Well, Festival of Quilts 2023 has already been and gone! I arrived at lunchtime on Wednesday for set-up after an overnight stop in Glasgow. It takes quite a team effort to set up a longarm stand where we had 2 Bernina Q-Series frame machines and 6 sit-down machines. Things can be a bit fraught until everything is all sorted out. When you finally get dinner and a long awaited beverage you wonder if you will be able to get up bright and early the next day. Of course, you always do;)
Imagine my surprise the next day when people said they had been to look for my quilt in the show but it was not hanging where it should be. It had been moved to the Winners’ Wall! Readers will know that I always put my all into show quilts but it is fantastic when the judges recognise that effort. One of the judges was Linda Seward who is a legend in the quilt world for her expert books and columns in The Quilter. She awarded me a perfect score sheet and I could not actually believe it. I am so thrilled - what a comeback! Everyone was so complimentary and it was lovely to meet some long time readers of the blog. I had put an Apple AirTag into the quilt label and it was funny that Ehen I left the show my phone notified me that an item named Quilt had been left behind as it will go on to be displayed at shows in Harrogate, Dublin and Alexandra Palace.
The Bernina UK longarm team taught 16 one hour quilting classes. We had all been secretly dreading it since we are all stand-up frame quilters but I pretended to be an old fashioned school PE teacher. They would put on the tracksuit, blow the whistle and make everyone jog around the field without breaking into a sweat as they just had to stand and “supervise”. The sessions were not designed to turn out master quilters after one lesson. It was an opportunity to experience the machines, pick up tips and techniques, and have fun.
As a team we also had fun during the show and afterwards, uploading our photos into a Barbie generator, having a pizza pyjama party, going out for a posh dinner and keeping each other going with good humour.
I caught up with old friends and made some new ones. I love seeing everyone, even if I am teaching and only manage to wave.
As per usual I brought a selection of cameras and whizzed around the show. I have not had time to see if any of the footage is any good. I will attempt to make a YouTube tour when I get home. I wish I had taken one of the small video cameras with the gimbal head as well as the novelty camera that films in 360 degrees that I am not entirely sure how to edit. The internet connection at the show and hotel has been poor so any short videos that I had hoped to upload got stuck so they may crop up after the event.
I wore 3 new outfits at the show which was fun because at home I live in dungarees ALL of the time. Maybe I should just unpack then repack for the next event.
For months I have been putting various things off until after FOQ but now that is over I will actually have to get them done. I definitely hope to make more YouTube videos, even if they are just quick tips. I will always keep weekly blogging though - after 15 years how could I possibly stop?!
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