A bit later than planned but here is a visual round-up of my day out to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC last week. I had a fabulous time but there is so much to see (buy & do too!) that by the end of the day my Mum & I hadn't seen everything but we were exhausted! I can see why people make a trip out of it and stay for a few days. There was a huge array of quilt entries this year, lots of art /contemporary quilts which weren't all to my taste, I generally liked the traditional pieced quilts and getting to see them up close and appreciate the skill, time and patience they must take to complete, makes me very envious. 553: Snowflakes Four Patricia Boult Hand pieced & quilted 573: Wholecloth One Robyn Fahy Trapunto & hand machine quilted 555: Blue & White Joyce Dorsett Machine pieced & quilted 558: For Tom Jannat Messenger Hand stitched 559:Square Deal Variation Birgitta Debenham Machine pieced & quilted 586: Log Cabin Flowers Liz Cornish Hand sewn, machine applique & quilting 580: Snow Plum Quilt Yukiko Ayres Hand stitched wedding ring design 105: Heartache & Hope Jackie Smith Inspired by a visit to a Foundling Museum 270: No Info in the show guide! It was a very striking piece of Green Day front man Billle Joe Armstrong 143: Polonaise Ruth Singer Hand stitched 145: The Fragility of Friendship Linda Barlow Applique, embroidery & quilted 161: Stash Findings Jenny Hubbard Applique, embellishments 238: Spoon Fed Love Maria Thomas Recycled fabric and paper, quilting, patchwork & applique 233: Spring Chloe Redfern Hand stitched felt 304: Double Delight Pauline Kloof Hand knitted quilt top 435: Yesterday Annedore Neumann Machine pieced & quilted 411: Samplers Kate Crossley Machine embroidered, hand & machine quilted 452: Turbulance Jane Appelbee Machine stitching, beading, hand dyed 327: Becky's Dresses Rosalind Gregory Hand smocked dresses, hand appliqued & quilted 629: Everyone's a Star Ouse Valley Quilters (11 members) Machine pieced & quilted using Liberty Tana Lawn 603: Sybil Liberties Alington Quilters (25 members) Paper pieced, hand quilted, Liberty fabric 606: Val's Legacy Val's Friends (10 members) Machine pieced, hand appliqued, hand embroidered. Machine & hand quilted. 605: Townlands of the Glendarragh Valley Ederney Quilters (3 members) Pieced & free machined. Professional lettering & quilting. 662: Hexagons & Stars Lucie Summers & Jenny Spencer Screen printed fabrics with reverse applique. Freehand machine quilting. Miniature Quilts 845: Blue like a Wedgewood Kumiko Frydl Trapunto, freemotion quilting 869: Seaside Julia Gahagan Pieced background with shadow applique & machine quilting 843: Journey Nina Davis Hand printed fabric, hand & machine stitched Apologies for the patchy photography, the lighting varied from tungsten to fluorescent, glaring to dismal, so it was hard for me to keep up! If you've never been before I would highly recommend it, even if you're not a quilter you'll appreciate the craftiness and then there's the shopping! Next years dates are: 16-19th August 2012 I haven't had chance to photograph my purchases, I WAS restrained, I find it best to go with a wish-list of things you need (!) and a budget! The array of fabric on sale is truly mouth-watering though, I was severely tempted by the Liberty FQ's & kits - maybe next year! I'll try and remedy this with pics shortly.