maryland Album quilts at the DAR. The fine quilting and trap unto was wonderful and the Eye on Elegance exhibition is inspirational. I'm so happy that I made the time to come to D.C. to see it. I can recommend it to anyone who loves quilts. There is also an online version if you are unable to travel to D.C.
  Tomorrow I'm off to the International Quilt Festival at Houston for more quilts inspiration.

Eye on Elegance at the DAR Museum.

After about five hours sleep I made my way to the DAR Museum today. Their Eye on Elegance exhibition has just opened and consists of pieced and appliquéd quilts from the 1700s to the mid 1800s. There were several Baltimore Album quilts on display as part of the Exhibition and believe me - they are stunning. It was worth making the trip from Australia just for this Exhibition. I had a wonderful time studying them and I plan to go back again tomorrow. I spent a few hours walking in the warm sunshine after leaving the DAR as I was trying to reset my internal body clock to US time.  Now I'm trying to stay awake for awhile. One advantage of staying at this apartment is that I can prepare my meals and I bought up groceries at a nearby mart. Now I'm finishing off some more back basting.  I hope you enjoy my photos of the DAR. More to come tomorrow.

Hugs, Jan Mac

Good Morning Washington DC.

After a long day and a half of traveling I was very happy to arrive in DC. It was lovely to find the apartment I'd booked was very nice and also close to the White House, the DAR museum and also the Smithsonian museums. Sleeping was a challenge due to jet lag so I'm off to walk today and I'll try to reset my internal alarm clock.

Hugs, Jan Mac