Sunday, November 11, 2007

 

Nearly the end of the quilting year

Well, here we are, nearly at the end of the year and also at the end of the season for Quilt Shows.

Sue, Margaret and I went to Chilford last Friday despite the threat of high tides and flooding locally. It was a lovely day and we had a good run out. The show, seemingly smaller than last time, was very good and it was nice to see Jenny Rayment there showing and demonstrating her unique quilts. As usual there was plenty to see and buy from the trade stands and by lunchtime, budgets had been stretched far enough and we retired to the local pub for lunch and a leisurely trip home in the afternoon sunshine, via Waitrose. Fortunately, the threat of flooding had receded by the time we reached Cley so we all got home without getting our feet wet.

I had three pieces of good news over the past couple of weeks. My quilt 'I Wonder as I Wander' won second place in the Merit Hand Quilting category in Houston. My new miniature quilt 'Flora' won a Prize of Excellence at International Quilt Week, Yokohama and 'Tomorrow shall be my Dancing Day' won 2nd place in the traditional category of the European Championships in Holland. Not only did it win lots of lovely haberdashery, Gutterman threads and fabric but the 'Quiltmania' magazine prize which turned out to be 300 euros. That was such a surprise and a very welcome one. I hadn't heard of the magazine until then, so I have treated myself to a year's subscription with the prize money.

So now it is down to the hard slog of making the quilt for next year's competitions. I finished the Lady's Jacket(photographs of which are now on the website www.jacquieharvey.co.uk)and launched myself into a larger version of the miniature 'Flora'. It is taking much longer than anticipated and I don't think I will have it completed before Christmas. There will also be an article in 'Patchwork and Quilting' magazine about the Lady's Jacket in the new year and one or two projects in the pipeline for 'Fabrications' magazine.

I am looking forward to giving a hand quilting workshop for the Costume and Textile Association in February at the Castle Museum in Norwich which, I now understand, is fully booked. I am also going to be at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum on Sunday 22 June 2008 for a day's workshop (www.wealddown.co.uk for information). Various local talks are now booked so my diary is almost as full as I want it to be for the time being. I am also on the local committee for the Quilters' Guild AGM and Conference which is to be held in Cambridge next April so 2008 looks to be a very busy year.

I wish everyone a very happy Christmas when it arrives and look forward to seeing many of you next year and in particular, at the Sew Creative Exhibition in June.

Best wishes,

Jacquie

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