Hochanda

The Festival of Quilts is Europe’s leading patchwork and quilting event and this year I had the privilege of attending with Hochanda . Attracting more than 25,000 visitors from all over the world, honestly there were bus loads rolling in daily from Australia, it was truly an international event. Prior to the show, I was unsure what to expect but to put it mildly I was blown away by the entire experience, from the organisation and layout of the three halls down to the incredible talent on show. Celebrating quilting in all forms, there were over 300 exhibitors providing endless stalls to purchase all your quilting essentials , incredible galleries displaying what I can only describe as the most ore-inspiring quilts I have ever seen. One that stands out for me was The Women’s Quilt . It was made up of 598 patches, a patch to commemorate 598 women killed as a result of domestic violence between 2009 and 2015. The quilt is ...

Last week, our lovely presenter Hayley West visited a lovely event in Loughborough. She had such a great day she wanted to share with all of our crafters... "Once a year one I love to head of to a great event in Loughborough......  Sue and her team from Quorn Country Crafts host a charity event and it's always incredibly inspiring. To start with it's a wonderful venue the local parish church and every year it's transformed with a multitude of different sewn projects including some amazing quilts.  Huge quilt frames are erected to display the quilts to show them off to their best and they never cease to astound me.  There were stunning quilts, Jacobean Applique, Dramatic Geometric designs, Sampler Quilts, Quilts for children, examples using Jelly Rolls, Dresden Plate designs and Japanese inspired to mention a few, plus a display of beginners quilts.  One of the highlights of the exhibition was the Mini Charm Challenge... Just before Christma...