A couple of weeks ago I spent two wonderful days at the Houston International Quilt Show 2008. What fun! If you've never gone to a quilt show like this one, you've missed a treat. Quilts don't always look like the one your grandmother put on her bed. Quilting has EVOLVED!! Each year we have special exhibits at our quilt show. One year there were Amish quilts -- another we saw quilts from Gees Bend. We see quilt journals, traditional pieced quilts, art quilts, antique quilts and quilts as fresh as this morning's newspaper. A variety of styles and colors and techniques and materials and . . . and . . . oh, just so many different things that you literally hit sensory overload and have to stop looking for a while to let your mind rest.

What can you do then? Why, shop of course! Several hundred vendors set up booths and what a treat it is to shop up and down the vendor aisles. So many things you never knew you just had to have! The fat quarters alone will make your heart sing.
Thousands of fat quarters to browse through! Oh, they do delight my eyes.

Gadgets galore! Now, we aren't going to talk about just how many of my purchases have gone directly into a drawer never to be seen again. Nope, won't talk about those! But I will tell you that this year I bought a circle cutter. I've wanted one for ages and I really got a great buy. Anybody need a circle cut? I can do a perfect one.

Each year I look at all the new machines and drool over them. Oh, to have a long arm quilter! But, what room will I empty out to accommodate it? Don't have one and don't do enough quilting to justify having one, either, so . . .

This year I confess I did more than look at machines, however. I bought a new Viking Husqvarna Topaz 30. This is the embroidery machine that comes with two hoops and a multitude of patterns. I haven't even gotten it out of the box yet BUT next week, when things slow down a little, I'm going to get it out and play!! I'll let you know how it turns out!

I had planned to put a slide show on with quilt show pictures BUT, once again I can't get that option to work. Sigh. Oh, well, I'll keep trying. Meanwhile, I'll just play with my new machine. Should be able to really make something beautiful, right? Should be.