International Quilt Festival

My sister and I were privileged to attend the 2015 International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas this last weekend. What an experience!  We came home with our brains bursting with inspiration and ideas!

Among my favorite vendors was Isabelle Biche of L'atelier D'Isabelle. 

Isabelle Biche of L'Atelier D'Isabelle

Her gorgeous, beautifully worked samples were very popular among shoppers. She uses linen and wool for charming little projects in colors that are light and cheerful. I bought the kit for the little "Poules Mouillees" in the center of the photo. (It is 30cm x 45cm or a little smaller than 12" x 18")

Isabelle graciously gave me permission to take a photo of her and of the little projects here.)

 She had some Christmas projects that were really gorgeous, but she had sold out there at the show. 

(I don't even pretend to speak French, but I tried to find the translations of the words around the border of the stitchery. It reads, "Pied de poule - lait de poule - chair de poule - poule mouillee - poule au pot - mere poule." Now I knew that "poule" was chicken because that is close to the Spanish "pollo" for chicken. The more literal translation of the words is  "chicken feet", "eggnog", "goosebumps", "wet hen or sissy chicken"(?), "chicken pie", "mother hen". Now I know some of you (I have a couple in mind!) are probably laughing at my attempt at translation! Is this a children's song? Just a play on words? It really doesn't matter to me because I think it's adorable! 

Check out some of her projects on her website here. 

We spent two days at the show and didn't have near enough time to really take it all in. 

Besides antique and traditional quilts, were

 the whimsical,

You Are My Sunshine by Bodil Gardner of Lystrup, Denmark

the pictorial,

Napa Valley Vineyard with Red Barn by Cathie Hoover

  and even the abstract!

The Patriots of Boston by Loris Bogue (this is actually a map of Boston showing the Freedom walk!)

 There were also dolls!

"Pinwheel" by Angela Jarecki

 There were so many, many more items that I would love to have shown you, but many could not be photographed and there were too many to show here! 

 This was a huge building, but there were nice places to rest.

I wonder how many of you I passed while walking along the aisles?

 

Buying Fabric at the Thrift Shop! (with an important update!)

I love looking through thrift shops. I usually am drawn to the dishes, books, or furniture, but I recently picked up some wool that I will later "felt" and use in wool applique. (I love to recycle when I can!)

If you see the symbol above, you  know you have 100% wool. You want to find wool that is at least 80% wool. Several readers have told me that 70% wool/30% nylon works also and has a softer feel after felting. I also learned that if it says Worsted Wool, as in the label below, it may not felt at all! I did test a little piece and the rough handling made it shrink and felt some, but the worsting process is supposed to prevent that!

You will need to prepare the wool by cutting all seams apart so that it will draw up evening when you wash it.

 Also cut the waistbands off and remove linings, hem tape, zippers, and buttons.

I paid less than $30 for 8 large skirts and got two nice sized stacks of wool after cutting them apart. I can hand dye them to get colors I need, but I did try to find as many different colors as possible. A later trip yielded a bright yellow and a bright red sweater to use. (Yes, you can even felt knitted garments!) I can use them for wool applique, pin cushions, and many other pretty things.
Be sure to save the buttons! Have you seen the price of buttons in the store?

To felt the wool, the easiest way is use your washing machine There are many factors that will make a difference in how much your wool felts and shrinks. They include how hot the water is, the hardness of your water,  the dye used in your wool, the soap or detergent, and the amount of agitation the piece gets. You may have accidentally felted a wool sweater in the past! If you did, you know it wasn't hard to do. The wool will shrink sometimes to half it's size, so watch closely so that you can pull it out when the wool is just the way you want it. Rinse it in cool water so that the "scales" on the fibers lock together. You can put it in the dryer, but check first to be sure it is squared up.
Another method is to boil the wool on your stove. I am going to have to purchase a cheap enameled pot large enough for this. I will use it only for my wool, as my chemist husband informed me that dyes are chemicals that can be poisonous and you don't want to cook food in the same pot. I'll be sure and show you what I make from my wool!

                                                        House update: We have hired someone taking up the stone tile for us! We gave up on getting it out by ourselves. UGH! Sometimes it pays to just have something done! I'll show a picture when it's up. We will have to do some work in the kitchen before the new flooring is installed.

View from my bedroom balcony. It's beginning to look like spring in the Texas hill country!