As I already wrote earlier in a previous post, there was a yearly Quilt Show in Birmingham in this year August.

I was excited about this exhibition, I was curious about the other quilts and also I wished to know how it  felt to be a part of an exhibition like this. I have to admit, I was not disappointed at all. When I got out of the car on the Sunday morning, I saw a gigantic showroom in from of me.  I realized that I have to follow the massive “female” comany moving in front of me. They were all going to the ‘Festival of Quilts 2008” event without any exception.

It  might be suspected – even from the size of the entrance – that this event is much bigger than any other I was participating in before. During the morning I was participating  in another program so I was only checking the size of this event through the gates  in the morning.

But when I crossed the gates around noon I suddenly did not know where to go first.  On the right side of the hall there were thousand of quilts hanging.  I tried to see them on an organised way following the lines, but from time to time I saw something interesting in another line. 



There were more than 1300 exhibited quilts from 51 countries and on top of this there were several additional quilts relating to groups out of the exhibition. One of these groups I found was the Hungartian Quilt Group’s works as well – lead by Anna Dolany. There were traditional quilts as well as modern ones.

The quilts were grouped to in 16 different categories. Some of these groups hads many participants but some of them were contained ing only a few quilt items. Since there was were a pre check of the quilts based on photos before their final exhibition I believe that all participants have to be proud of their works. It is normal that the first prize winners were most apprectiated by the visitors and all of these works were placed to in well frequented positions, too.

The experience, I received during this exhibition is, hard to explain. Since our the visit to of the event was planned to be only one day, I tried to see and check as mmany things as I could during these huours. But after the first 2-3 hours spent looking at the between quilts I became a bit tired. I was simplye full of. My attention was full up with these nice quilts. By this time I have found only one of my two quilts exhibited.



But as it is usually happens in a professional exhibition, sellers of goods, materials and related tools closely related to the patchworks were present in the same hall.  The sewing machine manufacturers introduced their machines, showing different types and functions.  If anyone wished to find her next machine she could  successfully compare the alternatives here.   I spent some time in the market section before finishing the exhibition’s second part.  I also had to take care  not to spend all my money here.



After the time I spent resting here , my curiosity came back again to check out the second half  of the exhibited works. I found some very interesting things for me. The precision of the mini quilts amazed  me. I don’t know the reason for the first prize, I would award this for  the second one.   This part of the exhibition was also interesting because while at the other parts of the events everyone were looking at the quilts from 1-2 meters, here everyone stepped close to the quilts to see the details.



A lot of visitors were looking at one of the special category winner quilts, also.  This one was not a traditional one, since the base of the quilt was only one piece of textile, and it’s pattern was just made with different colours. It was really amazing to see close up  how the pattern actually evolved.



Regarding  the organisation of the exhibition, I have to mention that even though there were only a few  supervisors in the showroom, no one was  touching the quilts – but I think lot of the visitors wished to see them.  However the supervisiors were glad to show this to anyone with a white gloved (!) hand. In several places there were chairs or benches which could be used for enjoying the quilts for a longer time. 

As I wrote before, several companies were exhibiting their products and some of the organised shows as well.  On top of this, several workshops were held during the days of this event. Some of them were full weeks before the beginning but a few of them had free places at the beginning of the days, also. On these workshops you could learn new ways of stitching from the experts of these ways . I  was registered  for a ribbon embroidery workshop, so I was introduced to this technique during the morning hours.



By the closing time of this exhibition I  had seen all the quilts and I bought some new materials and books for my next quilt projects. But  the most important thing was that I had a very good experience and I saw a lot of nice things.  I walked out of the doors  full of inspiration.

I share my photos relating to the Festival of Quilts 2008 in the following link.  Although the photos don’t capture all of the experience of these fewdays I hope they may give a taste of  this event.

---

M.I.Eszter



Ps.: Please be aware! You will need a pack of food while check these huge amount of photos.