Catching Up or Trying to–Finally!

I cannot believe it’s been more than six weeks since I last posted, but it’s true. I had a wonderful time in Houston at the International Quilt Festival and prior to that in San Antonio. But just one day after returning home I came down with a cold. It seemed to improve after several days, but then became suddenly worse, turning into a sinus infection. That took two weeks of my time. I’ve been trying to catch up ever since from signing up for 2017’s health care to attending a family wedding to now Christmas cards–yes, I still send some out–and gift shopping. Plus, my nephew Nick and wife Samantha had a new baby boy three weeks ago. Whew!

I took lots of pictures of my trip to Texas and I’m going to post them, even late. One of the goals of my blog is to serve as a personal record along with communicating with other quilters and artists. So here goes the first installment.

We spent the first three days of the week-long trip at the Menger Hotel in San Antonio, arriving the day before Halloween. The Menger is an historic hotel, built in 1859, with a reputation of being haunted. Perfect for the holiday. The staff wore T-shirts that said, “I survived the Menger Hotel.” Well, I did, too. Didn’t see anything untoward or the least bit scary.

But what I did see and enjoy was the way the Menger gets into the Halloween spirit. The pianist frequently played “The Phantom of the Opera.” How appropriate and a beautiful song.

Hotel staff participated in a pumpkin carving contest. Here are my two favorites. I was struck by Cinderella and her coach as I carved a pumpkin based on Cinderella when I was in my twenties for a contest held by one of the banks I worked for.

Not only was it Halloween, but the next day was the Day of the Dead. I loved these figures on the Riverwalk, which is a network of walkways one story beneath the city center’s streets. A series of shops and restaurants run alongside the river.

We visited a mission outside the city. The church interior was lovely but photographs were not allowed or I would have taken some. This mission is not original but a recreation based upon the foundations which were all left standing.

 

We traveled to Texas hill country and spent an afternoon in Fredericksberg. A walk around town proved you can find quilts anywhere. This one hung in the welcome center and was done by quilters from the town’s sister city in Germany.

From San Antonio we traveled to the Texas Quilt Museum on our way to Houston. I’ve been to the museum before. Exhibitions are changed every three months and feature a combination of antique/vintage quilts and contemporary work. I traveled all the way from Portland to see quilts from the collection of Bill Volckening who also lives here in Portland and with whom I did two articles when I was with American Quilters magazine. It truly is a small world. The museum does not allow photographs. The two pictures I took are of the building’s exterior and garden.

Next up will be pics of quilts at the show!