Monday 5 August 2019

Festival of Quilts 2019


On Thursday our Quilting Group went by minibus to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham.  A long journey, but well worth it.

The ladies (me amongst them) were very disappointed by the Workshop we were given - having signed up for Japanese Folded Technique, a class taken by Mick Stead, we found instead when we sat down and started work, that the woman taking us had been a substitute (no mention of this) and we discovered we were doing Cathedral Window.   I am sure most of us had done this before and would far rather have forfeited our £15 and spent an extra hour exploring the three halls of displayed quilts and "fings to buy"!

The quilt above and below was one of my favourites, and I especially liked the wee bluebird corner blocks, and the triangles within triangles in the bottom right circle.  Beautifully sewn.




A lovely applique quilt in traditional style.


What a pretty zig-zag border on this one.


This was the quilt entered by Cross Patch - The Sopwell Ladies Basket Society Quilt, designed by Australian quilter Gail Pan.  LINK here.  


Nice and colourful.


Above and below: I liked the designs on this quilt.  Another one with a Flying Geese border.



A Cheshire Cat perchance?!!


More talent, above and below:



One of the top prize-winning quilts at the Tokyo Quilt Festival.  Amazing skills and so much hard work and planning in this.  A bit too sombre for me colourwise though.

Above and below: two more of the quilts from the Japanese pavilion.  The attention to detail was amazing on these quilts.  Lord knows how long they took to make.



Above is an interpretation of Hans Anderson's Fairy Tales.  Oh my.  Little Red Riding Hood is top left, btw, by the trees of course.


Just one of the many many stands exhibiting.  I was very good and only bought 4 things (photos tomorrow).  Mainly because we only got to see perhaps half of just one of the three halls.  Next year we have vowed to stay overnight and not do workshops!!

13 comments:

  1. There is only one word 'wow'. The extraordinary patience and skill of those quilts. Like the Hans Anderson one but as you say the Japanese colours are a little dull.

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  2. Well. It was just the one Japanese quilt which was very dull colourwise - the red and white one more than made up for it and the one with fans had colour in the palette. The other quilts certainly were WOW and I just wish I had seen lots more of them.

    I may treat myself to a day out at the Malvern Autumn Quilt Show, all on my ownsome, and go round at my pace.

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  3. Replies
    1. Very - but then the detail on some of the quilts just made me think I could never aspire to that - or if I did, it would be a five year job!

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  4. Theres so many amazing quilts there isnt there? I didnt see those that you saw - so much work has gone into those you photographed. I loved the Baltimore Quilts section - they were beautiful, did you get to see the 'Prince' quilt - it was amazing and such a good likeness of Prince. I did Jenny Doan's trunk show (from Missouri Star Quilt Company) on Saturday - what a lovely unaffected lady- she brought some beautiful quilts with her. Its a shame that your workshop wasnt what you expected.
    Finally I did Saturday on a VIP ticket and it was so worth the extra money - I'll never do it again on an ordinary ticket - you go into the halls and lounge at 9.30 so early going in, no queuing to go in neither, can start shopping early, have the VIP lounge with free tea and coffee, all day long - VIP loo's with no queuing ☺☺, 2 free gifts, a manned cloak room where you can safely leave bags and your coat and the free programme is sent out to you a week before you go. So worth the extra cost as it made the day even more special and pleasant, especially not having to queue to go in. Pleased you enjoyed too X

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    1. I love Baltimore quilts too - didn't get that far. I did Jenny Doan's Trunk Show on the Thursday and that really was money well spent - she was BRILLIANT. I often tune in to her You Tube tutorials - she makes it all look SO easy! No, I didn't see the "Prince" quilt but then I only saw perhaps half of one hall! How much more was the VIP ticket? It sounds like it was well worth the extra, although it took us 3 1/2 hours to get there, so we didn't even arrive until 11 a.m. and were leaving at 4.30. We have vowed to stay over next year, so perhaps we could get a VIP ticket for the next day. Glad that you had such a lovely time and thanks for sharing that with me.

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    2. I think it cost about £35 -£40 - I paid for Jenny at the same time and that was £26 and I know I paid just over the £60 for the two - I'm sure it was £62 so it would make it £36 if my maths and memory are right ☺☺ lol. But honestly it made the day so much easier especially being able to drop bags off and not having to carry them round all day - the free gifts were a plastic drinks bottle (wasn't plastic free a big thing there this year) and a lovely small sewing case all kitted out with seam ripper, tape measure, thimble etc., so I do think that it was worth that extra cash. It's really hard to see everything thats there even in a couple of days especially with all the stalls there that are so tempting 😀😀 I'll look forward to seeing what you brought ☺☺ xx

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    3. Thanks Trudie. I will mention it to my Quilting Teacher, as she's the one who organizes the outing.) In the event, I wouldn't have needed to drop off what I'd bought as I only bought 4 things and the fabric bundle was a real last-minute thing when I zipped off on my own to have a quick look round!! Thanks for the info.

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  5. If I ever tried to do that I'd impale my finger a thousand times

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  6. What gorgeousness!! I would never be able to pick out a favourite.

    God bless.

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    1. Difficult indeed. I just wish I'd had time to see LOTS MORE.

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  7. Oh gosh - how beautiful - so much talent and creativity. What a dreadful shame about the workshop :( I wish I had known it was on at the NEC - as not too far from me although of course the car parking there is extortionate :( I will look out for it next year.

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