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Thursday, November 8, 2012

Texas Junk Co.


On my last full day of International Quilt Festival, I hitched a ride to Texas Junk Co. with some of the friendly folks who work behind the scenes at The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. We were in search of cheap cowboy boots, and a little bit of Texas atmosphere. 

Texas Junk Co. looks like junk on the outside, but a charming, funky kind of junk. You can find it at 215 Welch Street in Houston. Look for this sign:


The outside of the store boasts:


And there’s lots of interesting and amusing stuff on the outside of the building: 








When you walk in the door (and there were people lined up for the store to open, to get first dibs on the boots!) this is what you see:


That, and a TON of boots. Yee-haw!


This is the owner (for more than 30 years), Robert:


I found a pair I liked!


 Randi tried on a fancy pair:


There’s lots of other cool stuff, including hundreds of vintage frames:




Cowboy hats:





Vintage albums:


You know you need this! (Well, not really, but isn’t it fun?)


Tennis anyone?


Robert stretches out a boot for a customer:


Mary Kay wore her cowboy hat back to International Quilt Festival, looking quite a bit more Texan than she was before shopping:


 Maybe she wanted to look more like Ricky!


Check out the slideshow featuring me and this trip on The Quilt Show’s blog!

International Quilt Festival – Houston 2012, Part 4


Here are more of the quilts I loved at Festival this year… enjoy!

It’s All in My Head by Beth Porter Johnson
Dear Friends by Michiko Yanagihara and 8 friends

Dear Friends (detail) by Michiko Yanagihara and 8 friends

Tree by Kathy York

The Garden by Helia Ricci

Tutti Fruitti Village by Sue Bleiweiss
Honorable Mention
Art-Whimsical
Sponsored by Quiltmaker

The Magical Mermaid’s Castle by Claudia Pfeil

The Magical Mermaid’s Castle (detail) by Claudia Pfeil
Crime Scene Investigation by Pauline Salzman
Second Place
Art-Whimsical
Sponsored by Quiltmaker
Belief, Intuition, and Faith by Sharon Schamber & Gail E. Thomas
Belief, Intuition, and Faith (detail) by Sharon Schamber & Gail E. Thomas
Belief, Intuition, and Faith (detail) by Sharon Schamber & Gail E. Thomas
Around the Block by Karen EckmeierHonorable Mention
Art-Whimsical
Sponsored by Quiltmaker
Around the Block (detail) by Karen EckmeierHonorable Mention
Art-Whimsical
Sponsored by Quiltmaker
Family by Toshiko MaedaThird Place
Art-Whimsical
Sponsored by Quiltmaker

AND
$250 Judge’s Choice Award (Charlotte Warr Andersen)
Sponsored by Jackie’s Animas Quilts

A Luthier’s Dream by Betty New
First Place, Art-Abstract, Small
Sponsored by Benartex, Inc.
Fantasy Seedpods by Elizabeth Camping
Honorable Mention
Art-Abstract, Small
Sponsored by Benartex, Inc.
Fantasy Seedpods (detail) by Elizabeth CampingHonorable Mention
Art-Abstract, Small
Sponsored by Benartex, Inc.
Positano by Daniela Marco & Arnoldi Sarzi-Sartori
The Mother of Girl Scouts by Jamie Fingal
Community Garden by Kathy York
In the Desert by Shiela Frampton-Cooper
Sunflowers by Kathleen Van Lieu
Sunflowers (detail) by Kathleen Van Lieu
Little Lilly by Georgann Wrinkle                                                                    
Typographic Circle by Emily Cier
Typographic Circle (detail) by Emily Cier
Stokrozen by Ans Schipper-Vermeiren
Miss Bucket by Ria Varkevisser

Miss Bucket (detail) by Ria Varkevisser
I bought this wonderful little quilt from the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative; it is made up of a bunch of tiny hexagons, all hand pieced and hand quilted. I LOVE IT! AAQI raised $75,000 at this year’s Festival! You can read more about the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Intiative here.
Vintage by Eileen Fry

Vintage (detail) by Eileen Fry
I bought this art postcard from Pokey Bolton’s Pet Project booth; with the help of hundreds of quilt artists who donated their work, she raised a TON of money for Pets for Life, Houston’s no-kill animal shelter. In the first full day of Festival, they had brought in more than $10,000! (I don’t know the total yet.) See more of Jeannie’s work on her website. You can read about the Pet Project on Pokey’s blog here.
Woof, Woof! by Jeannie Palmer Moore