Time for sewing at last.

Finally I have completed my big work project and so I have time to get back to sewing. I am currently doing a very happy dance. I still have to make a few changes to the paperwork but that will happen on Monday. I am on holiday for the next two week so my sewing machine will be getting some love and I can have fun. Yesterday I wasn't working and John and I started the holiday by driving to the NEC in Birmingham for the Festival of Quilts. We had a great time. The drive was easy since most of it was on motorways - M4, M25, M40 and the M42. The driving on none motorway roads was all in London and was my usual route to and from work. The show was huge, occupying 3 of the big halls. It was a good job we had all day to spend there as there was so much to see. I went with a budget, just in case I saw fabric I couldn't resist. The shopping area had a large variety of sellers and lots of fabulous merchandise but I didn't purchase any fabric. I'll show you what I did buy later. I did take lots of quilt photos.

This was a prize winner and was submitted for the group challenge. Entitled ' Antics at the Quilt Show' it was made by Nine to Five, from Cheshire UK, which had 5 group members, Dilys Franks, Sue Horder, Jenny Mann, Barbara Harrison and Marion Barlow. In their write up they said they were inspired by their trip to Festival of Quilts 2022 and imagined Sunbonnet Sue rampaging round the show. They challenged themselves to make a variety of miniature quilts.

As you can see in the Photo this was the first prize winner for the Quilt Guild Challenge. This is by Sheena Norquay from Inverness UK. The title is 'Couched Birds' and the designs are all original by Sheena. I spent quite a long time looking at this quilt. The birds were fabulous.

This quilt has such vibrant colours and was the prize winner for the Pictorial quilts challenge. It is titled 'Confusion' and was made by Janneke de Vries-Bodzinga from Kollumerzwaag, Netherlands. It's made using needle-turn applique, free motion quilted, machine and hand embroidery. The comment from Janneke says that 'after hearing and seeing global events, confusion, fear and depression set in'.

This quilt was the prize winner for the Modern Quilt and is title 'Balance'. It was made by Vendulka Battais from Ipswich, Suffolk, UK. Vendulka stated that she took an online class with Sheila Frampton-Cooper and fell in love with the technique. It is her own design, inspired by an abstract painting.

This quilt is the prize winner for the two person challenge. It was made by Elizabeth Richardson and Mary Mayne from Welwyn Garden City Hertfordshire UK and is titled Baltimore Variations. The quilt is hand appliqued, hand quilted and machine pieced. The comment from the makers states ' hand applique is my main passion, this quilt was a real challenge'.

The prize winner for Traditional quilts and was made by Gwenfai Rees Griffiths from Abergele UK. It has a machine pieced background, hand applique, embroidery and quilting. Gwenfai said she admired the stained glass in her son's front door and took inspiration from it

I loved this quilt which was the prize winner for the Young Quilter/embroiderer age 14 - 18 years. Titled 'Stay Weird' it was made by Hannah Reynolds (14) from Ikeston, Derbyshire UK. It is raw edge applique and machine quilted. Hannah wrote, 'at 14 I don't know what I want my future to look like. But whatever my future holds, I know I want to stay true to my own unique self'. I'm wishing Hannah every success for her future, wherever it takes her.

Another prize winner for Young Quilter/embroiderer but this time in the 10 to 13 age group. This quilt is called 'What if....' It was made by Dasha Hetun from Bagshot, Surrey UK using collage and classic applique. Dasha wrote that the idea for her quilt was born from when she started fantasising. What if we could live in our own planet, what if their were other planets with life, what if...?

The following pictures are of a quilted book made by Atelier de couture magique, Brussels, Belgium for the secondary schools and groups of young quilters aged 12 to 18 and is titled 'In praise of curiosity' You can see the names of their inspiration on the left hand side of the first page and the makers names are on the right with their ages. The book pays homage to the women who, thanks to their curiosity have broadened horizons, tried new paths and dared new thoughts.

My final photo for today is the prize winner for the Primary School challenge

This is the work of year 5 and 6 Belmont Grosvenor School, Harrogate, North Yorkshire. This is titled 'My future'. It was made using hand and machine sewing, applique, machine button holes, fabric pen drawings and hand quilting. The quilt festival is used as inspiration for DT lessons and the development of textile skills. I am overjoyed that a primary school is doing work like this. It beats my experience of hand sewing a skirt made from two oblongs of fabric , adding a channel for the elastic waist band and embroidering four sets of two cherries and leaves around the hemline.

I have a lot more photos to share but my plan for today was to write a blog post, since I have sorely missed writing my blog. I also planned to read some of the posts of the blogs I follow and then to get to my sewing machine. I'll do the reading this evening but for now my machine and I need to get reacquainted.

Take care

Lyndsey