We made it to the Festival of Quilts. All the way to Birmingham and back. There were spots, fabric strips, bundles of fabric to touch and enjoy, dresses to admire (and seams to deconstruct), galleries to browse, and - lots and lots of hand-stitching. Something has very suddenly come up here, so I'm going to share a few images with you now and follow up later with more info and details once I find my feet.
Let's start with the paper-piecing. Oh, the time! And the effort!
I took a photograph of the quilter's name as well, and can you believe it - it blurred. I think it was from this gallery though. Will find out, as it is rather incredible! Note to self: write down quilters' names. This one was definitely a team-quilt called "Grandmother and..." something. Grr.
There were a few themes that really stood out this year. There were quite a few quilts featuring bees (very topical), and a lot more traditional quilts than I've seen before. Many muted low-volume quilts with beautiful quilting detail.
There were a lot of very time-consuming paper-pieced quilts.
There was a lot of bold colour and glitter. There were also quilters from all around the world - you can see more information on each gallery and collection here.
There were a lot of art quilts - - and quite a lot of wordy quilts.
I was particularly intrigued and impressed by a series of quilts by Annabel Rainbow. They're first sketched out and quilted. Then, they're painted quite beautifully on top of the layers of fabric, wadding, and stitching. I love the union of words and images and ink.
Let's start with the paper-piecing. Oh, the time! And the effort!
I took a photograph of the quilter's name as well, and can you believe it - it blurred. I think it was from this gallery though. Will find out, as it is rather incredible! Note to self: write down quilters' names. This one was definitely a team-quilt called "Grandmother and..." something. Grr.
There were a few themes that really stood out this year. There were quite a few quilts featuring bees (very topical), and a lot more traditional quilts than I've seen before. Many muted low-volume quilts with beautiful quilting detail.
There were a lot of very time-consuming paper-pieced quilts.
There was a lot of bold colour and glitter. There were also quilters from all around the world - you can see more information on each gallery and collection here.
There were a lot of art quilts - - and quite a lot of wordy quilts.
I was particularly intrigued and impressed by a series of quilts by Annabel Rainbow. They're first sketched out and quilted. Then, they're painted quite beautifully on top of the layers of fabric, wadding, and stitching. I love the union of words and images and ink.
There was quite a lot of painting going on at the Festival this year. Some quilts were painted after quilting, some panels were painted and then quilted, and some fabric was decorated with paint daubs. Interesting.
Another quilt that had us all oohing and aahing was this one, by Jean Ball.
THAT was a lot of work. Individually pieced. Pattern matched. Hand quilted. Wow.
Hundreds and thousands of tiny little stitches.
Lots of embellishments and layering.
Amazing colour palettes (and more words). This quilt by Karen Oestergaard. I love the texture of it!
And, of course, there was the shopping.
The shops were full. There was a lot of elbowing and apologies as you made your way through the aisles.
We stopped to admire some rabbits - - or were they hares? (These at M. Rosenberg & Stitch Fabrics).
Lots and lots of colour. Bold colours, bright colours, pastel colours, muted colours, unusual colours, olive and moss, indigo and blue, taupe and sand.
This week, I'm flying out to South Africa. I'll be there for a few weeks. Everything else is sort of on hold while I spend some time with my family during a difficult time, though I'll post at least once a week and share with you all the wonderful things you can find down South. I'm looking forward to mom's cooking, to the sunshiney summer(ish) evenings and the beach. Oh the beach. I hope we find time. I'm considering taking some paper piecing with me ... but I'm not sure I have the patience for a full-sized paper-pieced quilt! We'll see... x
