Sorry it's taken longer than I wanted to talk about my NEC trip, it's been a manic couple of days.
To summarise: I had a fabulous day, there was so much to see and do, I was thoroughly tired out after it though!
Here's a quick round up of the fantastic display of quilts I saw on Friday.
The amount of time and love that must have gone into each of these from all over the world is breathtaking.
Such a wide variety of techniques and fabrics to ponder over, my favourites were the traditional patchwork types, I would really like to tackle this soon.
I really enjoyed this year's exhibition, last year I went on my own but this year I was lucky to have my best friend as good company and even though he's not a stitcher he enjoyed the sights too, it was great to be able to talk to someone about the quilts while viewing!
We both had enrolled for the Morsbags, make a bag workshop, which was a lot of fun. We learnt all the stages to make these simple eco friendly shopping bags and even though it was a bit manic and a rush for the limited number of sewing machines, it was a good laugh. The instructors were very helpful and even my friend who hadn't used a sewing machine before managed really well, his lines were straighter than mine!
On the Cotton Patch stand were the celebrity guests! I met Amy Butler and got her to sign one of her books, I'm embarrassed to say that when she asked for my name to write in the book, my mind went blank and it seemd like time stood still while she stared at me! Eventually I remembered that my name wasn't 'Mummy' and was able to talk again! Star Struck!
I also got Jane Brocket's new book 'The Gentle Art of Quilt-Making', which is a lovely inspiring read to help beginner quilters just get on with it without being intimidated! Again I got Jane to sign the book and this time I was prepared for the name question!
The amount of retailer stands were mind-boggling, thankfully I had a list of items I wanted this time, else you could wander round and be seduced by all manner of things! I also took a budget of cash only and stuck to it! I'll add piccies of the fabric etc I got real soon, I'm ashamed to say most of the stuff from the day is still in the shopping bags awaiting a quiet time to lust over it!
The only down points of the day was the lighting in the hall, it looked like tungsten because the colour cast was really orange, it really spoiled some of the quilts especially the lighter/white ones. I struggled to take any decent balanced shots on my camera too, even when changing the setting to tungsten or fluorescent, I've had to do some white balance correction on them to make them more accurate. The other gripe was shopping trolleys! Loads of people seemed to have those annoying pull-along trolleys, I'm sure they're a great idea for carting around your purchases but in a confined alley way of stands, they got in the way and ran over way too many toes, they should be restricted if rucksacks are too!
Anyway, I shall go through my shots next and match them up with the catalogue
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