Touring Houston

Before we left Houston last Monday we did manage to see some of the sights when we visted a number of houses which have been relocated at Sam Houston Park. We had a guided tour and saw many different homes and how they would have been decorated at the time. There was even a quilt on one of the beds and the years spanned from the 1840s up to the 1940s.
A lovely little area in the middle of Houston, surrounded by high rise buildings and yet portraying a different life.
Then we flew to DC on Monday and our first visit was to the DAR Museum on Tuesday. We had a guided tour and saw some fabulous appliqued quilts from the 1840s and I was in heaven, being able to study them at close range.
We've stopped buying fabric and booksw and now we're buying patterns and pins. Actually I also bought a couple of books about the historical background of quilts. We're loving seeing Washington DC, the fall leaves are out everwhere and the weather is lovely and sunny. More to come.
Hugs Janmac

Finally Some Quilts

These are some of my favourite quilts from Houston Festival. The second one is by Chris Serong fron Essendon Quilters, Vic. The last quilt is Rachael Dennehy's prize winning quilt.
We're offf to bed now after a very big day of touring some of the Smithsonian Museums in DC. We saw original paintings from Renoir, VanGogh, Monet, Cezanne etc and couldn't believ that the people who love here can see them whenever they want to and admission is free. We also saw some quilts and the red slippers from Wizard of Oz.
Another big day of sightseeing planned tomorrow so I'm off to bed now.
Hug Jan Mac

Aussie Quilting Royalty and Others

Here's the lovely Rachael Dennehy with her award winning quilt at Houston. We were all so happy for her and her lovely Mum who had flown over for the Quilt Festival.
We also had celebrations with Lisa Walton who was awarded the Pearl Jewel scholarship by the IQA.
We also saw other Australian quilting royalty, in the form of Jenny Bowker and Mariya Waters. Also met up with Robyn O. and Christine C. who were on a tour with quilters from Brisbane.
We had a fabulous time and flew to Washington DC for more sightseeing.
Here's some of the Aussie quilters basking in the glory of the specail quilters who were acknowledged. Also had fun with Sue du Vanny and her friend Marcelle from Vic.
More to come. Hugs Jan Mac

Bonding in the US

Just wanted to write a quick blog about the people we've met during our travels to Houston. We were advised not to be too friendly or chat to the US customs officers as they won't like it. However, after I was fingered printed and photographed I felt that we were developing a bond and he started to ask about our travel plans. Then Julie came up and after fingerprinting her- she was dusted for gunpowder residue as her hands were too sweaty for the prints to record well. She was also patted down in Auckland but I can assure you that she's harmless. Anyway as we left after chatting, he advised us not to get into any trouble and I told him that we're too old for that- little did he know.
Then we went over to the airline for our flight to Houston and tried for an earlier flight instead of waiting for the 5 or 6 hours. We'd cleared customs very quickly despite them screening Julie for all manner of things!! We were placed on stand by and we bonded with a very nice young man who we are now on a first name basis with. We went from being unlikely to getting on the flight, as it was over-booked, to being a possibility. Then he thought he could do it and we were giving him the thumbs up sign. Finally he got us on the flight and even personally escorted us on the plane and waved us off. He'll look us up if he can find us! We arrived in Houston before we would have left LA so we were very happy albeit tired. I felt very much at home with the exception of almost getting into the shuttle bus driver's seat- I hadn't realized that the doors were reveresed and the driver wasn't very amused- no bonding took place.
We made friends with the hotel staff and we know them by name. Of course at the Quilt Festival there was all manner of bonding occuring. We've been Quilting Groupies and have been rubbing shoulders with the Quilting Royalty. A few of them are shown here. I know that you'll say that we know Julie and Jan but who are the others?
I did a half day class with The Baltimore Master Quilter- Elly Sienkiewicz. I was under strict instructions from Julie not to drool over her or touch her too much. I didn't care whether or not I stitched, I was just happy to be in the same room as her. She was a wonderful teacher and a delightful lady. She even remembered the book she'd put aside for me and signed it as well. I'm not going to wash my right cheek now as she gave me a kiss and a hug so I am still bonding with the best of them. This was a long dreamed of event for me and I'm very happy.
We also bonded with Judith Baker Montarno over a coffee.









Had a hug and photo with Ricky Tims and Julie was cheeky enough to invite him to Tasmania. We've both agreed to see him when he comes over.
I also bonded with Ami Simms when I bought a small wall hanging to aid Alzheimer's Disease, as we've both lost our lovely Mums to this horrible disease. We had a cry togther and she now has one of my tissues. What a lovely lady and she was an absolute hoot at the auction social event and we hadn't even had much to drink at that stage.
We're off to DC in the morning and if and when I have time from all this bonding we're doing I may even show some photos of the quilts at the Show. Believe it or not we did actually managed to fit in some viewing in between bonding and shopping.
I've asked Julie not to encourage me to buy anymore fabric at least for a day or so as we've crammed a lot of fabric into the cases and are seriously thinking of ditching most of our clothes. Off to bed now to dream of the adventures to come- we're hoping we may get to bond with the Obamas even if they don't quilt!!
Hugs Julie and Jan

What a Busy Week!

We started with a busy day of shopping at the Galleria where we visited the huge shoe outshop where we bolstered the US economy considerably. After all we couldn't buy fabric at the Quilt Festival until Wednesday night. I almost bought a pirate coat and Julie almost bought a silly hat! Luckily common sense almost prevailed and I only bought Texan boots.
Then on Wednesady we did a shop hop and had a lunch at a Texan ranch. Of course we had to buy fabric, in fact we had to buy a lot of fabric. We returned at 5pm just in time for the quilt shops to open at the Festival. Luckily we had not bought enough fabric and the force was too strong to be resisted. I started with a list and at the end of the 4 hours I had almost more bags than I could carry but had not even started on my list. Luckily the shops were open again and I started a new list!
I also managed to get a bit of fresh air as we've been walking everywhere and here is a Texan policeman handing out a ticket. Apparently you need a horse in Texas but Julie won't let me get one so I'll have to settle for a stetson.

We also saw a motor cade stop all the traffic outside our hotel and heard it was for a US football team. We told the doorman that not even our prime minister gets that sort of special treatment. He said we could have one too if we paid $100 a hour for the experience but we decided that we'd rather buy fabric. Actually We've stopped buying fabric now and we are buying books instead!
Sorry that I've been quiet on my blog- apparently I haven't been quiet over here and we've been having plenty of fun. Unfortunately Helen decided that she wasn't well enough to continue with the trip and returned home last evening. At least she managed to go on the shop hop and see some of the Festival.
I'd better close now as I have a class in the morning and we both need our beauty sleep. Well actually only I need it as Julie still looks fresh- all that Tasmaniin air she gets on the sunny East Coast.
Cheers until hopefully tomorrow when I'll report on the people we've been rubbing shoulders with over here.
Cheers, Jan and Julie

Everything is BIG in Texas

This is tonight's evening meal which is a normal burger and of course I couldn't eat it all. which is a shame. I am trying as many new experiences as possible and today I tried iced tea which was quite good a cosmopolitan and I had a champagne cocktail last evening. Unfortunately we are still trying to adjust our body clocks to a different time schedule and we lay awake until about 4.30am and then got up at 8am. We're going to try for an ealier night tonight and take a b us trip to the Galleria tomorrow for shopping.
Today Macy's department store kept us entertained for a few hours and then we found a book store which for me is almost as good as a quilt shop so we are managing to fill in time very easily.
We've all purchased a CELL now and the rate was $20 for a phone and a plan of 10 cents for each minute, Unbelievable compared to our rates at home.
We're still playing nicely and making new friends. We've entertained one of the shuttle3 bus drivers who asked if we were from the outback and he loves to hear us talk. Of course then we couldn't think of anything to say... for at least 20 seconds. We were lucky enough to catch a ride with him again and he went out of his way to show us an historic site- which confused a couple of the other passengers who didn't realize we were doing a side tour.
Most people think we are English and when they hear we are from Australia they usually say- I've always wanted to visit New Zealand!
Better get off to bed now.
Hugs Jan Mac

Howdy from Houston

Thank you for all your well wishes and I'm going to try to update the blog daily so you can share our adventures if you are interested in what excitement we're having.
Firstly we traveled virtually non-stop since we left home. I left at 6.30am on Sat 30th for a 2 hour drive to Melbourne. I met Julie and Helen there and we boarded our Air New Zealand flight to Auckland. Then after a quick change of planes we flew to LA over night. While we waited for a wheelchair for Helen, The crew invited us to look around the aircraft and of course we had to try out the sleeping area in first class. Then we were whisked through customs and after a quick trip to the next terminal we managed to get an earlier flight to Houston which saved us 5 or 6 hours of waiting at the airport.
We were very happy to arrive at the Hyett Regency, have a light meal and finally get to bed after about 30 hours with no sleep.
Of course we slept in, missed breakfast and after lunch we took a stroll around downtown Houston. Julie and I then walked to the convention centre to get our class schedules. While waiting in line we met up with our friend, Sue McPhee, again and also the lovely Jenny Bowker. After a sort time, standing in line we started chatting with other quilters in line to get some info about things we need. I asked one lovely lady about where to buy a mobile phone and she had no idea what I was saying. Finally I realized that I needed to ask about a cell phone!!
Then as we left to explore a bit I saw Quilting Royalty- Elly Sienkiewicz! I went over and introduced myself and asked about her new book that she's selling at the Festival. She is going to put one aside for me and sign it as I'm doing a half day class with her on Sunday, which will be the highlight of my visit and a long- dreamed of experience. Julie tells me that I was patting and touching her as only I can as I am apparently a touchy-feely person. I wasn't aware that I was doing it but then realized that I can remember the feel of the jacket she was wearing. We had many laughs as I realized how audacious I was.
After a lesson in what iced coffee US style is- we need to ask for an "iced coffee with room" which means room for milk as iced coffee here is expresso over ice and not the coffee milk shake we have at home. Then I guess it's safe to divulge that Julie and I actually entered the Quilt Market and wandered around for an hour, acting knowledgeable about fabric lines and patterns as well as patchwork techniques. We visited the site of the Texas Quilt Museum and I was photographed in front of a vintage quilt which I coveted.
We then couldn't get to sleep until about 4 am but awoke at 8am and we're determined to get through the day and get our body clocks re-set, but coffee may be needed. We were just too excited about rubbing shoulders with Royalty and all the things we'd seen at Market. We didn't attmpt to purchase and just said that we were too tired to make a decision and would return later.
Today we're off to a luncheon lecture and then may shop at the Galleria. We are all looking for a US cell that we can use to stay in touch while we are apart during the day.
Better get a shower now and then off to explore. We are laughing lots and will have heaps more to tell. I feel very much at home here but things are just on a bigger scale than at home. Everyone is very friendly and we are having a ball.
Till later, Hugs Jan mac