Paradise For Quilters
Breathtaking quilts, stands laden with fabulous colourful fabrics, exciting workshops and special demonstrations dazzled visitors to a crowd pulling show at Birmingham’s NEC.
If my visit to The Festival of Quilts was anything to go by, thousands of enthusiastic amateur and professional sewers and textile artists were expected to have had an amazing time by the doors closed on Sunday.
This year marked the forty-fifth, or Sapphire Anniversary, of The Quilters’ Guild, whose members were on hand to welcome exhibitors, retailers and visitors from around the world.
Extremely inspiring, this feelgood show is heaven for quilting fans of all ages and abilities. It gives them an opportunity to catch-up with their favourite retailers, have-a-go at new techniques in a variety of workshops, check out the latest computerised sewing and quilting machines and much more.
There is always the anticipation of admiring scores of amazing entries in the Festival’s challenging competitions. Displays feature fabulous modern, traditional and art quilts, designed and worked by experienced quilters, novices and young entrants.
Most have taken months of hard work to create and certainly have the power to stop visitors in their tracks. Many cannot resist reaching for their mobile phones to capture photos to share later with friends.
This year’s Festival included stallholders, exhibitors and competition entries from Lincolnshire. County Quilters’ Guild members also visited and others signed-up to join the organisation.
Among the busiest retailers were Jeff and Lorrayne Hall from Louth’s Oh So Sweet Shop. The couple’s stand was bursting with fabrics, patterns and kits and shoppers were happy to queue to treat themselves and get expert advice.
Jeff and Lorrayne were continually kept on their toes and it was quite a challenge to catch a quick word and a photo!
“It’s been manic, but obviously great to be here. However, we’ve been so busy we haven’t had time to grab a bite of lunch and the coffee a customer kindly bought us, sadly went cold!,” they said.
The Festival’s challenging competitions are designed to attract the attention of experienced makers, novices and enthusiastic young sewers. Quilts vary greatly in style and size. The event even showcases clever miniature versions.
This year’s entries were made by quilters from across the UK and overseas destinations including Denmark, Poland, Finland, The Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Canada, Germany and New Zealand.
Art quilt fans took their inspiration from the sea, beach huts, the war in Ukraine and the sheer resilience and hope of its people, a nature reserve in Slovenia, the 2024 General Election and Skiddaw in the Lake District and more.
The Contemporary Quilts category included the pieced entry Floating Lanterns by Lucy Picksley, from Gainsborough. It was inspired by meditations on Japan.
Lindsey Patchworkers of Louth took third place in the Group Quilts category with their Wild Flower Meadow entry. This featured hand and machinery techniques, turned raw edge applique, painted fabric and hand and machine embellishments.
A spokesperson said: “In these days of rewilding gardens we decided to celebrate the indigenous wildflowers seen in the Lincolnshire Countryside.”
The Novice Quilts category was perfect for entrants who have been quilting for less than three years.
Vicki Reid from Lincoln entered a quilt featuring nine central thread spool blocks. Each contained fabrics Vicki used when she took part in The Great British Sewing Bee 2023. The exciting weekly televised series tasked participants with producing nine Made to Measure garments within a tight timeframe.