Festival of Quilts

First of all, the good news!  Our friend G had her operation on Friday and is making good progress so far.  I was astounded when her neighbour phoned me to say g was on her way to theatre as I had been assured  the op was unlikely for a few days but, whatever, it is now done and G is happy.  She is now chomping at the bit to get the Physios working with her!  What is she like?  Her spirit and strength are indomitable.  DH has been to see her again today (as I am germ laden and daren't go) and she is looking forward to hearing all about my trip.

Well, I made it, despite a grotty cough and cold.  I'm sure the Festival was much busier this year, it seemed a lot harder to get photos of the quilts with all the people standing looking.  Needless to say my first stop was to have a look at my own quilt on display.

Here it is alongside a quilt by Marianne Bender entitled 'The Queens' .  I was very excited to see that someone was taking a photograph of my quilt! 

It felt very good and a bit flattering to think that someone wanted to take a little bit of my quilt home just like I like to photograph quilts that strike a chord with me.   I only noticed when I was loading the photos that the quilt in the bottom right corner is by Nina Lise Moen who blogs as Mrs Moen .

You may be aware that I have had support during my journey towards having a quilt at the Festival of Quilts by a group of like-minded quilters and their help has been invaluable, especially Annabel's.  After I found my quilt I rushed off to find everyone else's.

First of all was Carolyn's wonderful, beautiful quilt inspired by her home in St Ives.  I had been itching to see this quilt in real life and I was not disappointed.  The fabrics give it a wonderful glow and Carolyn's use of embellishments and stitching is inpired.  The surface has beautiful found objects from the beach and some lovely pieces of bead and what I think may be pieces of recycled jewellery (correct me if I'm wrong Carolyn).  Carolyn's quilt was attracting lots of attention while I was looking at it and people were looking closely at all the surface detail.

This stunning quilt is entitled "And Yet a Rose Full Blown" and is by Elma It is even more impressive in real life and the stitching is beautiful.

Lisette's quilt is entitled 'Jealousy' and speaks eloquently of the turmoil invoked by that emotion.  Unfortunately my camera didn't capture a good image of the whole quilt but I have shown a detail above.  The surface has been distressed with a heat gun.  I saw lots of people looking closely at Lisette's quilt too.

Last, but nowhere near least, is the very talented Sandra Wyman who had 3 entries in the competition.

The quilt above is called 'Nature's Blueprints - With Improvisations'.

This second quilt is called 'Survival of the Fittest' and the quilting is stunning.  The fern is fabulous when you see the actual quilt.  Well done Sandra!

The two photos above are two sides of a coin, so to speak.  This was a miniature quilt and is entitled 'Wildwood: Spring and Autumn'.  I was looking forward to seeing this piece and although Sandra calls it pretty I think it is beautiful.  

So, what else did I see?  Not enough!  I missed no end, trying to cram as much in as I could in the time.   First of all, Quilt Creations:

Time for Tea by Greta Fitchett

Tudor Threads by Pamela Bowles

A Walk in the Forest with Mary by Bette Tasker

A general view of the Quilt Creations area.

Winter Puzzle by Frauke Schramm which was a prizewinner, I believe, and which wafted and turned gently in the breeze to reveal all sides.

Ok.  I am going to pause there and post some more tomorrow as you are probably losing interest by now and I am getting tired.  Sandra wore me out partying all Friday night ;o)  Only joking Sandra, but it was fun wasn't it?  See you soon.  Oh, and thank you to everyone who took photos for me in case I couldn't get to Birmingham and most especially to Gina who not only took photos for me but took the trouble to put them on a disc and have them at my house by Saturday morning together with a lovely gift of one of her pincushions.  I am humbled and deeply moved by the kindness and generosity that I have been shown by so many people over the last few days while I have been so worried about my friend G.  Not forgetting the ladies who covered for me on the Contemporary Quilt Group stand on Saturday afternoon.  Thank you everyone. xx