Festival of Quilts - by Jackie S

Train strike, what train strike? Quilters are very intrepid so a member of my Wednesday group organised a mini bus and 15 quilters and one husband met at Morrisons’ car park at 9.00 am and Kevin and his white van (minibus) took us to the NEC. It was a pleasant journey with no hold ups and we arrived at the NEC about 10.15 am - just in time for opening.

The set up inside was different to previous years with all the competition quilts being displayed on their own in hall 9 and the Guild stands and challenges, traders, exhibitors, galleries and workshops in halls 6, 7 and 8. There were wider aisles between the traders’ stalls and this arrangement was better but made for a long walk to the far end of hall 6, although the visitors didn’t seem to be deterred by this. The winning quilts were also displayed near the galleries area, far away from the category groups to which they belonged in hall 9. There were lots more seats dotted around making it easier to have a quick rest now and then.

I had a small list and decided I would make my purchases before looking at the quilts. I bought some African fabric from Dovetailed as I had given away most of mine when I moved - and regretted it later of course. Also I had seen some nice designer fabric by Jessica Nielsen advertised in Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine that was being sold by Purple Patches so that was my big spend. I later came across the Linus stand selling fabric quite cheaply, probably given to them, so supported them.

Several big traders were absent - Fabrics Galore, Doughty’s and Oakshott (shock horror), nor Kaleidoscope books. Possibly because of the cost of the stands - there were plenty of others to choose from though.

After I had visited Sarah Hibbert’s gallery, whose work I admire, I also had a look at Michael Cummings’ exhibition - he’s an African American whose quilts depict social and historic events.  See Sarah’s website www.sarahhibbertquilts.com and Michael’s website www.michaelcummings.com for more information. I then made my way to see the competition quilts after stopping for lunch.

The quilts were well set out with wide aisles making it easier to see them without crowding. There were many very interesting and beautifully made quilts, but for me there wasn’t one particular quilt that I could instantly pick as my favourite. If I had to choose, there was a very nice large traditional red and white appliqué sampler quilt that caught my eye by Sharon Elliott. It did get a well-deserved Judge’s Choice ticket. Altogether there were almost 600 competition quilts on display from quilters around the world, which made a very colourful, diverse and interesting exhibition. The overall winner was a pictorial quilt depicting sunset over the Riva del Vin in Venice made by a Spanish quiltmaker, Immaculada Gabaldon.

As always, though, there were several displays that time didn’t allow me to see in a day visit but generally I enjoyed the Festival.

At 5.00 pm the NEC doors closed and we all took our seats on the minibus waiting outside the front entrance to make the relatively short journey back to Northampton. The trip was much easier by bus than by train so I expect next year Kevin will be called on again to take us on our annual Birmingham excursion.

Note: Jackie moved to Northampton but remains a member of Shirley Quilters and is still very much involved - for example, writing reviews.