Royal Festival of Quilts

So this year I made it. And it was ACE. So much to look at and take in. It was less busy than last time so you could really browse through everything. I saw lots of lovely things. I tend to like the quilts on the stalls as they are more simple. The ones in the exhibition were all amazing; so much effort and skill involved, but sometimes I wished they were simpler. I guess they wouldn't make the grade if they were. The historical stand had the best quilts as always but of course, no photos allowed. I think it all makes me realise that as much as I love all the modern bright fabrics and quilt designs, I still sigh happily when I see one that looks like it has come from Little House on the Prairie. Anyway here is some of what caught my eye. There was so much though. There is more on Flickr.

I'm quite into the idea of doing a block a month sampler. There is something very higgledepigglede about them which appeals to me plus you learn new techniques but don't have to slave over and over making them in one huge quilt. I like the colours in the above. I just need to hunt out the right pattern.

Not bad! A lot of work in that.

But this is the one which convinced me. I love the fabric choices (so much for being old fashioned). I love the amount of paper piecing involved. I have wanted to do a clamshell quilt for a while so this might be a good test. I am sold! Now just need to get started. More pics in a later post.

Here we go. I am really taken by solids at the moment. There is something so simple about them. Oakshott fabric is so nice, it's well posh. It has a lovely shot quality to it. So I must make this quilt! The lady on the stall convinced me. She took me by both arms and shook me. I was sold. I reckon she sold tonnes of this fabric with the shake technique!

First time ever I didn't buy something from Kim at Worn and Washed! Crikey, I must be feeling ill. I decided that I hadn't touched any of the stuff I bought from her at Duxford so I should reign it in a bit. She had some lovely Liberty fabric though. Quite a few people are stocking it now. It's obviously IN bigtime!

The CottonPatch stall was amazing and bright as ever. It's so tempting! For once, I managed to restrain myself and only bought 1 fat quarter. But when they put bright basketfulls out like that it is SO tempting.

They had a lot of lovely modern quilts on display at CottonPatch.

There were some amazing things on display. These mini log cabins must have taken ages! They are so perfect. They gradiated out into a full rainbow.

They won a prize they were so good.

I've been wanting to do a Baltimore quilt for a long time. I just need to find the right block patterns. I really liked this one. It's traditional which I think is the way to go, but I likt the use of slightly more contemporary fabric.

I love the border fabric. The whole thing went really well together. It was huge!

The miniature quilts are always my favourite. They are just SO small and perfect. I have no idea how people do them. This was so tiny. How can they stop the fabric from just fraying. What size seams must they have? The mind boggles.

I love the giant rickrack in the centre and the colours and the spots. I also like the random little squares in the border. It just felt warm ad cosy.

I thought the colours and the applique on this quilt was great. There's more in the flickr set. I took loads of pictures! Some would say too many, but I was excited. It was a great weekend. I'll do a separate post on what I bought in the end.

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