Festival of Quilts

Well, that's it! All over for another year! I think this year's show was bigger than ever but it was easier to get round. I really enjoyed it and I think it helped splitting the visits over 2 days as I was able to pace myself and not run round like a headless chicken (sorry chicken friends) trying to squeeze everything into one day.

As you might expect the shopping aisles were busy and I spent some time looking at all the goodies on offer but not too much. (I'll get to the shopping shortly).

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I had a lovely time meeting lots of imaginery friends who are now real live people! While I was standing admiring her quilt I found myself almost shoulder to shoulder with Mai-Britt who lives in Guernsey and blogs here . Her quilt had been selected as the Judge's Choice by Lesley Morgan as her personal favourite! It's in the Small Innovative Quilt section but is actually quite large at 60" square. As it is on her blog I think she will forgive me if I show it here.

The quilt is cleverly pierced with holes, which give it an added dimension.

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Through the course of the day I was also able to have a chat with Sandra Wyman who was stewarding on the SAQA stand and a brief word with Margaret Cooter and Mags Ramsey. I've been particularly interested in the techniques Mags uses so it was good to meet her.

As you can see by the photo above Marion of Artmixter fame was extremely busy on the Spunart stand enthusing about the versatility of Lutradur so we only had time for a quick hello and a hug with a promise to meet up before too much longer.

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Last but not least Guzzisue and I were able to have a well earned cuppa together while we gathered our energies for the afternoon's onslaught. It was great to be able to put flesh and blood faces to the people whose blogs and works I have enjoyed over the last year and who have given me support in my creative journey. Sue very kindly gave me one of the Celtic ATCs she has made recently.

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Needless to say I did a little shopping so I'll share that with you before I go any further:

I know I said I wasn't going to get deeply into dyeing but I just thought I'd buy one or two Procion Dyes so I could have a go with some other colour combinations.

These glorious batiks were from The Bramble Patch in Northamptonshire and I couldn't resist them having seen how some people had used them in their quilts. The printed piece of muslin is from Els van Baarle, don't tell her but I will probably cut it up! I loved the marks she incorporates into the surface of her work but unfortunately photos were not allowed.

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I have to admit the shopping didn't quite end there. when I got home I found 3 books had crept into my bag! How did that happen?!

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This one

and this one

and a booklet by Bailey Curtis about dyeing (which I've put somewhere and can't now find. Hope it's not on the coach!)

PS I should have said that Maggie Grey's Lecture was very informative and entertaining too. Her book "From Image to Stitch" gives lots of hints and tips for converting digital images to textile art and her talk made me want to rush home and start playing both with digital images on the computer and with printing them onto fabric. Thank you Maggie for so much inspiration.