The Festival of Quilts 2019

The summer has been flying by in a blur of grandchildren, gardening and getting ready for a couple of exhibitions.

One of the highlights of my summer is always the Festival of Quilts at the NEC. Since we moved to the Midlands four years ago it is relatively cheap and easy for me to get to, making it a must on my summer calendar.

 This year I was lucky enough to host Margaret Beale for a lecture and workshop at my Branch of the Embroiderers Guild. Margaret is a lovely lady and we had a great chat in the evening. As a thank you for providing the B&B she gave me a complimentary ticket to the show so it cost me almost nothing to go - bargin!

I have taken a while to process the whole experience. There is always so much to see and take in, too much for one day really. I start early but am always visually overwhelmed by mid afternoon. In the last couple of years I have developed a strategy to try and get the most of the exhibition before I hit overload. I "scoot round" really quickly first for about an hour and make a mental note of anything that catches my eye. Then I go back round more slowly looking in detail at those exhibits. I realise I might miss a few gems with this system but realistically I can't cover the whole of such a huge show in one day and this means I get to look more closely at things I am instinctively drawn too (and therefore I hope things that fit with my style and practice).

So what caught my eye this year?

Surface design is always going to get my attention as I am constantly fascinated by how we can change the look of the fabric. This example was particularly yummy don't you think?

Maps, paper, distressing are also themes that are calling my name at the moment so I loved the display of map clothes.

The detailed surface was amazing close up. I loved the holes in it and the fragile feel of the whole piece.

This way of displaying a group of pieces was interesting. it allowed you to see all of them and the inter-relationships between them. The view changed depending on where you stood.

Sandra Meech had a lovely stand, with a lot of work from her trips to the Artic. I love her book with this work in (it was one of the first books on textile art that inspired me). It was fantastic to see all this work close up and to have a chance to chat to her.

I would like to develop more work on paper so of course I was drawn to her "sketches" which have all sorts of interesting things added to them.

Then there were the gorgeous quilts with photos and text

When I looked through my photos I am also clearly attracted to lots of images collected together to make a larger image. 

There seemed to be more embroidery than ever this year. Since I mainly work in embroidery/mixed media it naturally catches my eye. This next photo doesn't do justice to the piece which was just jaw dropping in its complex over lay of stitches. I think it might be a bit "marmite" but I really wished I had the budget to buy it (not much makes me want to part with my cash nowadays on a tight budget)

I thought this poem stitched into a weaving was a novel approach. I liked the fact the words weren't obvious so you had to get up close and pay attention to read them. 

With my current dressmaking obession I had to visit the Fashion section. Took me a while to find it tucked away and I was beginning to panic that there wasn't one this year.  This next picture is the work  from 2018 that made me think about combining dressmaking and textile techniques to make "wearable art".

 I think the same person must have made the Tudor jacket this year because of the similarity in style. The level of detailing is superb and the overall feel is of luxury and elegance.

The final photo I want to show is one I took to remind me NOT to try and make everything match. The purple section on this is something I wouldn't think to do but it really lifts the piece and if you take it out the whole thing goes a bit flat. Sometimes we need a touch of courage don't we?

Not to mention the level of skill in making the whole piece.

I took less photos than usual this year but there were still a lot. Again I have realised that if I take pictures of everything that catches my eye I don't go back and look at them. Much better to focus on the things that stand out above everything else.

So this was my slightly quirky tiny tour of what is an amazing show. If you get the chance to go next year I would recommend it as there will be something to impress you no matter what your textile taste. Oh and I got dress making fabric too but that's for another post. ( and hopefully not such a big gap to the next one)

Thanks for reading.