Festival of Quilts

It's all over now and I am a few hours north of Birmingham in a little village called Cockermouth but finally have computer access so will attempt to give you the flavour of the Festival of Quilts.

We arrived in Birmingham a few days early so it was really exciting to watch it grow from an enormous cavernous hall to a sophisticated show venue. I have been part of many show setups but this one was organised and calm and lacked the frenetic mayhem we are used to.

I loved the differentiation by carpet of the quilts (white carpets) and traders (orange). The layout of the quilts was wide and clear. Photos were permitted and the light was great. Of course I can't post many individual photos due to copyright but some distance shots are acceptable I think.

This is Best of Show (which I do have permission of the winner to post). Looks incredible doesn't it? Kumiko Frydi from Texas named this Mission Impossible 2. Paper foundation piecing , reverse applique. After making a 64 point Mariners Compass - this one was a challenge at 128 points.

Now look at it from a distance - yes - it is only about 12" square. Now you can even further appreciate why it won best of show.

My workshops went really well and we had a lot of fun and many laughs.





Don't forget if you are still interested - I am teaching at the Bramble Patch (13th/14th September)and Midsomer Quilting (4/5th Sept) . Both have Crystallisation (the one above) and Midsomer also have Aurora.

One of the highlights for me was meeting Laura and Linda Kemshall whose work has inspired me for years. I am doing the City and Guilds with Linda and also got to meet my tutor Marie Roper which was a bonus too. Design Matters TV which is their online subscription program constantly inspires and delights me. So to actually meet and talk to them and get so close to their work was brilliant.

I also got to know Susan Shie, who's work is absolutely mind blowing with it's humour and detail. Susan was so friendly and generous and it was a joy to spend time with her. Many laughs were shared. I am holding my own set of her Kitchen Tarot cards which she generously drew a picture on for me.

Did I buy anything - well just a few things. Some paints and yarn for dyeing and some bits and pieces. They probably wouldn't be of interest to many but I am looking forward to playing and dyeing with them. I did get a whole set of catalogues from the European Quilting Group as they had great photos and a disk in each volume with excellent photos for references. Will show them to you at another time.

I am hoping to return in 2012 - a long way away I know but something to look forward to.