Final photos from the quilt show.

Today I'm sharing the final photos I took at the Festival of Quilts. I really wish I'd taken more photos but there was so much to see, and at times I got so involved with what was going on that I forgot to take pictures. I am also very pleased I bought a show guide and competition catalogue. It meant I didn't have any problems identifying who has made the quilts.

This quilt titled 'The flux of time' was made by Tina Sommer Paaske from Fuglebjerg, Denmark. This is a glimpse of history in a tiny village in rural Denmark, which is Tina's new home town. I love the little cats.

I stood looking at this quilt for some time as I loved the stonework and it felt that if I touched it (which you were not allowed to do), it would actually feel like stone. The view is also intriguing. This quilt is titled 'Aoife's View' and was made by Ethelda Ellis Erasmus from County Laois, Ireland. It is collaged raw-edge applique and free motion quilted and embroidered. 

In the heart of Ireland, is a less well known site, Rock of Dunamase, with stunning views over the landscape, a castle that was built in 1170 for Aoife, the future wife of Strongbow. Ethelda took a picture of a view through the ruins, imagining what it looked like when Aoife stood there. This is one of my favourite quilts from the show.

Danuta Owczarek, from Wroclaw, Poland made this quilt titled 'My haven' using elements of raw edge applique. She wanted to show her eternal longing for places where sun is warm, sky is blue and people smile. The quilt certainly made me smile and forget the wet week we were having in London.

This quilt called 'Carnival Flower' was made by Cordula Ermler from Molln, Germany. The quilt is a Judy Niemeyer pattern and it was sewn from a kit from her. Cordula has been sewing patchwork since 2009.

'Summer Garden' was made by Hilary Jane Cheshire from Leigh-on-sea, Essex UK. Her inspiration was a summers afternoon in the garden. The quilt illustrates various handstitched patchwork techniques, using natural and tea dyed fabrics, combined with various stitches.

This quilt was made by Sheena J Norquay from Inverness UK and is titled 'Sixteen Pots and Jugs of Flowers 11'. It was made using fabric printing and painting, machine piecing, free motion embroidered trapunto and quilting. Reminiscent of Baltimore but Sheena's own original designs which she enlarged from a smaller hand embroidered piece.

I like the various flowers in this quilt and it gave me an idea for some embroidered hexies to go into my grandmother's garden quilt.

This quilt 'Hollyhock spires' by Tamzin Phillips from Nailsworth, Gloucestershire UK is another favourite of mine. I love hollyhocks and they always remind me of our garden when I was a child. I really must plant some for next year. Tamzin has used Suffolk puffs, applique, painted fabrics, hand stitching and free motion quilting, when creating this piece. It was inspired by the hollyhocks that grow in front of upright railway sleepers in Tamzin's garden. There are wild strawberries trailing over the top, 3 shield beetles hidden in the leaves and a snail at the top of the quilt.

This quilt made by Youn Kyung Song from Seoul, South Korea, is titled 'Time to loss' Everyone is given a fair amount of time but everyone has a different way of using it. The emptiness of time is expressed in broken clocks and watch gears.

This quilt is called 'A sower went forth to sew' and was made by Margaret Woodside from Larne, co Antrim UK.  Margaret said "After 30 years of quilting, squares and triangles are still exciting as the first ones I ever made. I live on a sheep farm and this is my interpretation of the parable of the sower. The seed is in the quilting and the harvest is of lambs".

A close up of the lambs and the grass.

This quilt was made by the Village residents of Rowhedge and is titled 'A walk through the village of Rowhedge'. Each square was made by a village resident to honour the past and present Rowhedge. It hangs permanently in the village hall, an heirloom for future generations.

This quilt was made for the sustainable Quilts challenge. To enter this challenge the quilt had to be made with minimal impact on the environment. At least 75% of fabric used in the piece must be repurposed from materials including functional textiles e.g. curtains. The remaining 25% of fabric would ideally be organic fabrics or taken from stash rather than buying new. Wadding and threads wherever possible should be made from sustainable and natural sources. 90% of the fabrics were donated by villagers.

This quilt is called Happy flowers' by the maker Sijke Banga, from Kollumersweach, Netherlands. It certainly made me feel happy while enjoying the embroidery and colours.

 

The following quilts were retrospectives of previous winners. I have included a photo of the information after the photo of the quilt. I loved this jigsaw quilt.

 

I spent quite a lot of time enjoying this longcase clock. There was a lot to see on it.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing these quilts. There was so much to see at the show and lots of ideas and techniques that I want to try at some point.  I have already booked my ticket for the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in London in October. I'm looking forward to seeing the quilts and other stitcheries they have on display. The Festival of Quilts has re-energised me and since I have completed my big work project I will now have time to get sewing. I won't be starting sewing tomorrow however since John and I are taking a trip to Portsmouth for a couple of days. We went earlier this year but I didn't get round to posting about it. We visited the historic dockyard and this trip is to further explore the dockyard and the city. I am taking some hand stitching with me to do in the evening.

Take care

Lyndsey