More Tales from The Festival of Quilts

It may only be a week and a half since we returned from the Festival of Quilts but already it seems like much longer. Maybe its something to do with the more autumnal weather we're having right now whereas the setup day on the 18th August was so hot we were in shorts!
Here are some more images from the show that we thought we should share.

All photos were taken by Liz Hingley.

Amy Butler signing her latest books and chatting with customers.

Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably and David Butler (Amy's Husband) with Geoff Sewell from The Cotton Patch.

Marti Michell who always demonstrates the Perfect Patchwork templates and rulers with her unique and entertaining style.

Sandy Chandler demonstrated her Curvemaster Patchwork foot to hundreds of people during the four days of the show - showing that no one need be afraid of curved piecing - you just need the Curvemaster, long tweezers and seam roller for perfect results!

Sandy's entertaining and informative style drew the crowds...

Festival of Quilts at the NEC - A Riot of Colour

Few who attended the Festival of Quilts last week could fail to have left inspired and brimming with ideas. Attendance was in excess of all expectations and the quilting community certainly came out en masse to view a fabulous collection of quilts, works, classes, workshops and shops.




Accents from all over Europe and North America could be heard every day. So thank you to everyone who visited The Cotton Patch stands - we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did and we look forward to seeing you again next year!


We were fortunate to have the photographer Liz Hingley on the stand on Friday to capture some of the essence of the atmosphere of the show. It was Liz's first Festival and like so many first-time visitors was amazed and inspired by it. Over the next few days we'll be posting some of her images... For those of you unable to make it we hope it gives you the motivation to join us next year!

Anne, Ellie and Nikki helped with cutting the fabrics, setting up the stands (and dismantling them!) and were pretty invaluable on the Rowan stand.

Geoff demonstrated the Little Gracie II, Pinnacle and the new Bernina 8 Series Quilting frame to hundreds of people during the show. Here, one customer is testing out her stippling technique on the Little Gracie II.

More photos will follow. For those of you into social networking you might like to join the Festival of Quilts Facebook group - just follow this link.

Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably Workshops

Alison Baxter who runs Short Courses at West Dean College, near Chichester has sent information on two courses on colour being run at the college in June.

West Dean looks to be a stunning and probably inspiring place to be for such a course and coupled with the knowledge and skills of Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably this should be a great opportunity. West Dean, according to the website, "is a unique community, a creative and rich mixture of artists and craftspeople, conservators and restorers, working alongside gardeners, farmers, foresters and builders. Managed by The Edward James Foundation, a charitable trust, West Dean is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty in south-east England."

Details of the courses are as follows:

TWO COLOUR WORKSHOPS BY KAFFE FASSETT AND BRANDON MABLY

Colour in design – a knitting workshop
June 24 • Brandon Mably • BM1 • £80
Brandon Mably has worked with Kaffe for 18 years and now teaches the knit workshops on colour. After an introduction on interpreting colour, you choose a range of colours and apply them to a swatch using stocking stitch, and also look at texture and pattern. Open to all levels.

A colour class with Kaffe Fassett – Big Diamonds quilts
June 25 • Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably • KF1 • £110
Kaffe and Brandon work together on this one day workshop selecting fabric for your quilt. You are asked to bring a selection of fabrics for this design and by the end of the day, after cutting, arranging and editing, everyone has their design pinned out ready for sewing.

Overnight accommodation is available for the night before each workshop – prices from £53 including dinner and breakfast.
Full details of the workshops are available on our website, where you can also book online: http://www.westdean.org.uk/