diff --git a/include/qcontext/qcontext.h b/include/qcontext/qcontext.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..845d1a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/qcontext/qcontext.h
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+/*
+ * QContext: QEMU event loop context class
+ *
+ * Copyright IBM Corp. 2013
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *  Michael Roth      <mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+ * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ */
+#ifndef QCONTEXT_H
+#define QCONTEXT_H
+
+#include "qom/object.h"
+#include "qcontext/qsource.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
+#include "qemu/thread.h"
+
+/* QContext base class */
+
+typedef struct QContext QContext;
+
+typedef struct QContextClass {
+    ObjectClass parent_class;
+
+    /* called after QContext id property has been set */
+    void (*set_id_hook)(QContext *ctx, const char *name, Error **errp);
+
+    /* QContext event loop functions, abstract interfaces */
+    bool (*prepare)(QContext *ctx, int *timeout);
+    bool (*poll)(QContext *ctx, int timeout);
+    bool (*check)(QContext *ctx);
+    void (*dispatch)(QContext *ctx);
+    void (*notify)(QContext *ctx);
+
+    /* QSource registration, abstract interfaces */
+    void (*attach)(QContext *ctx, QSource *qsource, Error **errp);
+    void (*detach)(QContext *ctx, QSource *qsource, Error **errp);
+    QSource *(*find_source_by_name)(QContext *ctx, const char *name);
+} QContextClass;
+
+struct QContext {
+    Object parent_obj;
+    Object *container;
+    char *id;
+    QemuThread thread;
+    bool threaded;
+    bool should_run;
+};
+
+#define TYPE_QCONTEXT "qcontext"
+#define QCONTEXT(obj) OBJECT_CHECK(QContext, (obj), TYPE_QCONTEXT)
+#define QCONTEXT_CLASS(klass) OBJECT_CLASS_CHECK(QContextClass, (klass), TYPE_QCONTEXT)
+#define QCONTEXT_GET_CLASS(obj) OBJECT_GET_CLASS(QContextClass, (obj), TYPE_QCONTEXT)
+
+/* wrapper functions for object methods */
+
+bool qcontext_prepare(QContext *ctx, int *timeout);
+bool qcontext_poll(QContext *ctx, int timeout);
+bool qcontext_check(QContext *ctx);
+void qcontext_dispatch(QContext *ctx);
+void qcontext_notify(QContext *ctx);
+void qcontext_attach(QContext *ctx, QSource *qsource, Error **errp);
+void qcontext_detach(QContext *ctx, QSource *qsource, Error **errp);
+QSource *qcontext_find_source_by_name(QContext *ctx, const char *name);
+
+/* helper functions for working with qcontexts */
+
+QContext *qcontext_find_by_name(const char *name, Error **errp);
+bool qcontext_iterate(QContext *ctx, bool blocking);
+void qcontext_create_thread(QContext *ctx);
+void qcontext_stop_thread(QContext *ctx);
+void qcontext_register_types(void);
+
+#endif /* QCONTEXT_H */
diff --git a/qcontext/qcontext.c b/qcontext/qcontext.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..88cc86f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qcontext/qcontext.c
@@ -0,0 +1,252 @@
+/*
+ * QContext: QEMU event loop context class
+ *
+ * Copyright IBM Corp. 2013
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *  Michael Roth      <mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+ * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ */
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include "qom/object.h"
+#include "qemu/module.h"
+#include "qcontext/qcontext.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
+#include "string.h"
+
+/* TODO: this is for compatibility with -object, but really these
+ * should probably live in /qcontexts or something
+ */
+#define QCONTEXT_ROOT_CONTAINER "/objects"
+
+/* QContext property accessors */
+
+static char *qcontext_get_id(Object *obj, Error **errp)
+{
+    QContext *ctx = QCONTEXT(obj);
+
+    return ctx->id ? g_strdup(ctx->id) : NULL;
+}
+
+static void qcontext_set_id(Object *obj, const char *id, Error **errp)
+{
+    QContext *ctx = QCONTEXT(obj);
+    QContextClass *ctxk = QCONTEXT_GET_CLASS(ctx);
+    Object *root_container = container_get(object_get_root(),
+                                           QCONTEXT_ROOT_CONTAINER);
+
+    if (id) {
+        object_property_add_child(root_container, id, OBJECT(ctx), errp);
+        ctx->id = g_strdup(id);
+    } else {
+        ctx->id = object_property_add_unnamed_child(root_container,
+                                                    OBJECT(ctx), errp);
+    }
+
+    if (ctxk->set_id_hook) {
+        ctxk->set_id_hook(ctx, id, errp);
+    }
+}
+
+static char *qcontext_get_threaded(Object *obj, Error **errp)
+{
+    QContext *ctx = QCONTEXT(obj);
+
+    return ctx->threaded ? g_strdup("yes") : g_strdup("no");
+}
+
+static void qcontext_set_threaded(Object *obj, const char *threaded,
+                                  Error **errp)
+{
+    QContext *ctx = QCONTEXT(obj);
+
+    if (strcmp(threaded, "yes") == 0) {
+        ctx->threaded = true;
+        ctx->should_run = true;
+    } else if (strcmp(threaded, "no") == 0) {
+        ctx->threaded = false;
+        ctx->should_run = false;
+    } else {
+        error_setg(errp,
+                   "invalid value for \"threaded\","
+                   " must specify \"yes\" or \"no\"");
+    }
+}
+
+/* QOM interfaces */
+
+static void qcontext_initfn(Object *obj)
+{
+    /* note: controlling these as properties is somewhat awkward. these are
+     * really static initialization parameters, but we do it this way so we
+     * can instantiate from the command-line via -object.
+     */
+    object_property_add_str(obj, "id",
+                            qcontext_get_id,
+                            qcontext_set_id,
+                            NULL);
+    object_property_add_str(obj, "threaded",
+                            qcontext_get_threaded,
+                            qcontext_set_threaded,
+                            NULL);
+}
+
+static void qcontext_init_completionfn(Object *obj)
+{
+    QContext *ctx = QCONTEXT(obj);
+    QContextClass *ctxk = QCONTEXT_GET_CLASS(ctx);
+    gchar *path, *id;
+
+    /* this means we were created via -object, and were added to
+     * the qom tree outside of the "id" property setter. Update
+     * our internal structures to reflect this, and execute the
+     * set_id_hook() accordingly
+     */
+    if (!ctx->id) {
+        path = object_get_canonical_path(obj);
+        id = g_strrstr(path, "/") + 1;
+        ctx->id = g_strdup(id);
+        g_free(path);
+        if (ctxk->set_id_hook) {
+            ctxk->set_id_hook(ctx, ctx->id, NULL);
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (ctx->threaded) {
+        qcontext_create_thread(ctx);
+    }
+}
+
+static void qcontext_finalizefn(Object *obj)
+{
+    QContext *ctx = QCONTEXT(obj);
+
+    if (ctx->threaded) {
+        qcontext_stop_thread(ctx);
+    }
+}
+
+static void qcontext_class_initfn(ObjectClass *class, void *data)
+{
+}
+
+static const TypeInfo qcontext_type_info = {
+    .name = TYPE_QCONTEXT,
+    .parent = TYPE_OBJECT,
+    .instance_size = sizeof(QContext),
+    .instance_init = qcontext_initfn,
+    .instance_init_completion = qcontext_init_completionfn,
+    .instance_finalize = qcontext_finalizefn,
+    .class_size = sizeof(QContextClass),
+    .class_init = qcontext_class_initfn,
+    .abstract = true, /* this should be abstract, just for testing */
+};
+
+void qcontext_register_types(void)
+{
+    type_register_static(&qcontext_type_info);
+}
+
+/* FIXME: for some very strange reason, the constructor function this
+ * generates doesn't get executed for qemu. it does for test-qcontext
+ * though, and in both cases the constructor for glib-qcontext gets
+ * executed okay, so for now just do registration for qcontext there
+ * as well by making qcontext_register_types() a global and calling it
+ * from there
+ */
+//type_init(qcontext_register_types)
+
+/* QContext method wrappers. Somewhat redundant but it saves on typing */
+
+bool qcontext_prepare(QContext *ctx, int *timeout)
+{
+    return QCONTEXT_GET_CLASS(ctx)->prepare(ctx, timeout);
+}
+
+bool qcontext_poll(QContext *ctx, int timeout)
+{
+    return QCONTEXT_GET_CLASS(ctx)->poll(ctx, timeout);
+}
+
+bool qcontext_check(QContext *ctx)
+{
+    return QCONTEXT_GET_CLASS(ctx)->check(ctx);
+}
+
+void qcontext_dispatch(QContext *ctx)
+{
+    QCONTEXT_GET_CLASS(ctx)->dispatch(ctx);
+}
+
+void qcontext_notify(QContext *ctx)
+{
+    QCONTEXT_GET_CLASS(ctx)->notify(ctx);
+}
+
+void qcontext_attach(QContext *ctx, QSource *source, Error **errp)
+{
+    QCONTEXT_GET_CLASS(ctx)->attach(ctx, source, errp);
+}
+
+void qcontext_detach(QContext *ctx, QSource *source, Error **errp)
+{
+    QCONTEXT_GET_CLASS(ctx)->detach(ctx, source, errp);
+}
+
+QSource *qcontext_find_source_by_name(QContext *ctx, const char *name)
+{
+    return QCONTEXT_GET_CLASS(ctx)->find_source_by_name(ctx, name);
+}
+
+/* Helper functions for working with QContexts */
+
+QContext *qcontext_find_by_name(const char *name, Error **errp)
+{
+    char path[256];
+
+    sprintf(path, "%s/%s", QCONTEXT_ROOT_CONTAINER, name);
+    return QCONTEXT(object_resolve_path_type(path, TYPE_QCONTEXT, NULL));
+}
+
+bool qcontext_iterate(QContext *ctx, bool blocking)
+{
+    int timeout = 0; 
+
+    if (qcontext_prepare(ctx, &timeout)) {
+        qcontext_dispatch(ctx);
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    if (qcontext_poll(ctx, blocking ? timeout : 0) &&
+        qcontext_check(ctx)) {
+        qcontext_dispatch(ctx);
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    return false;
+}
+
+static void *qcontext_thread_fn(void *opaque)
+{
+    QContext *ctx = opaque;
+    while (ctx->should_run) {
+        qcontext_iterate(ctx, true);
+    }
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+void qcontext_create_thread(QContext *ctx)
+{
+    qemu_thread_create(&ctx->thread, qcontext_thread_fn,
+                       ctx, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+}
+
+void qcontext_stop_thread(QContext *ctx)
+{
+    ctx->should_run = false;
+    qcontext_notify(ctx);
+    qemu_thread_join(&ctx->thread);
+    ctx->threaded = false;
+}
