Got home from Houston a couple of days ago, and the first thing I did was don my Boulderware (that’s code for jeans, a t-shirt, and a pair of flip flops), dug out my cloth grocery bags, and hightailed it to my local organic food market. Now that I’m a little more refreshed and fortified, I'd like to offer some Festival highlights!
New this year to Make It University!: Our Graffiti Wall (With many thanks to ilovetocreate.com for the paint and drawing supplies)
Someone took a look at all of the fun we were having at our brand new graffiti wall where Workshop attendees could leave their mark, and asked, “Is this where I can drop off my kid?” I took this as the highest form of a compliment. The festivities at Make It University! certainly invited everyone to play: kids and young at heart alike.
I love the transformation of this wall over the four days…
Lots of fun was had in the Make It University area/Quilting Arts booth. One of our favorite activities was getting police officers to walk the quilt beat and proudly wear International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene stickers!
Meet Cheryl Slaboda (a.k.a. Muppin, one of our QA forum moderators). This was her first time at Festival in Houston, same for Lindsey Murray (right), our new Assistant Editor; Special Projects.
Above: The cast responsible for putting on "Surviving the Runway" (I could not do it without them.) This time we had a Carmen Miranda theme where designers were asked to make a fruity outfit using pipe cleaners, colored duct tape, balloons, plastic fruit, fake flowers, you name it....all the while listening to island music. From left to right: me, Melanie Testa, Judy Perez, Jane LaFazio, Jamie Fingal, and Leslie Jenison.
Above: Managing Editor Helen Gregory couldn't leave the register during "Surviving the Runway," but proved (again and again) she's truly a dancing queen at heart.
At one point one of the police officers stormed into the "Surviving the Runway" challenge and declared, "Quilters are the BEST group of women I know! I love you guys!!!" (And us quilters love the Houston police!)
After Hours Spooning
If you've every read Jamie Fingal's blog, you might know she has a thing for spoons, and for the first time, us editors decided to test our spooning abilities. Who knew Helen possessed such talents...
Me? Not so much...
Many thanks to Elaine Dunn for bidding (and winning) my "celebrity UFO" at Quiltapalooza! (And Elaine, let me know if you'd like me to make a label!)
All in all, I want to thank everyone for coming out to play and making Make It University! a total blast. See you next year...
