Festival of Quilts UK 2022

I reckon it can take me about 5 minutes to pack for a trip but days to get around to putting it all away. I spend several days afterwards trying to catch up with myself, including writing my blog. I am hoping to make a vlog of my experiences this year using video footage that I took as I had a look around the show. 

FoQ 2022 was far better than last year! There was more space, more exhibits and more people:) It was great to be busy demonstrating the Bernina Q-Series machines, except for a day when there was a train strike that seemed to reduce visitor numbers. I kept Q-matic busy showing how automated quilting works and we even did a couple of charity Linus quilts during a quiet spell on Saturday afternoon. 

I had a wonderful surprise when Julie Tebay from Minnesota came to catch up. We rode an elephant together in India but this time she was on a more sedate tour of England. Cecille Flegg kindly brought me chocolate when I was wilting. 

I drove Luana Rubin to Stratford upon Avon to have dinner and see a Shakespeare production at the RSC. It was fantastic but I was a bit confused as to why this production of “As You Like It” seemed so different to the play that I studied at school. During the interval I noticed a poster then realised that I was actually watching “All’s Well That Ends Well”!

As usual there were quilts that I loved for their skill, ingenuity and creativity, and a couple of winners that I may not have chosen if I was a judge. Speaking of which, I had to laugh when I saw some of their photos on the floor one morning as if a disgruntled participant had torn them off the wall in a fury. I am just going to say - I am not impressed by the trend for taking tatty old quilts that are in a terrible state then adding some bits of wool or plastic and declaring, bizarrely that they are ART…

It was fun being interviewed by Brandy Lynn Maslowski for her podcast, “Quilter on Fire.” I did not get introduced to the legendary Kaffe Fassett, who had a special gallery with Bernina for the launch of some special edition sewing machines. I observed that there are some quilters who are extremely good at self-promotion on social media, some with big egos to match. There are also many other quieter, talented quilters who need to shout louder;)