Red and white quilts at International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas

Attending the International Quilt Festival is an amazing experience. It is the time when quilters from around the world converge on Houston Texas to view the finest quilts, buy the newest, cutting edge supplies and learn from the most talented teachers.

I took a reverse appliqué class from Dierdra McElroy. I learned a lot about how to make my work more precise.

O.V. Brantley and Dierdra McElroy in Reverse Applique class, Houston, TX

Although there were literally hundreds of quilts to drool over, I enjoyed the red and white exhibit the best.

O.V. Brantley with a red and white sampler quilt, Houston, TX

As for shopping, I increased my stash of Japanese taupe fabrics and started a collection of hand dyed fabrics by Cherrywood. I bought lots of thread, needles and scissors, mainly because you can never have too much.

What really made quilt festival special for me, however, was sharing it with my friends Roz, Marva and Brenda. I can’t wait for next year!

Brenda Shelby, Marva Swanson, O.V. Brantley and Rosalind Newell enjoy the International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX