Busy day!

Today I drove my quilts to Harrogate to be hung in the show.  If you are heading there, there are two for you to keep an eye out for, Chocolat and Filmstrip. 

On the way, the Teenage Diva and I stopped at York for a little retail therapy, (and a break from the driving).  And on the way back we stopped in to finally meet up with QuiltSue from Quilt Times.   As she had won the Festival Giveaway, I personally delivered my festival goodies ...

 and a little extra in the form of a Mug Rug.  I pieced this little quilt this morning before we left. 

Yep!  It was that quick!

Thanks Sue, for the coasters, they are great!  And it really was wonderful to finally meet up with you  :) 

Late again!

It seems I forgot to show the final finished Pinwheels quilt from the Old Red Barn Quilt Along. 

Oh, how I love this quilt  :)

And the green spotty binding!

And I finally got all the binding stitched down and the label sewn on to the blue and yellow quilt for a dear friend who is leaving to go live in French France! 

Now what better than 'French Blue' for a title!

All wrapped ready to deliver in the morning :)

And I've been playing with my new found confidence with free motion quilting after my workshop with Phillipa Naylor.

First the wobbly feather ...

Then a load of fillers ...

And finally a Photo Album cover for the same friend .

I am so thrilled at how well this turned out! 

Happy Quilting!

Festival Giveaway!

OK a week ago I promised you a giveaway for Festival of quilts if you could tell me which of my quilts were at the Festival and where you could find them. 

I have to say this had you mostly guessing.  I went for the full four days not only to get some workshops in but to give my friend Martha from Machine Quilter, yes the same Martha of the New English Quilter fame, a hand on her stand. 

I'm sure I've mentioned from time to time I have a New English Quilter frame.  Martha had done a post of where she would be and the stand number, that would have been a clue if you had not found me at the show or couldn't make it.  Stand D52.

Not only was the blue and yellow quilt I frantically tacked the binding down on the day before, especially as this was filled with blue fabrics that were very much like the blue and white china Martha is so fond of. 

Also just at the bottom you can see the convergence quilt I recently completed. 

And the Filmstrip quilt. 

No one was exactly right, but Sue of Quilt Times was the closest!   Congratulations Sue, can you please e-mail me your address, it got lost in the laptop crash! 

This is my booty from the show, and among all these goodies are some I will be sending to you :) 

I'd like to thank Martha for letting me help on her stand, Emily for her patience, Brenda for being such a darling and so giving, and Emma for being such a diamond, and I still can't believe we have so much in common! 

Emma, Trudi, Brenda, Emily and Martha.

In the background is Brenda's quilt that was the catalyst for her buying a frame.  She is amazing! It's official!

This quilt is quilted by Brenda on her frame, stunning!  Talk about raising the bar! 

Thank you all, I had such a great time, if a little exhausting  :)

Go Giveaway!

No not here, but over at Freckled Whimsy! 

Oh, I so drooled and slobbered all over these at the Festival, I would so love to win one.  If you fancy winning one then head over and visit KarrieLyne and follow the instructions to see if you could win one too!

Festival Fever 2

There was sew much to see at Festival of Quilts, my supposed wifi wouldn't work which made posting pics quite difficult.  I'm sorry I couldn't keep you informed.  And I was pretty exhausted at the end of each day too!

I must share with you the winner of the Minitures Quilts, not only that, but this little 8" quilt also won Best in Show!

Mission Impossible 2

by

Kumiko Frydl, of Texas, USA

Yes, that really is a mariners compass with 128 points!  Yes, I did say 128 points!

It's quite difficult to see, but the background had the most tiniest stippling I have ever seen!

This truly deserved both awards.

2nd Prize in the Miniatures category went to ...

And here's to you Mrs Sanderson

by

Dorian Walton of Stevenage.

I'm a sucker for traditional quilts and this was a truly remarkable Sanderson Star. 

This was one of my most favourite in the show, strange considering I'm very much a traditionalist!

Monstruck by Jean Cheszeck was part of the Rust Tex exhibition. 

I don;t know if it's the peaceful colours and composition of the overall quilt or the quilting that created such texture, but this definitely spoke to me!

Well that's it for now, I'm off to check back on my e-mails to see if any of you got the questions right that I asked you at the beginning of Festival.  :)

Happy Quilting

Snippets from FoQs

It's been a full and busy day, starting off with a workshop with Philippa Naylor on machine quilting.  Oh boy what an opportunity!  Loved every minute of it, and the lasting memory will be the immortal words of Queen  "Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball!"

This is her award winning quilt from last year!  Stunning, and what a joy to be up close and personal with it and the lovely lady herself!

Just a little idea of her talents

I really hate having my pic taken, but we had such a great morning  :)

I looked at the quilts from the Contemporary Group of the Quilters Guild, and I was thrilled to see this beauty in all its glory.  By me dear friend Sweetiepie!

And other good news...

3rd place for Luke Daymond in the Children's themed competition!  Well done Luke (age 12) who pieced, and machine quilted this amazing quilt all on his own, from inception to completion!  He's attending the Gala Dinner tonight to collect his prize!

Well, that's it, it's way past my bed time and I'm heading out there again tomorrow for more punishment! 

I promise to have more quilt pictures too!

Happy quilting!

Festival Fever!

I made it down to Birmingham this afternoon, with no major hic-ups, apart from a monsoon style down pour!

So are you ready?  Do you have a list?  Have you got loads of workshops and lectures booked?  Made arrangements to meet all your friends? 

That's a resounding YES!  And I am thrilled to be spending all four days at the Festival of Quilts!  Yep, that's right, all four days  (can you see the big grin?) 

So to celebrate I have a little challenge for you all.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you shouldn't actually need to be at the Festival to participate. 

Do you fancy a Give Away?  Silly question right?  OK,  I'll move on quickly .....

I  promise to purchase something really nice, no not nice, GREAT as a GIVEAWAY PRIZE, if you can tell me which of my quilts you have seen, and where?  Easy right?  ....

You have until 5 pm British Summer Time to let me know either here or by e-mail and I'll pick a winner on Monday and let you know. 

Watch out for Festival posts, I've got my camera, and I promise not to spoil the surprise for any one coming later in the week by showing the winners until Sunday! Good luck! 

Happy Quilting!