I have to admit that I was both excited but also dreading the Scottish Quilting Show at the SEC in Glasgow. It is a long time since I have had to set up a booth and do a talk. I had my checklist of things to take and felt very well prepared yet I managed to leave behind 2 big quilts! Luckily, I had spares so there were no gaps on the wall. I was glad that I had decided to take the old Mac computer with a rolling slideshow to let people see some of my other quilts and projects.
Once my stand was organised I joined 3 other judges to select the best quilts out of 116 entries. It was an intense process that took us over 5 hours. It was like writing school reports at warp speed and by the end of the afternoon I doubt that my handwriting was legible. The judging team “clicked” and our choices all aligned so I think we selected well. There was a great variety of quilts, of differing standards and ideas but it was super to see so many entries. I took lots of photos but my internet connection is poor so I have not uploaded all of them, I’m afraid;)
I had not realised that I had to give my talk every day and to my disappointment the slideshow that I had made about competitive quilting and saved onto a USB stick got corrupted and would not play. In true primary school teacher mode, I just ad-libbed and felt like I was doing a stand-up comedy show. By day 3, Fergus managed to send me a new copy of the presentation. Despite the technical hitches, my audience was very appreciative.
The show was a huge ego boost - it was fantastic to receive such positive feedback and admiration. I have never shown off a collection of my show quilts before and they were extremely well lit. For the first time ever, BzB was hung double-sided and many visitors actually thought they were looking at 2 entirely different quilts. I spoke to all sorts of people including some who had never made a quilt or even seen a longarm machine before. It was lovely to catch up and also make new friends in the quilting world. I was impressed by the dynamic representative of the Scottish Women’s Institute who was clearly not terribly into “Jam and Jerusalem”!
It was a most enjoyable 3 day show - friendly, accessible and fun. I stayed with my friend, Ellen and we had a great time chatting about all of the trips and shows we have done together over the past 15 years. It definitely gave me a much needed boost of confidence and reminded me why I am a Quilter and that I need to get on and make something new and exciting, even if it is not for a competition;)
*Either Pythagorus lied about hypotenuses or more likely, my maths is inadequate. I did not have enough bunting to create the 2 central swags that I had planned but at least nobody got tangled up in the end!
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