Sunday 23 August 2009

Festival of Quilts 2009

On Thursday I visited the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. This is the largest quilt show in the UK and has to be visited if you are serious about quilting!!
I am going to share some random photos with you just to give a flavour of the show. This first quilt made me smile - I am a big fan of Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville and those of you who know her will understand why this quilt stood out for me. It is called 'One for the Boys' and is by Pauline Shorter. I loved how she had included cuff links on some of the cuffs.
The next photo was the winner of the category 'Quilt Creations'. It drew a lot of attention at the show, a lovely idea, very original. Made by Gillian Travis.

The next photo needs little introduction - it is one of Phillipa Naylor's quilts - she had a wonderful exhibition at the show.




My favourite exhibition was by Ingrid Press who makes lovely quilts using lots of neutral colours with only small areas of colour and lots of repitition.


Although not announced until after my visit I believe this quilt won Best in Show, made by Pat Holly and Sue Nickels. It was a very beautiful quilt and it was interesting to see that a more traditional quilt won the top prize.





Finally it was good to see the Little Gems Tombola which was raising funds for the Quilters Guild. There were only a few quilts on display but I hope you can get a flavour of the tombola. There were queues so hopefully they have raised lots of money. When I was taking these photos a young couple won a quilt, the lady behind the counter said to them that they had won a 'special' quilt and handed over a brown envelope. The young woman opened the envelope and the excited quilt lady said 'oh look you have won the quilt by Linda Kemshall'. The young woman just looked back unphased and asked who Linda Kemshall was...............!
Well it made me smile!







5 comments:

Nia Tilley said...

Dear Janet, Thank you so much for sharing these photos with those of us who can't get there.
All the Best

Jude said...

One of my 'to do' things is combine a visit over to Wales when the Festival of Quilts is on!!
Thank you for sharing

Sew Create It - Jane said...

I was there on Saturday and I really liked the cuffs quilt too...and I've got a pic on my blog too! :o)

Crafting Kim said...

I loved Ingrid Press's work best too. There is something so peaceful and serene about her quilts, especially the lovely leafy ones. She was so modest about her work when I spoke to her.

Crafting Kim said...

I loved Ingrid Press's work best too. Her quilts have such a calm and serene feel, especially the lovely leafy ones, and she was so modest when I spoke to her about them. Beautiful.